A few more thoughts on yesterday: Tim at BuccoFans makes the great point that the Pirates were hardly the only team picking in the top 10 that “reached’ yesterday. And while it’s been said before, I’ll repeat it for emphasis; Sanchez is not a “Moskos pick,” and that’s for two reasons. One is that Moskos was a pitcher (always a bigger risk) that was a reliever (low upside) in college taken over someone almost universally agreed to be the best prospect in the draft. Sanchez is a catcher with a definite skill set (defense) and some potential with the bat taken over a bunch of guys that all had their own set of question marks. I’m still not a big fan of the pick, but I certainly don’t want to come off like I think it’s worse than it was. And if Huntington had taken someone more to my liking in the first round, I’d probably be fine with the next three picks. That’s just how this sort of thing goes.
Anyways, Rounds 4-30 are being drafted today and this is where Huntington can make up ground. These are the rounds that the guys that could’ve been picked in yesterday’s rounds will fall to and they’re ultimately the picks that will define this draft. I don’t know a lot about any of these guys and these picks are going to come fast and furious, so if anyone knows anything about the picks we make, please post it in the comments and I’ll try to keep track of any interesting guys we grab today.
UPDATE (12:56)- Holy cow, these picks fly by. In rounds 4-8, the Pirates have taken high school pitchers with every pick and for the most part, they’re all cut from the same mold; huge high school numbers with commitments to pretty good college programs. Big departure from yesterday, so far.
3:13- Names are still flying off the board, but they’re getting pretty obscure at this point. I’ll do a longer round-up of this round some time later today/tonight, but what I can tell you is this; I really like what Huntington is doing today and it makes his strategy from yesterday a bit clearer. Since the pick of Sanchez, we’ve taken 13(!) pitchers, including 10 high schoolers (through the 20th round). These guys aren’t signed yet, but some of them are pretty highly touted recruits out of high school (von Rosenberg in the sixth and Cain in the eighth are two that immediately jump off the page). Any evaluation of this draft will have to be held until after the signing deadline, but the Pirates clearly thought it was more productive to try and pick up a bunch of high schoolers than one or two high-priced college or high school prospects. With that decision made, I’m guessing they took their favorite position player at #4. It doesn’t necessarily make Sanchez a better pick or the right pick, but it is a pretty interesting strategy and I’m certainly not going to dismiss it right out of hand.
