Pittsburgh Pirates Draft: A Look at the 2020 Draft Pools

The Pittsburgh Pirates have three picks inside the top 45 in the 2020 Major League Baseball Draft.  Here is the money they will be allotted for this year’s Draft.

The Pittsburgh Pirates new General Manager Ben Cherington and company are in a very good spot for the 2020 Draft.  While at one point it looked like the 2020 MLB Draft might be suspended for the 2020 season, it now appears that it will be held in some capacity, with the minimum being five rounds and the maximum being the standard 40 rounds.  Right now the idea is to push the draft into July and potentially have fewer rounds.

With that being said, the Pittsburgh Pirates will have the seventh overall pick as well as the number 31 overall pick.  This will give Cherington the opportunity to gain two top prospects in his first season of work.  Cherington has stressed building up the farm with the highest ceiling talent possible, so it seems like Cherington will be aggressive with his drafts as well.

However, there is one thing to remember that will limit the Pittsburgh Pirates draft, and that is their draft bonus pool. The Pittsburgh Pirates are in a really good spot having a top 10 pick, but still, it is a factor that will be considered in the draft strategy.  MLB Pipeline has released the Bonus Pool allotments that teams are assigned for this year’s draft.

The Pittsburgh Pirates have the fifth highest Bonus Pool in the league, which obviously is higher than their seventh spot in the draft.  This gives them the opportunity to take a risk on a prospect who will require an above-slot bonus.  Here are the Top 10 Bonus Pools (the parentheses indicate if the draft has 10 rounds):

"Orioles: $13,871,500 ($14,936,200), Tigers: $13,276,000 ($14,348,100),Royals: $12,499,500 ($13,549,800), Marlins: $11,967,100 ($13,024,700)Pirates: $11,132,700 ($12,162,800), Padres: $10,652,600 ($11,675,600)Rockies: $10,319,500 ($11,336,200), Mariners: $10,218,400 ($11,255,200)Blue Jays: $9,694,300 ($10,737,700), Giants: $9,165,000 ($10,156,500)"

The Pittsburgh Pirates are getting more money than the seventh spot because of the Competitive Balance pick at number 31.  The seventh pick is carrying a bonus of $5,432,400 million, which is almost $2,000,000 million more than they had last year at pick number 18.  Then, being they have the second pick (number 31) in the Competitive Balance Round, they are allotted another $2,312,000 million.  This gives Ben Cherington about $7,750,000 million to use on their first two draft picks.

The other good thing for the Pittsburgh Pirates was the change in the qualifying offer system.  Teams no longer are awarded picks after the first round for losing qualified free agents, which means the second round now occurs about five to eight picks higher than usual.  In the past, the picks in late 30s and early 40s were usually the Competitive Balance round, but now the Bucs will make their second-round pick at number 44 overall. The second round pick will give them another $1,689,500 million to spend.

The Pittsburgh Pirates have a new Front Office led by Ben Cherington and Assistant General Manager Steve Sanders, both of who are known for the ability to find talent in the draft.  With the Bucs having three picks inside the top 45 and the fifth highest bonus allotment available, the Pittsburgh Pirates should bring in multiple top prospects in this year’s draft.  Hopefully, there are no setbacks going forward and the MLB can get back to baseball as usual