Just remembered that the draft is in less than a week. I won't pretend to have done more than click on a couple mock drafts and top 100 lists, but I've seen a couple places which have 19 1/2 year old 3B Brett Baty as the Pirates pick. He's old for a prep player, but apparently if he were a sophomore coming out of college in a couple of years, no one would bat an eye. Sounds like he grades out at the second best prep hitter in the draft, and there's a lot of strong feelings about him because of the age. But he reportedly has 70 grade power and may need to move to 1B, so the comparisons to Josh Bell are fairly obvious (committed to Texas, too).
Another name that is floating around near our pick is Greg Kirby, a college RHP who has a fastball that touches 98, and a sinking change, with potentially plus offspeed stuff. He sounds a lot like the prototypical Pirates target, with still some projection, and maybe slightly less risk/time to majors with being a college arm.
I definitely want pitching with the pick, but the only route is BPA in MLB, and at least this year we have a number of higher picks, so we should hopefully be able to target whatever upside has fallen at #18, or pivot to a safer, projectable pick like Kirby, and go after prep pitchers to lure with the other high picks.
