Re-drafting the Pittsburgh Pirates’ drafts from 2014-2017
By Ali Chaudhry
Re-drafting the Pittsburgh Pirates’ 2014 draft — only the first and second rounds.
Pirates draft pick: Cole Tucker at 24th overall.
May be a long-time starter, but also could flame out in a few years.
Re-draft pick: Matt Chapman, originally went 25th to the Oakland Athletics
Matt Chapman is a personal favorite player of mine, which makes this oversight so painful for me. He’s a gold glove winner, who is widely considered as one of the best defenders in the league.
He also is a rising offensive threat, who can hit for average and power. His overall WAR from 2018 came out to be a whopping 6.5 — that’s ahead of Machado, Arenado, Rendon, and Baez. He also did this in his first full season in the league.
Thinking about this makes my blood boil so we will move on.
Pirates draft pick: Connor Joe at 39th overall
Could turn it around, but has not produced at all in his limited time in the bigs. Has a -0.1 WAR up to this point.
Redraft pick: Alex Verdugo, 62nd overall to the Dodgers
Has a 3.4 WAR this year, and is only 23. Safe to say he has all the tools to be around for a while.
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Pirates draft pick: Mitch Keller at 64th overall.
Redraft pick: Mitch Keller
He still has the potential to be a good pitcher with the Pittsburgh Pirates and has the potential to be a great pitcher with another team. Still a good pick.
Pirates draft pick: Trey Supak at 73rd overall.
Was traded with Keon Broxton for Jason Rogers, in one of the worst and quietest Neal Huntington trades. Could still be a major league pitcher.
Redraft pick: Jace Fry, 77th overall to the White Sox
So between the 73rd and next Pirates pick, there were not a ton of major league options. But Jace Fry has carved out a career as a relief pitcher for the Sox. Can’t ever have too many lefty options.