2009 Draft is Complete

After 51 selections, the Pirates have completed their participation in the 2009 first year player draft. Here's the MLB site's draft tracker, which lists all the Bucs' picks.

Of course, much has already been said about their first pick, fourth overall, catcher Tony Sanchez from Boston College. Most of what has been said is criticism, or at least it was at the end of Tuesday's portion of the draft. One complaint that amused me was that the Pirates essentially drafted Yadier Molina in the first round. Granted, Molina is no superstar, but I will be very pleased if Sanchez turns out as good as Molina.

Anyway, here's a little theory on the first round talent (Note: I am far from an expert on amateur baseball, so bear with me here): So after Strasburg and Ackley, there didn't seem to be much of a consensus on the next best player. Perhaps the drop off in talent was pretty substantial. So maybe the Pirates though they could sign a Yadier Molina type catcher at a nice price, rather than any number of pitchers who fit into the Joe Blanton or Randy Wolf mold, someone with decent/average big league starter potential. But these Blanton-Wolf types are asking for twice what the Molina type is. And knowing that there are a number of more intriguing high school pitchers with college plans that will be available later in the draft, why not take the Molina type now? Now I know some of the pitchers selected shortly after Sanchez are actually pretty highly regarded, with more potential than this Blanton-Wolf hybrid I created. Okay, my point is that even if Sanchez was a reach, based on projections, the difference in talent between him and players like Aaron Crow and Tyler Matzek might not be that great. So judging the first round on its own (which is a little foolish, especially mere days after the fact), and disregarding Neal Huntington's strategy, I don't think this pick is all that bad. It's not great, but not nearly as bad as the Wieters/Moskos debacle.

One of the reasons the Pirates did pick Sanchez was signability, which doesn't necessarily mean that the Bucs were going cheap. Judging by their selections later in the draft, primarily early on day 2, the Pirates will certainly be needing to sign some large checks to lure these high school players away from their beckoning college scholarships. If the Pirates end up spending $8 or 9 million on signing bonuses this year, they really can't be called thrifty, since they spent in that neighborhood last year, much to the delight of Pirate fans everywhere. So if the Bucs end up signing 4 or 5 of these high-ceiling high schoolers, to go along with Sanchez, and a couple dozen others right around slot, then I would have to call this a pretty successful draft.

So let's reserve judgment until August 17 (signing deadline) on this draft. And also, let's keep in mind that we won't really know if this draft was a success for a few years.

Also, today the Bucs defeated Atlanta 3-1, to force a split in their 4 game series. Paul Maholm and Javier Vazquez had themselves a nice pitcher's duel, striking out 20 batters between them. However, Andy LaRoche singled in 2 runs in the 9th off reliever Rafael Soriano to give the Bucs their second consecutive win.

Up next, some interleague play, as the Tigers come to town. And, fortunately, Justin Verlander will not be pitching in the series.