Kovacevic's 21 Takes: The Pirates' real priority at No. 1, forgetting Flower, vital O-line

DENVER -- No, I don't know much about Marcelo Mayer, either.

What's worse, I could see a scenario in which the Pirates wouldn't know a whole lot more.

Sure, there are scouting reports. Major League Baseball's Draft, which until a few years ago was strictly the domain of the geekiest of the geeks, is finally catching up with its sporting peers in terms of available information. So, where once all we'd hear is that there was a lanky kid some silver-haired scouts liked out in California, we're now a click away from a written/visual treasure trove on Mayer, a 6-foot-3, 195-pound sweet-swinging shortstop out of Eastlake High School near San Diego.

We also can read specific scouting insight such as how Mayer "has average or above tools across the board, starting with a plus feel to hit from the left side of the plate" as well as "an advanced approach and knowledge of the strike zone to go with elite bat-to-ball skills and a pure stroke" and that he's got "a Corey Seager-like offensive profile if it all comes together."

Feel any better about him?

Nope. In fact, if I'm being candid, I'm feeling more confused the closer the July 11 draft comes.

Back when the calendar flipped, the full dialogue was about Vanderbilt's two superlative starters, Jack Leiter and Kumar Rocker, and that was ... you know, fun. Both were on TV fairly regularly, often on back-to-back nights, and I could enjoy trying to envision one or the other pitching in Pittsburgh before long. They're in college, they're a little older at age 21, their frames are filled out, and it didn't require much projection to picture an arrival of 2023 or so.

And yet, here we are just a few months later, even with Leiter and Rocker both having performed well for Vandy, and this is the current MLB Pipeline pool of draft prospects:

1. Marcelo Mayer, SS
2. Jordan Lawlar, SS
3. Jack Leiter, RHP
4. Kahlil Watson, SS
5. Henry Davis, C
6. Kumar Rocker, RHP

Only in baseball. And only, arguably, amid a pandemic that shut down the game at all levels for nearly a year and caused unprecedented scouting chaos.

I'd love to have pitching. As a baseball exec once told me, the hardest thing to acquire in Pittsburgh always will be truly elite starting pitching. It'll always be unaffordable through free agency, and there'll always be a reluctance for teams to part with what they've got. The only viable path, then, is the Gerrit Cole path. Meaning, of course, this one.

To stress, I'll hate like heck seeing Leiter/Rocker pitch somewhere else. Particularly if they reach the majors as rapidly as I'd expect.

At the same time, I'm not comfortable on one hand commending Ben Cherington for bringing to Pittsburgh the smartest plan I'd ever seen associated with the Pirates -- a relentless pursuit of high-ceiling talent at all levels -- then on the other hand begrudging him for sticking by that with a No. 1 overall draft pick.

Let's presume that Mayer's the premier talent in this class, as so many services now seem to think and maybe Cherington's staff, as well. If that's the case, then that really should be all that matters. Even if the margin's a millimeter. It shouldn't matter that his arrival won't come a couple years after Leiter/Rocker are already whiffing big-league batters. And it definitely shouldn't matter there's already a richly promising shortstop in the system in Liover Peguero with Class A Greensboro. 

Show me two top prospects at the same position, and I'll show you a golden trade opportunity.

But sorry, I'm going to need a lot more convincing on that part about truly elite starting pitching. Plain and simple, the Pirates won't contend for a sixth World Series without it. And barring a miracle in the form of an imminent salary cap -- don't hold the breath for that -- this is the avenue for acquiring it.

Better be sure on this shortstop. As Cherington himself put it yesterday, "We need to get this right. It’s really important. Let’s take all the time we have to get this right.”

• That's not to knock Mayer. If he really were to blossom into a Seager-type, the Pirates should be delighted.

Seager, too, was drafted out of high school, the Dodgers' first-round pick in 2012, 18th overall, he made his Los Angeles debut at age 21 in September 2015, and he was the National League's Rookie of the Year in 2016. Overall, he's slashed .293/.362/.495, and he's been a two-time All-Star while occasionally collecting MVP votes.

There's room for that here, to say the least. And it's tantalizing to imagine that next to Ke'Bryan Hayes.

But again, how will the pitching make it?

• Oh, right. Via the Greensboro Grasshoppers.

Seriously, anyone who doesn't read Tom Reed's extraordinary report from North Carolina, filed over the weekend to our site, I'm afraid we no longer can be friends.

• I'm up here a mile high to cover the Pirates' three-game set with the Rockies, and I couldn't be any higher than everyone on that field at Busch Stadium must've felt when this happened yesterday:

That's one of the most graceful, elegant, athletic plays you'll ever see a baseball player make.

"I’ve seen one play similar that Manny made in Baltimore," was how Derek Shelton described it, referencing Manny Machado. "I would be hard-pressed to say that’s not the play of the year. To go that far to his right and make that good a throw ... there’s not a lot that that kid does that just doesn’t surprise you every day, man. He’s special over there."

Yep. And he'll be there for a long time. Contrary to common public misperception, he can't be a free agent until after the 2027 season. That's a long, long time.

• The Pirates are now 6-3 since that 10-game losing streak, in large part because they've finally resumed scoring a few runs, with 48 in that span. 

Which, coincidentally or not, aligns perfectly with all this:

Keep it coming. Crack down on all the cheaters. The game's unfair enough as it is from the economic standpoint.

• Both Adam Frazier and Bryan Reynolds deserve to make a return visit to this city next month as All-Stars, but there's no way they or anyone associated with the Pirates can be upset if that doesn't occur. Teams that are 18 games under .500 come with zero entitlement, individual or otherwise.

Still, it's neat that it's worthy of discussion, huh?

• Max Kranick, man.

"I learned a ton about his composure because the first inning, it was raining really hard," Shelton said yesterday. "To be able to stay composed, he couldn’t have been any better in terms of going right out, executing his fastball, going right after a good lineup. It was very impressive."

Good for him. Maybe he'll be one of those starting pitchers.

• It's coming. It really is. Be patient.

STEELERS

• The state of the Steelers' offensive line is troubling, to put it mildly. It's that much more troubling in light of what I reported exclusively over the weekend about Kevin Dotson's disappointing offseason.

Still and all, I'm not feeling some full-on panic.

Why?

For starters, I believe in both of the tackles, Chuks Okorafor and Zach Banner. The former will be moving to the left side, and the latter will be coming off knee surgery, but both come with impeccable character, drive, size and skill level. And if one considers that the greatest threat an O-line generally faces is an opponent's multimillion-dollar edge rushers, this is encouraging.

For another, I'm beginning to believe big-time in Adrian Klemm. He's the new offensive line coach, and I'm loving everything I'm hearing about him. He's demanding accountability, physicality and proficiency, I'm told, in a way the Steelers hadn't seen since Mike Munchak.

Don't misunderstand: None of the above have proven a thing, including Klemm. There's work ahead. (Especially for Dotson.) But I do want to share why I'm not all doom-and-gloom on this subject.

• Also, hey, more players can be added.

If I'm Kevin Colbert, the moment the decision on David DeCastro was made, I'd have shuffled my priorities as follows:

1. Another offensive lineman
2. Third edge rusher
3. Third safety
4. Support at corner
5. Yet another offensive lineman

I'd probably consider flipping Nos. 4 and 5, too. The edge rusher and safety are legit needs, but the corners are in-house and just need to get better. (Looking at you, James Pierre, Justin Layne and Shakur Brown.) The collective need at guard and tackle, even if as insurance, outweighs it all.

• Why did the Steelers declare DeCastro's release as being based on an NFI, or non-football injury?

"The owners are billionaires for a reason," DeCastro came back to that question on 93.7 The Fan late last week, clearly referencing that the Steelers will benefit from that designation.

Only they might not. DeCastro can -- and almost surely will -- file a grievance through the NFLPA claiming that he played through a right ankle injury throughout the 2020 season. If he can prove that, and the Steelers never once listed the ankle on their regular injury reports -- they didn't -- the team can be in double-trouble.

From the opposing viewpoint: Why did DeCastro wait until mid-June to decide the ankle needed surgery?

This isn't done, obviously.

• I'm stubbornly seeing 10-7 ... if the line shapes up. And that's a sizable if.

• Amid all the understandable complaining about the Steelers not being allowed to conduct part of training camp in Latrobe, it seems to have gotten lost that the team in that same announcement pledged to "host fans at Heinz Field for a select number of practices."

I've got to say, that's a significant consolation prize.

Take this from someone who's done a ton of both, the proximity of the practice, combined with other elements the Steelers utilize at their stadium -- sideline commentary, replays, etc. -- make for an outstanding experience in and of itself. Also, let's not forget that there are a lot of fans who rarely get into Heinz Field for NFL games, and this offers that opportunity, too.

Just saying.

• I'm OK with the NFL soliciting bids for the Scouting Combine -- it's always just been in Indianapolis -- so long as Pittsburgh actually gets considered. The Super Bowl moves around, the NFL Draft moves around, and now the Combine will move around ... and our city, home to one of the league's marquee franchises, has registered a big zero on all fronts.

• Anytime anyone gets down about the Steelers heading into 2021, repeat these two words: Najee Harris.

See? Works every time.

PENGUINS

• Marc-Andre Fleury might be available.

That's might.

Yeah, he and Robin Lehner and Pete DeBoer and everyone else in Las Vegas spoke all the right things over the weekend in their locker-cleanout interviews, notably with Fleury saying, "I haven't given much thought to the future, but it's always been in my heart to stick around and finish up here."

And to buttress that, his outspoken agent, Allan Walsh, then tweeted this out:

He and Lehner became close friends this season, according to both, and learned how to manage their one-of-a-kind, high-profile rotation. Both wanted the net. Both learned to support the other.

Fleury's 36, and he's got one more year on his contract with a cap hit of $7 million. Lehner's 29, and he's signed through the 2024-25 season with an annual cap hit of $5 million. It's obvious who's the longer-term priority, but Fleury's fresh off a Vezina Trophy-finalist regular season and a fine playoffs in which he saw most of the action. So for as long as he's there, it'll be a split. 

Yeah, he'd be a beyond-perfect fit if he were to return to the Penguins. But it'd take a lot of moving parts to make that happen, not least of which is Fleury being ready to uproot the family yet again, and not least of which is the Golden Knights' brass being willing to make the move. They sure weren't when Jim Rutherford tried before this past season.

I don't know. I'd file this under unlikely ... though not inconceivable.

• It doesn't always take a great goaltender to win the Cup, but it takes great goaltend-ing. Even if that's just an ordinary guy getting white-hot.

Of course, the chances of that increase when the goaltender's just great by default, so, you know, go get one. Tristan Jarry ain't it.

• For all the fuss over big, tough, mean and all that, the playoffs I'm watching are being won by Braden Point (5-10), Nikita Kucherov (5-11), Cole Caufield (5-7), Nick Suzuki (5-10) and so forth.

Not that size doesn't help, and not that the final four participants didn't benefit from adding bulk, but let's not pretend there's some total rewrite of the sport taking place. It's still about speed, skill and scoring.

• The Penguins can get bigger, tougher and meaner without sacrificing any of those facets: Move 6-4 Jeff Carter to Sidney Crosby's right wing, utilize 6-6 Radim Zohorna as fourth-line center, place 6-5 Anthony Angello next to him, and set Angello's hair on fire. Problem solved.

• The very obvious key matchup in the Final that opens tonight in Tampa will be the Lightning's power play vs. the Canadiens' penalty-killing:

I'm through picking against the Habs, so I'm hereby forecasting that Carey Price will stop all 150 power-play shots he sees en route to a Montreal sweep.

• No, really, it'll be Bolts in five. 

Presuming Kucherov can navigate those visibly broken ribs, there's just too much firepower, too much depth, too much speed through the neutral zone generated by those Victor Hedman and Mikhail Sergachev breakouts and, oh, yeah, Price's counterpart, Andrei Vasilevskiy is probably the real best goaltender in the league.

But feel free to bet hard against that.