LOS ANGELES – When working out or pitching at either Pirate City or with the Class Low-A Bradenton Marauders, the same thought will periodically pop into Anthony Solometo's mind.
“Sometimes I just look around at what Bubba [Chandler]’s doing, what Owen [Kellington]’s doing, what Braylon [Bishop]’s doing, and I’m just like, ‘how did they pull this off?’ ” the left-hander and 2021 second-round pick told me in Dunedin, Fla. recently.
The “this” he is referring to is last year’s draft class, one that featured one of the largest hauls of top 100 prospects since the league moved to a capped bonus pool a decade earlier. Solometo, Chandler, Bishop, Lonnie White Jr. and No. 1 pick Henry Davis were all ranked as top 100 draft prospects, with all but Bishop ranking inside Baseball America’s top 32 picks.
On Sunday, that will no longer be the Pirates’ most recent draft class, and they’ll be on the clock to once again try to get as much impact talent into the organization during their rebuild.
A big part of that will be nailing the Pirates’ first selection, No. 4 overall behind the Orioles, Diamondbacks and Rangers.
“History says that if you’re betting, that’s where the biggest return is going to come in the draft,” Ben Cherington said during a pre-draft Zoom call with local reporters. “It’s really important. That’s why we spend so much time on it.”
Exactly who will be available at No. 4 is still very much in the air. Like last year’s draft, there doesn’t appear to be a clear choice for the first pick, which could create some chaos on draft day.
“We don’t have as much control,” Cherington said. “We’re going to have to see what’s in front of us.”
One thing does seem for certain, though, and it’s that the Pirates’ first pick will be a position player. That says more about the group of players available and this class not having any standout pitchers worthy of discussion at first overall.
“We do think that there’s a strong group of position players at the top of the draft,” Cherington said. “We also know that historically if we do our jobs well, when teams do their jobs well pitching can be found throughout the draft, deeper in the draft often.”
It’s also a unique class in that many of the top players available are the sons of former major-leaguers or professional athletes. Outfielder Druw Jones is the son of former Gold Glover Andruw Jones. Shortstop Jackson Holliday is the son of Silver Slugger winner Matt Holliday. Outfielder Elijah Green is the son of former Steeler Eric Green.
“We've got to evaluate each player for what he is and if you're a son of a former big leaguer, that’s just part of your story,’ Cherington said. “It's not the whole story and there [are] other guys who have equally unique and interesting stories.”
The Pirates will be on the clock Sunday. Here’s what you need to know about this year’s draft.
WHEN IS THE DRAFT AND HOW TO WATCH IT
The first and second rounds will take place Sunday at 7 p.m. Eastern. Day two and three will begin at 2 p.m. Eastern Monday and Tuesday. Day two will cover rounds 3-10, and day three 11-20.
MLB Network will have complete coverage of the day one picks and ESPN will cover the first round. All day two and three picks will be available to stream through MLB.com
WHAT PICKS DO THE PIRATES HAVE?
The Pirates will have the fourth overall pick this year and another first-rounder via a Competitive Balance Round A pick at No. 36. They have had Competitive Balance picks in the last four drafts, taking right-hander Gunnar Hoglund in 2018 (but failed to sign him), outfielder Sammy Siani in 2019 and right-hander Carmen Mlodzinski in 2020. All of those were Round A picks after the first round. White Jr. was taken last year in Competitive Balance Round B after the second round.
Their second round pick is at No. 44 overall, their third is at No. 83 and their fourth at No. 110. From there, the rest of their selections come once every 30 selections. Like last year, the draft will be 20 rounds.
HOW MUCH CAN THE PIRATES SPEND?
The Pirates have a draft bonus pool of $13,733,900, the fourth-largest of any team this year. They can spend up to an additional 5% ($686,695) before being penalized with future draft picks.
Last year, they spent the entirety of their bonus pool and the 5% overcharge.
If a team fails to sign a draft pick, they vacate the signing bonus money.
The slot values of the Pirates’ picks are
Rd. 1, Pick No.4 :$7,002,100
CBA Rd. A, Pick No. 36: $2,149,200
Rd. 2, Pick No. 44: $1,775,200
Rd. 3, Pick No. 83: $770,300
Rd. 4, Pick No. 110: $554,600
Rd. 5, Pick No. 140: $413,600
Rd. 6, Pick No. 170: $311,400
Rd. 7, Pick No. 200: $242,800
Rd. 8, Pick No. 230: $193,00
Rd. 9, Pick No. 260: $166,100
Rd. 10, Pick No. 290: $154,900
Players who are selected in the 11th-20th rounds or sign as undrafted free agents can sign for up to $150,000 without having it count against the bonus pool. Any amount over $150,000 counts against the pool. However, signing a player selected for less than that amount does not add money to the pool.
WHO IS ON THE BOARD?
I did a breakdown of the players the Pirates could select fourth overall earlier this month. The most recent mock drafts have linked the Pirates to infielder Termarr Johnson, a new development in this draft cycle.
One debate that always surrounds teams with large bonus pools is whether it is advantageous to select someone a little further down on the draft board so they will sign for less money, meaning players from other rounds could receive more. The Pirates pulled that strategy off en masse last year.
There’s no guarantee that’s what the Pirates will do this year, though.
“It really just depends on how the draft falls,” Cherington said. “We’re certainly not going into it assuming that that’s a strategy that we will deploy but we want to be ready for it if that’s the way it falls, if that’s where the opportunity is.”