With the compensation pick for losing Russell Martin, the Pirates drafted Ke’Bryan Hayes with the 32nd overall pick in the 2015 draft. Hayes is the son of Charlie Hayes, he of the very brief Pirate career back in 1996 (he was signed as a free agent that winter, then dumped off to the Yankees mid-season as he helped them win the 1996 World Series).
Like his dad, Ke’Bryan is a third baseman. Actually, much of the analysis on him is that he’s a lot like his dad — apparently he’s got gap power potential and soft hands at third base that could keep him at the position (as I joked on Twitter earlier today, my only memory of Charlie Hayes as a Pirate is of him making a bare-handed play at third base — after I made the joke I was sent this YouTube link by @BigBurgher which shows that play, WHICH HAPPENED WITH DEREK BELL AT THE PLATE FOR THE ASTROS). The other relevant information is that Hayes is committed to Tennessee, but that he seems signable.
This isn’t really on the Hayes topic, but Travis Sawchik had two tweets about all of the position players that the Pirates have been drafting the in the high rounds over the last couple of years:
Pirates officials shocked at number of draft-eligible pitchers with medical red flags last couple classes and expect TJ trend to continue…
— Travis Sawchik (@Sawchik_Trib) June 9, 2015
… that could in part explain the position-player focus with premium picks over the last three drafts — Travis Sawchik (@Sawchik_Trib) June 9, 2015
The Pirates have certainly been bit hard by the Tommy John bug lately, so this would make some sense. I would expect them to focus on pitchers in the later rounds, as seems to be their normally MO in the draft.
