Pittsburgh Pirates called “biggest winners” of MLB Draft
By Matt Shetler
Looking back at the 2013 MLB Draft, it has to be viewed as another successful one for general manager Neal Huntington and the Pittsburgh Pirates.
In fact, the Bucs could be viewed as the biggest winners of all. If you ask SI.com’s Dave Perkin, that’s certainly the case.
July 19, 2011; Pittsburgh,PA, USA: Pittsburgh Pirates general manager Neal Huntington on the field before the game against the Cincinnati Reds at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USPRESSWIRE
In his most recent column, Perkin calls the Pirates the biggest winner of any team. And why not?
Perkin’s column was based on the first round where the Pirates hit a pair of potential home runs with outfielder Austin Meadows and catcher Reese McGuire. Add to that the selection of left-hander Blake Taylor in the second round along with infielder Jacoby Jones in the third and you have to really like the job that the Pirates brass did over the course of three days.
Overall the Bucs drafted 10 high school players, six from junior college and 25 college players. 16 of those were right-handed pitchers, four left-handed pitchers, six outfielders, 11 infielders and four catchers.
But the selections of Meadows and McGuire have drawn the Bucs the most praise.
Meadows (No. 9 pick overall) is projected as a five-tool outfielder who is projected to make a quick rise through the system. He was the second-best outfielder on the board and the Pirates did well by nabbing him, especially considering the fact that Baseball America tabbed Meadows as having the best strike-zone awareness and second best hitting ability among all high school prospects in the draft.
But it didn’t stop there as they got McGuire at No. 14, who was the top-rated catcher on the board.
Huntington was in a good spot where he didn’t have to draft for need and instead could add the best potential prospects to the organization.
While people may still be down on the fact that the Bucs didn’t sign Mark Appel a season ago, at least on paper things have worked out very well for the Pirates.
Considering they came away with the second-best outfielder on the board and the top-rated catcher, among some other talented prospects, it is hard not to agree with Perkin and call the Pirates the biggest winners of the 2013 MLB Draft.