Jim Callis of Baseball America has released his final mock draft, and has the Pirates taking two familiar names. With the ninth pick, Callis has the Pirates taking Reese McGuire, while D.J. Peterson is going with the 14th pick.
Callis has had McGuire going to the Pirates ninth overall in each of his last three mock drafts. He notes that the Pirates will take one of McGuire, Austin Meadows, or Trey Ball, although only Meadows is on the board when the Pirates are picking in this mock draft. In the latest podcast, I talked with Callis about Reese McGuire’s upside, and he noted that McGuire could be an All-Star catcher.
Callis has been switching back and forth between Hunter Renfroe and D.J. Peterson with the last few mock drafts at number 14, but has picked Peterson twice in a row. In this mock draft, Renfroe is going 13th overall, one pick before the Pirates. Callis isn’t the only one who has the Pirates looking at Peterson, as pretty much every other outlet that has produced a mock draft says the Pirates are looking at the 1B/3B from New Mexico. Callis notes that the Pirates hope Peterson or Ball get to 14, and that Renfroe or Ryne Stanek are backup plans. If all four are gone, he says they could turn to Dominic Smith.
UPDATE 6:11 PM: Callis has updated his mock draft. He still has Reese McGuire at number nine, and says the Pirates would strongly consider Austin Meadows. With the 14th pick he has Ryne Stanek over Dominic Smith, with Renfroe and Peterson going ahead of the Pirates.
