Pittsburgh Pirates: Draft Position Set for 2019

The Pittsburgh Pirates finished their season strong yesterday with a win.  They also now know where they are going to be drafting in 2019.

In 2018, the Pittsburgh Pirates drafted inside the top 10 for the first time since the 2013 season. For the years after the 2013 season, the Bucs were picking in the second half of the draft each round.  The team drafted outfielder Travis Swaggerty with their pick this year.

Now that the 2018 season has finished up, the draft is set for the 2019 MLB Amateur draft.  The Pittsburgh Pirates finished fourth in the National League Central Division, however, they ended with a winning record of 82 wins and 79 losses. With that, two other teams had 82 wins in the MLB this past year.

Both the Washington Nationals and the Arizona Diamondbacks had 82 wins.  Unfortunately, the Pittsburgh Pirates had a game rained out against the Miami Marlins.  Why that is disappointing, is because the team has a .509 winning percentage. Meanwhile, the Diamondbacks and the Nationals have a .506 winning percentage due to playing all 162 games and having 80 losses.  So the Bucs are actually picking after the two teams mentioned.

With that being said, the Pittsburgh Pirates will have the 18th overall pick in the 2019 MLB Draft.  The St. Louis Cardinals will pick right after the Bucs and the Nationals will have the 17th pick. Now the draft is not completely set due to one game playoffs today. Also, unlike the NFL, the MLB sets the draft order based off of the regular season record of each team, not the results of the playoffs. Here is a complete list of the draft order for the 2019 draft:

1. Orioles (47-115)
2. Royals (58-104)
3. White Sox (62-100)
4. Marlins (63-98)
5. Tigers (64-98)
6. Padres (66-96)
7. Reds (67-95)
8. Rangers (67-95)
9. Braves (compensation for unsigned 2018 first-rounder Carter Stewart)
10. Giants (73-89)
11. Blue Jays (73-89)
12. Mets (77-85)
13. Twins (78-84)
14. Phillies (80-82)
15. Angels (80-82)
16. D-backs (82-80)
17. Nationals (82-80)
18. Pirates (82-79)
19. Cardinals (88-74)
20. Mariners (89-73)
21. Braves (90-72)
22. Rays (90-72)
23. Dodgers/Rockies Monday loser (91-72)
24. Indians (91-71)
25. Dodgers/Rockies Monday winner (92-71)
26. D-backs (compensation for unsigned 2018 first-rounder Matt McLain)
27. Brewers/Cubs Monday loser (95-68)
28. Brewers/Cubs Monday winner (96-67)
29. Athletics (97-65)
30. Yankees (100-62)
31. Dodgers (compensation for unsigned 2018 first-rounder J.T. Ginn)
32. Astros (103-59)
33. Red Sox (108-54)

The Pittsburgh Pirates will also have pick directly after the first round finishes.  It is not determined yet what pick it will be, but it will be compensation for failing to sign the number 36 overall pick last year.  So although the team is drafting a little lower than the last two years, the team will still be able to grab another high potential player relatively high.  The draft is normally in the second week of June.