Matt Wieters and the 2007 MLB Draft comes Back to Haunt Pirates

“With the fourth pick in the 2007 Major League Baseball Draft, the Pittsburgh Pirates select catcher Matt….err I mean pitcher Daniel Moskos from Clemson.”

You had to know this day would eventually come back to haunt the Bucs. The day then general manager passed on a stud catcher in Matt Wieters to select a guy very very little upside in Moskos.

I did mention that was the fourth overall pick in the draft didn’t I?

Yep, going with the guy they could sign over the guy that would produce in the major leagues was the right way to go wasn’t it.

All Wieters did on Thursday night was go 4-5 with a pair of doubles, a pair of runs scored and 5 RBI.

He’s hitting .258 with 9 homers and 32 RBI on the season and for his MLB career, which has spanned three-plus seasons, he’s hit a respectable .262 with 51 homers and 198 RBI. Last season he hit 22 bombs and drove in 68 runs.

Not All-Star numbers by any means, but they would look good in a Pirates uniform. Especially on a team that has been through double-digits in catchers the past four seasons.

Not drafting Wieters in 2007 had an impact down the road as Neal Huntington then had to draft catcher Tony Sanchez with the No. 4 pick in the 2009 draft. Sanchez has yet to make his MLB debut and had they drafted Wieters, there’s no way the Bucs take another catcher two years later.

In case you are wondering, other notable names that were drafted in the first round after Sanchez include: Mike Minor, Mike Leake, Jacob Turner, Drew Storen, Aaron Crow, Shelby Miller and one of the best young players in the game today- Mike Trout.

By the way, Moskos has won one game for the Pirates (2011) and has pitched 24.1 career major league innings and in 165 career minor league games through six seasons has a career 4.39 ERA.

This season, Moskos is 0-2 with a 3.65 ERA at Indianapolis.