Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo have been doing mock drafts for MLB Pipeline over the last two months, releasing them every Thursday, taking turns making the picks. This week belongs to Callis, and he has the Pittsburgh Pirates taking Georgia high school second baseman Termarr Johnson with the fourth overall pick.
Johnson has been mentioned for the Pirates a few times over the last four months. He has a chance to be an elite batting average/OBP guy, with double-digit home run power. His bat is extremely advanced for a high school player.
Callis notes here that the Pirates might employ the same strategy as last year, going for a top talent at a slightly discounted price, leaving them room in their draft bonus pool to go after higher upside player with later picks. He also mentions two other players as possibilities here, with JUCO third baseman Cam Collier being a potential high upside/savings pick. He also mentions Brooks Lee, who has been the top name attached to the Pirates all season. The only reason Lee isn’t the pick for the Pirates in the mock draft is because Callis has him going third overall.
While he isn’t connected to the Pirates here, Callis has Elijah Green sliding to the fifth overall pick. In my opinion, he would be a hard player to pass over. He has more question marks than Johnson, but also higher upside.
