The Pirates have agreed to terms with second-round pick Jared Jones, Kevin Gorman of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review was among those to report. Financial details of the deal aren’t known yet, but Jones’ pick, No. 44, comes with a recommended slot value of $1,689,500. The Pirates are fifth in the majors in available bonus pool space at $11,154,500.
The high school right-hander from California had a fallback in the University of Texas – to which he committed before the draft – had he been unable to reach an agreement with the team that picked him. Jones will instead continue his development as a pro after a dominant run as a high school pitcher and hitter. The 18-year-old logged a 0.89 ERA with 255 strikeouts and 78 walks in 180 1/3 innings, and he slashed .394/.473/.566 at the plate, according to Gorman.
Prior to the draft, Jones came in 41st at Baseball America, 51st in the rankings of ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel, 55th at MLB.com, 85th in the rankings of Keith Law of The Athletic, and 91st at FanGraphs. Despite his prowess as a two-way player, MLB.com writes that Jones’ “future is definitely on the mound,” as he owns a repertoire that consists of a high-90s fastball with a promising slider and changeup.
But he´ll be traded for a #3 starter and become good with another team anyways
Disagree. You are aware there is a new GM in town, right? I’d like to think Ben Cherington has a better eye for talent than the previous 3 Idiot GM’s. At least he has previous experience as a GM.
I was joking dude
@Tom84–Lol! You sound like half of the yinzers from the Burgh who say such things all the time and they are dead serious.!
Three idiot GM’s?
That’s very harsh on NH, who for the most part did a good job considering the financial restraints. One bad trade (awful, I know) does not eliminate the good initial rebuild and three playoff appearances earlier last decade.
I could never understand trading Meadows and Glasnow for Archer. Archer has only had a few decent years and had been on the decline.
Old GM made that deal. As @Mike Cartini said above, a new sheriff is in town and has GM experience and won a world series too. So hopefully a similar deal will not be made by Cherrington
He won a WS with spending some money too. Something the Pirates never do. Granted Mookie Betts came from Cherington regime in Boston, but a lot of that WS ring, was from money being spent to improve their odds. Nutting pockets are as deep as buying an item off the $1 value deal from McDonalds. At least Boston is willing to pay a “full value meal” when needed to win a championship.
Pirates are only known for their ballpark (being a positive) and poor trades (being the negative). The ballpark is always going to sell some tickets. But trades and signings will dictate if the tickets sale improve much past “tourist interest”.
Oh brother.. the same people who complain about the Archer trade are the same people who were angry that Huntington wouldn’t sell the farm for Jose Quintana in 2017
Watching the Pirates the past few years is sad. I don’t get why franchises who don’t spend the money and field teams like the Pirates do they shouldn’t get compensation picks in the draft.
“Field teams like the Pirates do”
Hmm, over .500 4 of last 7 seasons. Not exactly the barren wasteland a lot of people seem to think it is. Problems? Sure. Abject nothingness? Not hardly.
Theres never a perfect solution
The purpose of comp picks is pure at heart, its the people (teams) who get in the way of the goal (although like retire21 shows Pitt might not be best example)
OFC this could all be solved with MLB independent accountants (think IRS) set forth by MLB coupled with a better Rev share system that puts the wheels in motion to have a HARD cap and floor- 100-200 mill just to start would be fine, although id like it to be 120-220 mill… Then YES eliminate the Comp picks and would get players (other than Manny Machado) paid a lot more while also having the teams finances overhauled by MLB. We do not need this info as public but it would be nice to have the oversight giving the players MORE money…Thats ALL they really care about anyways so we all win
Sorry to rattle its just a little more complex than have/take them away
@jjgrappler…Jones was not the Comp pick. That would have been Carmen Mlodzinski, the South Carolina Pitcher. Jones was the 2nd rounder and 3rd pick by the Bucs in this draft.
I know, i’m just saying that seeing the Pirates intentionally tank especially this season with their payroll at the lowest and they still seem to get awarded with compensatory picks
The Pirates are historically horrible, but they had a good run between 13 and 15, they were always in the playoffs. Unfortunately for them they encountered Mad Bum twice in the wildcard game if my memory is right ?
Mad Bum 2014, Jake Arietta 2015.
They got an A in some draft reports , 3rd round pick also has big arm .
Have the Pirates officially announced if this kid will continue as a P? Or if they’ll give him a chance, early on anyway, to see what he can do as a 2-way player? I know historically teams have shied away from that — but recently it’s seemed to be making a bit of a resurgence — if this kid is as good as a P and hitter as it sounds — could be interesting to see what the Pirates do. Especially given that he’s only 18.