Crystal Ball look in the Pirates Draft

...

That name is scouting director Greg Smith.

Smith served as the Detroit Tigers scouting director from 1997 – 2004. He excels at selecting players that come into the draft extremely hyped, but for one reason or another fall in the rankings. In relation to the Pirates, 2008 was the first draft under the guidance of Smith. With the second pick in the 2008 draft he selected, in my opinion, the best player in the draft, third baseman Pedro Alvarez. He was not selected first overall due to an injury and coming back not producing up to his potential. The Pirates did not hesitate when he fell to them at the second pick. A perfect example of the Greg Smith philosophy stated earlier.

Financial issues always play a factor in Pirate drafts; a quality example is in 2007 when the Buccos chose Daniel Moskos over Matt Wieters. No need to explain the outcome of this decision. This can mainly be attributed to Wieter’s agent, Scott Boras, but more importantly the management of the team being fearful of investing in the future. In my opinion, McClatchy and Littlefield, wanted nothing to do with Scott Boras on the sole basis of having to pay high dollars for talent. Thus, they avoided any clients he represented. In return, the Pirates missed out on some quality talent, the Wieters example being a classic one. Enter Frank Coonelly and Neal Hunington. They did not blink an eye at selecting Pedro Alvarez. They were not scared off by the potential contractual issues, their focus was on talent. Their approach is to progressively make the Pirates better by bringing in talent. Even though there was a slight contractual issue with signing Alvarez last year, the management did not falter, and successful negotiated terms to get their man. Even though the situation was a long drawn out negotiation, the management did not falter and did things the right way.

Last year the Pirates allotted $9.8 million towards the draft class. This year we can probably expect somewhere in the neighborhood of $7 million, due to the fact that the draft talent this season is not nearly as strong. Plus the Pirates want to make a serious run at the 16 year old Dominican shortstop Miguel Sano.

The signing period for international athletes is July 2nd and it will probably take around $5 million to sign him. You may be asking yourself, “$4 million for a 16 year old Dominican shortstop?” The 6’3” 189 pound phenom is worth the investment. He has a strong arm and many compare him to Albert Pujols with the bat in a Hanley Ramirez body. Since he has a strong arm he may end up moving to the outfield in the majors, but teams may look at keeping him in his natural position at shortstop. In all honesty, I would rather invest into a talent such as Sano, then go into anymore players such as Derek Bell, Matt Morris, Raul Mondesi, shall I go on???

There are many directions the Pirates could go with the 2009 draft. They could select a frontline starting pitcher to mix in the rotation with Paul Maholm and Zach Duke. The issue with selecting a pitcher is that the Pirates have selected a pitcher with the top selection in 8 out of the last 11 drafts. Even worse, 6 of those pitchers drafted required major arm surgery shortly after being selected. The Pirates could go after shortstop Grant Green, power hitting prospect Dustin Ackley, or outfielder Donovan Tate to help shape a lineup that is beginning to look strong with their current talent. My personal choice and dream choice is Dustin Ackley.

He is the best pure hitter in the draft with the potential to become a batting champion at the next level. I can only hope that by some weird shirt in the galaxy that Ackley falls to us at pick four. I will base my predictions on him not falling to us, as I believe he has way to much potential to get by the three teams picking ahead of us.

The Pirates have three teams drafting in front of them. Washington, Seattle, and San Diego could select a number of players that ultimately could affect the Pirates pick. I forecast the following in the top end of the first round. The no brainer number one selection is Stephen Strasburg; there is no way the Nationals pass on that kind of upper end talent. Many scouts say that he is ready to pitch in the big leagues the day after being selected and I agree with this logic. I see Seattle selecting power-hitting Dustin Ackley with the second pick. The reasoning behind this pick is due to the current general manager. The main personnel man in helping bring homegrown power talent to the Milwaukee Brewers during his time there. The San Diego pick is one that I see as playing a significant role in the Pirates pick. I believe both teams will go after pitching with this pick. The Padres need to find an answer to the top end of their rotation just as much as the Pirates do. I see the Padres selecting Aaron Crow with this pick. Crow strongly resembles Jake Peavy with a strong fastball and above average slider. Now onto the Buccos and what to do at pick four.

The Pirates cannot be scared off by their past run of bad luck with selecting a pitcher in the first round. They need to approach the pick cautiously by making sure they make the right selection, but cannot afford to just ignore pitching all together. The only way I foresee them ignoring pitching is if Ackley somehow drops to this spot. Ackley’s power hitting capability alone is enough to wait to address pitching in later rounds. I do not foresee Ackley dropping so I see the Pirates taking the best available pitcher. This leaves either Alex White or Kyle Gibson. I believe the Pirates select Alex White.

Alex White is a top flight collegiate player that pitched very well for the University of North Carolina. Many rank him as the next best pitching prospect behind Strasburg. White can hit the high 90’s at times, but consistently hits the lower 90’s. White consistently topped over a 100 pitches in many outings, sometimes even hitting the 120 mark. The Pirates desperately need starters that can work their way into the late innings to help with the bullpen. He struggles with his command at times, but has the stuff to be a front liner starter. White would mix in well with Paul Maholm and Zach Duke at the top of the rotation and give the Pirates a quality starting staff for years to come. I believe the Pirates pass on Kyle Gibson simply because he does not project to be a frontline ace. The Pirates need to hit on this pick and to waste a number four pick on a mid level starter is not worth the selection.

The major league baseball draft is scheduled for June 9 – 11 and my eyes will be fixated on the top pick this year to see if the Pirates can start to string together back to back solid drafts. I have faith that this will be another solid draft for the Pirates. As you can see in the chart I believe the roster is being built the right way.

I look forward to a quality draft and the signing of Miguel Sano in the next few months. The excitement needs to build with this team, what better way then to bring in young talented players by any means necessary!

Except where otherwise noted, this content is
licensed under a Creative Commons License.