Pittsburgh Pirates Draft: The Five Biggest Busts since 2002

What makes a bust?  Several things went into this list.  Many of which came with players not reaching expectations of where they were drafted.  Pedro Alvarez was the toughest player to put on this list.  The guy is still playing in the big leagues, but he was supposed to be such a corner-stone player and he never reached that potential.

The Pirates recently extended Francisco Cervelli.  In 2009 it was perceived that Tony Sanchez would be the catcher right now.  Sanchez was a reach of a pick at number four , but many felt he still would turn into a plus catcher.  However, his defensive struggles, and inability to stay focused on and off the field got him into some trouble.

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Then you have the three Littlefield picks. All pitchers, all busts.  Dave Littlefield drafted three college pitchers and none of them really found consistent success in the Major Leagues.  Two are floating around in the minors, while the other left to a different league.

What did all of these “busts” have in common?  They were all top five selections in the draft. When you take five players in the top five picks you would think you had gotten five future All-Stars. Instead, the Pittsburgh Pirates did not even acquire one regular, every-day player.  I did 2002 because I consider this the modern era for the current Pirate team.  Anything before 2002 is staring to be out dated. This is Rum Bunter’s top five draft busts since 2002.  Who is your’s?