Taillon vs. Machado

The Major League Baseball Draft is this Monday, and the Pirates have the 2nd overall pick. Three names have been mentioned about who the Pirates will take after Bryce Harper is selected; those names are Jameson Taillon, a highschool right handed pitcher from Texas, Manny Machado, a highschool shortstop from Florida, and Drew Pomeranz, a right handed pitcher from Ole Miss.

Now that we are only 2 days away from the draft, the Pirates seem to have narrowed it down to just Taillon and Machado. There is no doubt that Pomeranz wouldn't be the right pick due to his recent performance. I'm going to take a quick look at both of these guys, and then tell you who I think the Pirates should select.

First, Jameson Taillon.



Taillon is a 6'6'' fireballer. His fastball has reached 99 mph, and can reaches 93-95 all game long. He is only 18 years old, so he has a lot more maturing to do mentally and physically. Scouts say he has the best fastball in the draft, the best breaking ball in the draft, the best secondary pitch, and they say he is the closest to the majors. That's impressive stuff. He has drawn comparisons to Josh Beckett. While all of the above is exciting knowing that the Pirates could land him, it's only going to make it cost more to sign him. Tim at Buccofans.com compared Taillon's possible demands to that of Tyler Matzek ($3.9 million) and Jacob Turner ($4.7 million) from last year's draft. The Pirates gave Pedro Alvarez $6 million to sign with them two years ago, but he was a lot safer bet having been to college and being a position player. Anything can happen with high school pitchers, and a lot of them never make it to the majors. The high risk does come with a high reward though, Taillon has more upside than any player in the draft, aside from Bryce Harper.

Next, Manny Machado.



Machado is a 17 year old shortstop who has drawn physical comparisons to Alex Rodriguez. While he is nowhere near as big of a prospect as Rodriguez, he still has a good shot at being one of the better shortstops in the majors at some point. His is projected to be a plus defender that hits for good average and average power. There are questions with his range and size not being suitable for a shortstop, so a move to third base could be an order, however the power bat might never develop to make that a good choice for a major league team. Machado is a Scott Boras client, and is expected to demand between $5 and $6 million.

Personally, I want to see the Pirates draft Jameson Taillon. The main reason for that is the upside. The Pirates really don't have anybody in the system that could turn out be a definite ace, much less one of the best pitchers in the game. Taillon would give us just that. He would immediately have the best arm in the system, and seems that he could be on the fast track to the majors. It's a big risk, yes, but you don't have a chance to get this kind of arm very often. I wouldn't be too upset with the Pirates taking Machado either, but I just think Taillon is a lot more rare of a player than Machado. Both of them are going to cost a lot of money to sign, so you might as well invest your risk money in a higher reward.