Pittsburgh Pirates: The Day Before the 2021 Draft

The Pittsburgh Pirates are one day away from the 2021 MLB Draft.  This is an important moment for the club to get the pick right and it sounds like there is no selection yet.

While Marcelo Mayer appears to be the favorite to go with the first overall pick, it sounds like there is no general consensus on who the Pittsburgh Pirates will draft.  Ben Cherington recently told the media

“We have people in our draft room who might believe they know who we’re taking, but I honestly don’t. We don’t know. I think we’re closer, obviously, because Sunday is closer than it was a week ago. We’re going to take all the time we have.”

Cherington and the Front Office are obviously trying to be discrete and they won’t say who they are selecting.  The team has been rumored to be looking to go underslot to reinvest that money later in the draft.  As a result, by leaking who the club is going to take, the cost will increase.

The likely pick, as we have written about, is high school shortstop Marcelo Mayer.  He is a left handed bat that is projectable and should be able to stick at shortstop.  Every public mock draft has him going first overall but there is a some buzz on who the names are down too.

Baseball America mentioned it’s down to Mayer, Louisville catcher Henry Davis, and prep high school shortstop Jordan Lawlar.  Keith Law said it’s likely down to a position player with Mayer and Davis being the two options.  Kiley McDaniel of ESPN said that odds are about 50% Mayer but that prep high school shortstop Kahlil Watson and Davis are the next most likely.

The Pirates still have more than 24 hours to make their choice and they’ll spend that time reevaluating, going over details, and trying to work out a deal for underslot.  Until then it seems as if Mayer is the favorite to be the selection.  Perhaps the club is still looking at Vanderbilt arm Jack Leiter, but all signs are pointing to Cherington and the Pittsburgh Pirates taking a bat.