The Pirates own the eighth overall pick in tonight's amateur draft, the first time they've selected outside of the top five since picking Andrew McCutchen with the 11th overall pick in 2005. Here's the latest from Pittsburgh…
- The Pirates will be bidders for 20-year-old Cuban outfielder Jorge Soler, reports Rob Biertempfel of The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (on Twitter). They will not budge from their pre-determined value and won't offer Yoenis Cespedes money, however. Soler was declared a free agent by MLB over the weekend.
- The Bucs are converting pitching prospect Stetson Allie into a position player, reports Biertempfel and Dejan Kovacevic of The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Allie signed for $2.2MM as the 52nd overall pick in the 2010 draft but has walked 37 batters in 26 2/3 pro innings. Baseball America ranked him as the club's ninth best prospect coming into this season.
So much for our “future closer” Stetson Allie. Didn’t see that coming.
I think Allie deserved a little more time to get things working when you consider the fact that he can throw 100 mph, but I never seen him play so I trust those who believe he had no future as a pitcher and are converting him now.
It’s a shame though because I was very excited about that pick as well as Taillon that year, and it looks like he’s already a bust.
Are you saying Taillon is a bust? Or Allie? Taillon is far from a bust, he’s our future ace.
I wouldn’t call Allie a bust quite yet. Most draft experts agree that if he had gone into the draft as a hitter, he probably would have gone somewhere around round #3 instead of the 2nd round. Still plenty of talent there, and the organization needs more power hitters than Jonathon Broxton type relievers anyway.
Is Jorge Soler MLB ready? If so the Pirates need to outbid everyone. If you can add to the team without removing this is a must!!!
Soler is not MLB ready. He’ll need a season or 2 in the minors first.
Probably 2 years away, only 20 and very very raw.
Good idea on the Allie switch, he was a legitimate bat prospect and turned out to be a horrrid pitching spect.
What position did he play? Can he possibly be a shortstop?
He was at 3rd I believe, some good raw power I think.
Google Images would laugh at the idea of him being a shortstop.
He actually did play 3rd and SS in high school…but yeah, no hope of him staying there.
Have they said what team he will play for
Some speculation that he may start at West Virginia (A+). That might be a stretch, but he is a little behind right now, and they might push him to get back on track.
Apparently the most recent team to evaluate Soler has said that despite his raw power, he didn’t swing at any breaking pitches and manned the OF as well as an 80 year old man….
Huntington’s draft stragedy and over slot spending grades = lower them.
I mean seriously Huntington is getting up there with Littlefield in terms of worst GM in MLB history. So far Huntington has produced 0 players that are worth anything from the draft/international. The best players on the Pirates roster offensively right now are Littlefield players. Even when Huntington does do something like go over slot for draft choices the team messes them up. Allie made Mitch Williams look like Greg Maddux, Zach Van Rosenberg can’t even get out of extended spring trainings, and Trent Stevenson has already retired. Huntington is over matched as a GM.
Huntington acquired James McDonald, Joel Hanrahan and A.J. Burnett. That’s a huge plus!!!
I don’t know if you did this on purpose, but stragedy is a portmanteau of “strategy” and “tragedy.” Which, coincidentally, is exactly how I feel about the Cubs this year.
Asking prep players to a make to the bigs that fast is a bit much. He inherited a system that was a monster joke. He has made some mistakes (Bay, Stevenson, maybe Tony Sanchez), but his pluses have been waaay better. JMac, Hanny, Burnett, Bedard, Josh Bell, Taillon (over someone like Bullington), Cole (over a pick like Dan Moskos), and Tabata still has potential.
As far as international? Have you heard of Luis Heredia? Alen Hanson? Willy Garcia or Jose Osuna? Marte?
Comparing him to Littlefield is wrong. He may not be great…but he is by NO means Dave Littlefield.
Agreed. He should go ahead and trade Taillon and Cole to the Dodgers for Jerry Hairston and Adam Kennedy.
I guess It costs nothing to bid on Soler, but isn’t it a waste of time? He was declared a FA, so why would he be interested in the Pirates if they are going to stick their slotting policy? He would be expecting biggest money, no?
Allie would of been a 3rd to 5th round 3rd basemen prospect out of HS. He has very raw but plus power and a good enough glove to man the hot corner to go along with a huge arm. Yes its a shame that he didnt work out as a pitcher, but hes only 20-21 years old and still has value as a hitting prospect. Its not too late to make the switch which helps his status as a prospect opposed to a 24-25 year old trying to make the same position change. Also, next to Josh Bell, Allie has the most power out of all of the pirates in the farm system. I suspect that Allie will head to State College to get some work and try to catch up this season and probably make it with WV or Bradenton next year.
Lived near where he played his HS ball and a lot of people from around the area always thought he’d be a better hitter than pitcher in pro ball. Sure, he had much more potential as a pitcher (probably would’ve ended up as closer or at least setup man,) but his raw power and throwing arm will serve him well as a 3B. Just hope he can hit well enough for average and man the hot corner to move on as a prospect.
Mariners need to throw money at Jorge Soler. Seriously guys. Take a risk for once…. You missed out on Darvish. Soler is supposed to be better than Cespedes.
i haves scouted mister soler on more than one occasions,,, very talenteds,, year or two away those