Excited for the future!!!!

In case you missed it, the Pirates had the number 1 draft pick this year.  Many people who cover the draft thought that Jack Leiter (Al Leiter's son) or Marcelo Mayer would go number 1 overall.  The Pirates instead chose to select Henry Davis, a college catcher. 

Davis signed quickly and underslot so the team could sign some more elite high ceiling players in the later rounds.  The Pirates were able to draft 4 of the top 35 ranked prospects in their first four rounds and they signed all of them.  It was an amazing job by new General Manager Ben Cherington and his team.

Henry Davis has quickly impressed fans by already receiving a promotion to High A ball.  

In just a few games in low A, Davis was slashing .429/.429/1.143 which is good for a 1.572 OPS and a 284wRC+

He hit 2 doubles and a home run in only 7 games.

This quickly earned him the promotion to High A and he shined in that debut too going 1 for 3 with a walk and triple.  

The Greensboro Grasshoppers, the Pirates high A affiliate is loaded with top 100 prospects. 

Quinn Prister, the Pirates number 2 prospect, and first round draft pick in 2019 threw 7 scoreless innings while striking out 10 on Friday.  He has a 2.80 ERA over his 23 minor league starts.

Nick Gonzalez, the Pirates first round draft pick in 2020, is continuing to recover from an earlier season injury but has come on hot lately going 4 for 5 yesterday. 

Liover Peguero, a shortstop acquired in the Starling Marte trade, is a top 100 prospect and the best defensive shortstop in the organization.  

Lolo Sanchez continues to swipe bags at a good rate, now sitting at the quarter century mark.

I am excited for the Pirates in the next 3 years.  

It reminds me of when the Pirates tore the whole thing down in 2008.

Gone were the days of wasted draft picks like Bryan Bullington.  Yes, the Pirates chose Bryan Bullington as the number 1 draft pick and former GM stated after the draft that they saw Bullington as someone who could be a back of the rotation starter.

You don't use the number 1 pick for that!!!!

Zack Greinke, Cole Hamels, Matt Cain, Scott Kazmir, and Prince Fielder were all first round picks that year. Uggghhh.

Other notable early selections were Joey Votto, Jon Lester, Brian McCann, Charlie Morton, Rich Hill, Curtis Granderson, and Josh Johnson.

To say the Pirates botched the 2003 draft would be an understatement.  I don't think they botched this draft in 2021.

I am excited for it!!!

I did find this old program with Bryan Bullington on the front.

And of course it had an article about Andrew McCutchen in it.  I am always looking for more magazines with Cutch in it.

Do you display your magazines or keep them in boxes?

Top Prospects

The Pittsburgh Pirates had a top 5 farm system in 2015 to couple with an MLB team with the 2nd best record in baseball.  Things have changed a lot since then as the MLB team and farm system has been gutted in just over 5 years.  

While things look bleak in current days, they looked even worse in 2006 when the team had a bottom 10 farm system and bottom 10 active MLB roster.  

If you follow me on Twitter you have already seen my unique item I am going to show off today. 

Above is a page from Baseball America that is signed by 9 of the 10 top prospects for the Pirates in 2006.  Andrew McCutchen and Jose Bautista are the two biggest names as they have 11 All Star game appearances between the two of them, but Nate McLouth and Matt Capps also had made an all star game appearance. 

Do you have any multiplayer signed photos, images, equipment in your collection?