Pittsburgh Pirates: A Look at Neal Huntington’s Draft History

2012 MLB Draft

The Pittsburgh Pirates saw a major improvement in their 2011 record, and because of this had the lowest pick in Neal Huntington’s tenure.  There was something else different about the 2012 MLB draft.  The MLB instituted Bonus pools and assigned slot values for each pick.  This changed the landscape of the draft by essentially capping how much money teams could spend.

Due to this, top prospect Mark Appel fell to the Bucs at number eight.  Appel was widely expected to go number one or two, but because of bonus demands slid.  The Bucs took him, and in previous years probably could have signed him.  In the end, it was probably better off that they did not sign the Stanford product.  Appel has been a bust of a pick, having an ERA of 5 in his minor league career.  Meanwhile, the Bucs gained the number nine pick in the 2013 draft, and turned it into top outfield prospect, Austin Meadows.

Notable Picks:

Jacob Stallings: Stallings was a seventh round pick out of UNC.  The 6’5” catcher has put together a nice minor league career thus far.  He has accumulated a career minor league average of .238, but he did have a Double-A average of .275 in 2015.  Also, he has helped the Bucs out in the big leagues over the last two years.  He has only played in a combined seven games over the last two years, but he has a batting average of .364, 2 RBI, and a .818 OPS.  Stallings projects to be a backup catcher at best if he ever gets a consistent roster spot.

Max Moroff:  A 16th round pick, Moroff received an above-slot bonus of 400,000.  This was a bonus comparable to what a fourth or fifth round pick would receive.  All he has done in the minors is get on base.  His average has been mediocre at .256, but his career OBP is an outstanding .358.  Moroff has been called up over the last two seasons, and has appeared in nine career games.  He has not done much with his opportunity, putting together a slash line of .118/.211/.176.  Still, he is a late round pick that has reached the Pittsburgh Pirates roster.  Moroff is currently coming off the team’s bench.

Other Picks:

Barrett Barnes Comp A, Wyatt Mathisen second round, Adrian Sampson fifth round, Walker Buehler 14th round (unsigned), Taylor Hearn 22nd round (unsigned).