Pirates to pick Jameson Taillon at No. 2, Orioles like Manny Machado at No. 3

Bryce Harper going to the Nationals with the No. 1 pick is a foregone conclusion at this point and Buster Olney of ESPN reports that the Pirates have decided on high school pitcher Jameson Taillon with the second pick in tonight’s draft. Taillon is a 6-foot-7 right-hander from Texas who throws in the mid-90s, ranking as the second-best prospect in this year’s draft behind only Harper according to both Baseball America and ESPN. MLB.com has some video of Taillon overpowering high school hitters, so Pirates fans can take time away from another losing season to drool over him. Assuming that Harper goes No. 1 to the Nationals and Taillon goes No. 2 to the Pirates, the Orioles are expected to use the third overall pick on high school shortstop Manny Machado. Baltimore reportedly is prepared to take whichever one of Taillon or Machado goes undrafted by Pittsburgh, as those two and Harper are the top three guys on basically everyone’s draft board. Naturally then, the Royals pick fourth.