The Pittsburgh Pirates have agreed to terms with right-handed pitcher Trey Supak. Supak was drafted in the Competitive Balance round following the second round of the 2014 MLB draft. Terms of the deal aren’t known yet, although the slot value for Supak is $772,000.
Supak was rated the 99th best prospect by Baseball America in the 2014 draft. He’s 6′ 5″, 210 pounds, and sits in the low 90s with his fastball, touching 94. He has a chance for an average curve and an average changeup, giving him the upside of a Major League starter. He doesn’t hold his velocity deep into games, which could be improved by getting on a regular throwing program and adding strength to his frame.
Supak will begin his career in the GCL, and will be part of an interesting rotation which will also include second round pick Mitch Keller.
The Draft Pick Signing Tracker is updated. The Pirates have now agreed to terms or signed three of their top four picks. The only remaining player is first round Competitive Balance pick Connor Joe, who is expected to sign eventually.
Tim started Pirates Prospects in 2009 from his home in Virginia, which was 40 minutes from where Pedro Alvarez made his pro debut in Lynchburg. That year, the Lynchburg Hillcats won the Carolina League championship, and Pirates Prospects was born from Tim's reporting along the way. The site has grown over the years to include many more writers, and Tim has gone on to become a credentialed MLB reporter, producing Pirates Prospects each year, and will publish his 11th Prospect Guide this offseason. He has also served as the Pittsburgh Pirates correspondent for Baseball America since 2019. Behind the scenes, Tim is an avid music lover, and most of the money he gets paid to run this site goes to vinyl records.
Connor Joe and Cole Tucker are my new favorite picks from the draft if for no other reason than the negative feedback those picks received.
In Joe’s first two years of college he was primarily a 1st basemen although he was recruited as a middle infielder / 3B. Unfortunately he was blocked at 3rd by an excellent prospect (Kris Bryant of the Cubs). My guess is that he’ll see some time at every position except SS and CF. He would fit at 3B as well as any prospect in the system.
System-wide I’m most interested in Joe, Tucker, Victor Fernandez, and Adrian Valerio. At this point only Tucker fits in the system’s top 20. A week ago Fernandez wasn’t even one of the top 10 prospects on his own team.
I wonder if Joe’s salary slot isn’ t being held back to see just how much is left after they sign all of their priority picks. Not a slight on him but if they need an extra $50K to make a deal it may come out of his pot.
Bucs are going to need savings from Joe in order to sign Hinsz
People that spend time doing this sort of thing seems to really like the Pirates draft. I’ve never seen any of them play so I’ll take their word on it.
Pirates sign 3 of their top picks. Great news!
Here’s hoping they DON’T sign Connor Joe, so that next year, with that pick, they can take someone who actually, you know, is worth the 39th pick?
Connor Joe is my favorite player from this draft. He has a pretty swing and a good eye. He will hit and is position flexible. But what do I know?
Regarding Joe, on the BA Draft Podcast Clint Longnecker said “It’s tough not to like him.” He also characterized him as a “great athlete” with terrific bat speed. He had an OPS of 1068 this year and walked more than he struck out. I’m curious what are the major negatives for you.
They don’t get compensation for that pick
Are you sure? Miami got another pick this year after not signing the player the drafted with the pick they received in exchange for Gaby Sanchez
Well this is awkward but you r right I just looked into it. That’s surprising to me
I saw it before the draft when i was checking the order but at the time it did me as well. As far as taking Joe or having the 40th pick it’s difficult to say don’t sign Joe and wait and entire year for another guy. The thing that confuses me is 5 days ago Joe was on Root Sports during the game and said “I just have to head to Pittsburgh and finalize a few things and i will be a Pirate.” Very surprising his signing has not been announced yet.
Yeah idk I find it weird to idk if maybe they are waiting since tonight was cotucks night idk. I sort of like Joe could see him being a solid player but maybe not a star. Almost like an Alex Rios ceiling of a 20/20 guy who bats like 265-280
Funny that people who sit in front of a TV are so sure that they know much more about MLB prospect evaluation that a team of professional scouts and management that has a strong track record in player development. I was upset they passed Gatewood too, but come on, your knowledge base of these prospects is based on information from people who aren’t good enough to be currently employed by MLB.
Actually, people like BA, MLB.com and Keith Law develop their rankings based on reports they get from scouts who ARE employed in MLB.
Why would any of those sources for BA, MLB.com, Keith Law be inclined to give their actual true evaluations, especially on sleeper candidates? Isn’t this the perfect scenario for misinformation? If I was a professional scout and really liked a guy in the hinterlands I would be inclined to consider amplifying his flaws to the national pundit services in hopes of keeping him under evaluated and saving a better chance of getting him in the draft. Do you think that I am more nefarious than the scouts?
Pirates sign 3 of their top picks. Great news!
Here’s hoping they DON’T sign Connor Joe, so that next year, with that pick, they can take someone who actually, you know, is worth the 39th pick?