On Wednesday, we posted our popular tiered draft rankings article, breaking down all the top prospects into groups. The basic idea of the article is to break the players down into talent levels the best we can, basing those levels on where the Pirates make their picks. This year won’t be quite as exciting as last year because the field doesn’t seem as deep and instead of making their first two selections at 19 and 32, the Pirates have the 22nd and 41st picks.
Even the third pick on day one is a little later than last year (62nd compared to 68th), but there were some really intriguing names yesterday in our “good fit for the second round pick” tier. I think that second round pick will allow them to take a player who fell in the draft due to performance, but their upside remains high based on tools. I believe they will go into the second round with a player they really like on their draft board. I also think someone rated much higher earlier in the year will be available and make them think twice about their pick. There is one thing that could put a wrench in that idea though
Yesterday I noted that Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo had a list of names with high bonus demands. Last year we saw some of those players rated highly, not get picked. Or they got picked in a late round, just in case they changed their mind about signing. With a long list of those players with high demands this year, that could thin out the draft at the top. If ten of the top 100 names eliminated themselves due to high bonus demands, then you’re less likely to get a player in the second round who looked like a sure first round pick early in the season, but fell in the draft rankings due to performance.
Those high bonus demand players could allow some teams to really stock up on talent too. The Reds, Phillies, Braves, Rockies and Padres all have over $11M in their draft bonus pool. If those teams decide to go for top tier talent with their early picks, then you won’t get so many top rated draft picks not signing, which in essence would help the Pirates, leaving them more talent to choose from…unless the Pirates would be willing to go over-slot with their first pick and save some money with later picks.
The Pirates first pick is worth $2,253,700 and that 41st pick has a $1,576,000 tag attached. There are a couple players in that article who supposedly want more than those two pick values combined, so they are out of the question. There are others though who want about $3M, which would still leave a decent amount of money. The problem you run into if you’re the Pirates with a smaller draft pool is that you would now have to like that player so much, that you think he is worth going after despite the fact you would then need to take a lesser player with that second pick. It’s basically weighing the talent and saying do we think player X will be so good that even if we combine him with a lesser player, we will still come out ahead with those first two picks? Looking at the players with those demands, I’d say no.
Tomorrow’s Morning Report will take a look at the best players still left on the board after the day one picks are done and in some cases, those players will be high school players who won’t end up signing. If you’re hoping to get them in the third round or later, then that’s highly unlikely, but I’ll briefly mention them anyway. If you follow along with the draft, you can do what I do and copy and paste the tiered rankings article somewhere, then cross off the names as they are called. After each pick is made by the Pirates, we will have a write-up of the player up on the site. That goes for all 41 picks in the draft. For the players taken tonight, there is a good chance you can find something about them on the site in our draft coverage from the four months.
PLAYOFF PUSH
Bradenton is 8-2 in their last ten games. They are in first place in their division, 3.5 games ahead. The first half of the FSL season ends on June 22nd. Their magic number is nine.
West Virginia is 5-5 in their last ten games. They are in fifth place in their division, trailing first place by 6.5 games. The first half of the SAL season ends on June 19th. Their elimination number is down to five.
PIRATES GAME GRAPH
Source: FanGraphs
TODAY’S SCHEDULE
Today’s Starter and Notes: The Pirates lost 6-5 to the Mets on Wednesday night. They now travel to Colorado for a makeup game before returning home for a series against the Cardinals. Jeff Locke gets the start for the Pirates tonight. He threw six shutout innings against the Rockies in his start back on April 25th. In his last outing, he allowed three runs over seven innings against the Angels.Chad Bettis starts for the Rockies. He has a 5.58 ERA in 69.1 innings, with 49 strikeouts and a 1.44 WHIP. He faced Locke and the Pirates on April 25th and allowed four runs over 6.2 innings.
In the minors, Indianapolis has a doubleheader and neither pitcher is listed. My guess would be Kyle Lobstein and Wilfredo Boscan. If they are announced early enough, I’ll update this article. Bradenton also has a doubleheader of sorts. They will finish yesterday’s suspended game first, then play a seven inning contest for today’s regularly scheduled game. Yesterday’s score is 0-0 in the fifth.
Tyler Eppler gets the start for Altoona. He’s coming off a nice bounce back start after two very tough outings. He allowed two runs on four hits and no walks over seven innings in his last outing. In his two prior games, he gave up 13 runs over eight total innings.
Gage Hinsz is making his second start after throwing five shutout innings in his season debut last week. Hinsz is the 25th ranked prospect in the system. Austin Coley has allowed three earned runs or less in each of his last nine starts.
MLB: Pittsburgh (32-27) @ Rockies (26-32) 5:10 PM
Probable starter: Jeff Locke (4.28 ERA, 24:35 BB/SO, 67.1 IP)
AAA: Indianapolis (30-28) @ Columbus (34-25) 5:35 PM DH (season preview)
Probable starter: TBD and TBD
AA: Altoona (32-26) @ Erie (24-36) 7:05 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Tyler Eppler (4.20 ERA, 13:43 BB/SO, 64.1 IP)
High-A: Bradenton (32-24) vs Tampa (37-20) 6:30 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Austin Coley (3.41 ERA, 22:41 BB/SO, 60.2 IP)
Low-A: West Virginia (30-28) @ Columbia (29-30) 7:05 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Gage Hinsz (0.00 ERA, 2:6 BB/SO, 5.0 IP)
DSL: Pirates (0-4) vs Cubs1 (0-4) 10:30 AM (season preview)
HIGHLIGHTS
Here is a three-run homer from Josh Bell on Tuesday night. He also homered Wednesday during the day.
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
6/8: Pirates recall Jameson Taillon. Curtis Partch optioned to Indianapolis.
6/8: JT Brubaker promoted to Bradenton. Julio Vivas added to West Virginia roster.
6/6: Clay Holmes assigned to Extended Spring Training. David Whitehead added to Altoona roster.
6/4: Pirates released Nate Irving, Edgar Figueroa, Eric Thomas and Eliezer Ramirez.
6/4: Pirates option Rob Scahill and Wilfredo Boscan to Indianapolis. Recall Curtis Partch and Cory Luebke.
6/4: Ryan Vogelsong transferred from 15-day disabled list to 60-day DL.
6/4: Guido Knudson added to Indianapolis roster.
6/2: Gage Hinsz assigned to West Virginia. Mitch Keller assigned to Extended Spring Training.
6/2: Justin Masterson assigned to Indianapolis. Frank Duncan assigned to Altoona.
6/2: Arquimedes Caminero assigned to Indianapolis on rehab.
6/2: David Whitehead assigned to GCL Pirates.
6/1: Pirates release Michael Fransoso.
5/29: Justin Masterson assigned to Bradenton.
5/29: Jhondaniel Medina assigned to Altoona.
5/28: Tony Watson reinstated from paternity list. Kyle Lobstein optioned to Indianapolis.
5/28: Cole Tucker promoted to Bradenton. Jess Amedee added to West Virginia roster.
5/27: Trevor Williams and Jim Fuller assigned to Indianapolis.
5/27: Kevin Newman placed on disabled list. Colten Brewer added to Bradenton roster.
5/27: Logan Sendelbach added to West Virginia roster. Jess Amedee assigned to Extended Spring Training.
5/26: Jhondaniel Medina promoted to Indianapolis.
THIS DATE IN PIRATES HISTORY
Three former Pittsburgh Pirates players born on this date, and two of them spent 11 seasons with the Pirates. Lost with the other two players born on this date, Julio Gotay played infield for the Pirates during the 1963-64 seasons and he was part of a big trade that sent Dick Groat to the Cardinals in November of 1962.
Dave Parker was born on this date in 1951. He was a 14th round draft choice of the Pirates in 1970 and played for the team from 1973 until 1983 when he left via free agency. Parker hit .305 with 166 homers in 1,301 games for the Pirates. During his time in Pittsburgh, he won the 1978 NL MVP, made four All-Star teams and won three Gold Glove awards. You can read a full bio of Parker here.
Also born on this date, Bill Virdon, who played for the Pirates from 1956 until 1965, then returned briefly in 1968. He played 1,415 games for the Pirates, the 11th most all-time. Virdon hit .266 during his time in Pittsburgh and won a Gold Glove in 1962. He drove in five runs during the 1960 World Series. You can read a full bio on Virdon here.
