Wednesday, June 09, 2010
By Chuck Finder, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/?m=1
Lonnie Timmons III/The Plain Dealer
The Pirates drafted Steston Allie, a pitcher with St. Edward of suburban Cleveland, in the second round.
Yes, the Pirates' draft board did contain a category other than right-handed pitcher.
It just took them most of 10 rounds to locate it.
A day after taking 6-foot-6 1/2, south Texas schoolboy Jameson Taillon with the No. 2 overall pick, the Pirates chose right-handed pitchers with nine of their first 10 picks and 18 of their first 30 in the draft that will conclude today.
They stayed in high school with six of their first eight picks and 12 of 18 pitchers so far.
They stayed with the same pitching instructor for their opening two picks: Taillon and second-rounder Stetson Allie of suburban Cleveland are both students of onetime Pirates farmhand David Evans of Houston, Texas.
In fact, they perfectly fit the Pirates' profile: 6-3 or more, fastball in the low 90s, major-college scholarship in the back pocket.
"Definitely, the strength of the draft," general manager Neal Huntington said. "It was a pitching-oriented draft, high school and college. It looks a little odd. It's aggressive. But pitching is a game of attrition."
If fans wonder what to make of this draft, know this: The Pirates, who used $3.275 million to land a quartet of college-bound pitchers last summer, spent the second day of this draft collecting more such candidates.
And that is one reason why Baseball America, from which the Pirates selected a half-dozen of the magazine's Top 200 prospects in the opening nine rounds Tuesday, was among the media experts who raved.
"Can't have enough pitching," said MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo in an e-mail later in the draft.
Outfielder Mel Rojas Jr., the junior-college stolen-base leader and son of longtime major league right-hander Mel Rojas, was the lone position player among the Pirates' selections through 10 rounds.
Allie, though, is the star of the Pirates' draft behind only Taillon. He is a North Carolina recruit who possesses a fastball regularly up to 98 mph, similar to Taillon, and a burly 6-4, 225-pound frame expected to serve him well in professional baseball.
Somewhere between his desire to hit as well -- he is a third baseman with power -- and his contract notions while being Baseball America's 15th-ranked prospect as of Monday, Allie slipped to the 52nd overall selection. This from a pitcher who popped 100 mph on radar guns a half-dozen times in leading St. Edward's to Ohio's Division I state title Sunday, striking out 13. He struck out 134 in 60 innings this season while going 9-1 with a 1.29 ERA.
"It seemed that he was going to go earlier, if not early in the first round, certainly in the middle of the first round," Huntington said of Allie's slippage.
"It happens every year. We were fortunate enough, in this situation, Stetson fell to [No.] 52, and we were able to grab him with that pick."
Huntington lumped Allie with Evans-instruction stablemate Taillon: "They're going to be tough signs, we knew that. But the upside is very intriguing and something that allows you to look forward to the future with bright eyes. Our hope [is that] there are a good number of players in this draft that impact the Pittsburgh Pirates in the years to come."
In the event they do not reach an agreement with Allie, the Pirates would get a compensation pick following the first round next year, same as they did after failing to sign second-rounder Tanner Scheppers two years ago.
The Pirates followed Allie with, among others: suburban Las Vegas right-hander Nate Kingham (committed to the University of Oregon), the magazine's 186th-ranked prospect, in the fourth round; north Texas schoolboy Jason Hursh (Oklahoma State), its 173rd-ranked prospect, in the sixth; north Texas schoolboy Austin Kubitza (Rice, same as Taillon), its 153rd-ranked prospect, in the seventh; and suburban Los Angeles prep school right-hander Zack Weiss (UCLA), its 132nd-ranked prospect.
The Pirates already had four pitchers from the second day of the draft last June who have not thrown at Class A State College yet: Zach Dodson, Zack Von Rosenberg, Colton Cain and Trent Stevenson.
Huntington said the Pirates have not opened talks with Taillon's representatives, Randy and Alan Hendricks.
"Much like Pedro [Alvarez] and much like some of the other drafts in the past, there's probably not going to be any news on it anytime soon."
Chuck Finder: cfinder@post-gazette.com.
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