Jameson Taillon was selected by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the first round of the 2010 MLB draft. He was the 2nd overall pick (after Bryce Harper and in front of Manny Machado). The second overall pick truly indicated that the Pirates expected him to be an elite player. Taillon is currently rehabbing from his Tommy John surgery. He didn’t pitch any games in the 2020 season, but is expected to be ready for spring training. During these years, Taillon is not the only first-rounder that was traded by the Pirates.
From 2010 to 2020, the Pittsburgh Pirates selected 19 players in the first round, including compensation and competitive balance picks. Of these 19 players, three players decided not to sign with the Pirates. Hence, 16 players who were drafted in the first round did sign with the Pirates. Of these 16 players signed with the Pirates, 6 players were traded already. Particularly, from 2010 to 2014, in these 5 years, the Pirates selected 8 players in the MLB draft and only one player who is Cole Tucker plays for the Pirates now. Mark Appel did not agree to a deal and Barrett Barnes was released. Five players were traded by the Pirates. Looking back, the Pirates’ fans might be fine to see that Mark Appel did not sign with the Pirates. However, reviewing some trades that Pirates front office did, the Pirates would truly regret.
Gerrit Cole was the 1st overall pick in the 2011 MLB Draft and he made it into the big league in 2013. In total, Cole tossed 782.1 innings for the Pirates from 2013 to 2017. He earned 59 wins, threw 734 strikeouts and posted a 3.50 ERA and a 1.22 ERA. Meanwhile, he was an All-Star in 2015, a season that he earned 19 wins. Overall, Cole did his job for the Pirates. However, the former ace of the Pirates becomes one of the most dominant pitchers in the majors after being traded to the Astros. He threw more than 600 strikeouts in his two years with the Astros, posting a 2.68 ERA and a sub-1 WHIP. His WAR in the Astros was even higher than his WAR in the Pirates. At the same time, his K/BB was 3.62 in the Pirates and it rose to 5.38 when he pitched for the Yankees. By the way, the Pirates acquired Michael Feliz, Jason Martin, Colin Moran and Joe Musgrove from the Astros in the Cole trade.
The Pirates did not sign Mark Appel in 2012 and they got a compensation pick in the 2013 draft, so the Pirates used the pick to select Austin Meadows in the first round of the 2013 draft. Meadows made his MLB debut on May 18, 2018. Nonetheless, he only played 49 games for the Pirates, slashing .292/.327/.468. On the 2018 trade deadline, the Pirates sent Austin Meadows, Tyler Glasnow and a player to be named later to the Rays and acquired Chris Archer from the Rays. Later in August, the Pirates sent Shane Baz who was selected in the first round of the 2017 draft to the Rays to complete the trade. So, the Pirates actually sent two players that they selected in the first round to the Rays. Austin Meadows batted .291/.364/.558 with 33 homers and 89 RBI in the 2019 season and he became an All-Star. But he struggled last season, hitting only .205/.296/.371. Shane Baz is currently the top 6 prospect of the Rays.
Additionally, the Pirates sent Reese McGuire, who was the 14th overall pick in the 2013 draft, just a few picks behind Austin Meadows, to the Blue Jays on August 1, 2016. In this trade, the Pirates also sent Francisco Liriano and Harold Ramirez to the Blue Jays while acquiring Drew Hutchison. Also, Connor Joe that the Pirates drafted in the first round in 2014 was sent to the Braves in 2017 and this time they got Sean Rodriguez.
When we look at these first-rounders that were traded by the Pirates. Gerrit Cole becomes one of the most dominant pitchers in the league and Austin Meadows becomes an All-Star. But the Pirates did not get the returns they expected. Colin Moran batted .272/.330/.428 with 34 homers and 161 RBI in his 3 years with the Pirates so far. Musgrove earned 18 wins for the Pirates while posting a 4.23 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP. Chris Archer only tossed 172 innings for the Pirates and his ERA was 4.92. This year, they sent Jameson Taillon to the New York Yankees and he will reunite with Gerrit Cole. The Pirates get 4 prospects in return in this trade. Are things going to be different this time? It might take a few years to know.
No comments:
Post a Comment