Pittsburgh Pirates: 2018 Major League Baseball Draft Primer

The Major League Baseball Draft is less than one week away.  The Pittsburgh Pirates will have three picks on Monday, June 4th.

One of the most exciting days on the MLB calendar is less than one week away.  For the Pittsburgh Pirates and their fans, it will be one of the more intriguing drafts in recent years. This is the first time since 2013 that the team will have a top 10 pick.  However, they also have two other top picks on the opening night.

Draft Details

The Pittsburgh Pirates will have three picks on the first night of the draft.  The draft will be aired live on MLB Network with coverage starting at 6:00 ET, with the Detroit Tigers being put on the clock at 7:00 ET officially.  The Pittsburgh Pirates will see nine other teams go in front of them before their first pick.  However, they also have pick number 36.  This pick was awarded to them as part of the Competitive Balance lottery, the part of the draft falls in between the official first and second round.  They technically have the top pick in the Competitive Balance round. Also, the Pittsburgh Pirates have the number 51 overall pick which is part of the second round.  All in all, the team has the three picks out of the top 51 selections on day one.

The second day of the draft starts in the afternoon on Tuesday the 5th.  The draft picks up with rounds 3-10.  The team will be picking around the 10th pick in each of these rounds.  Of course, the final day is June 6th, and the draft once again starts in the afternoon.  This is the longest day of the draft, but of course the least exciting one.  The last day will see names called for rounds 11-40.

Draft Budget

In 2012 the MLB implemented a new restriction to the draft called the Bonus Pool system.  This is a system that puts dollar values on each draft pick from the first overall pick to the last pick in the draft.  Due to this, each team is given a Draft Pool Budget. This year the Pittsburgh Pirates will have $4,560,200 to spend in the first round.  This means that the team can give their pick at number at number 10 that amount of money to stay inline with the total allotment amount.  Of course, they are able to save money with other picks and give the 10th overall selection more money, or save at pick one to give other draftees.  For the 36th pick, they are being given  $1,967,900 and at number 51 they will get $1,382,400.  Their total draft pool is  $10,390,000.

Next: Positions to Target

For more information on this year’s draft check back frequently to our “Draft” page.  Over the last few weeks, the site has already posted numerous player profiles on potential picks.  However, as the draft gets closer we will continue to post more articles.  Of course, on the days of the actual draft, we will have up to the minute coverage and immediate articles on the team’s pick including player profiles and how they fit into the team’s system and future.