Pittsburgh Pirates 2021 Draft: Team takes Jackson Glenn in the 5th Round

The Pittsburgh Pirates have had a very good draft class, one that will need a lot of bonus money.  So what did they do with their 5th round selection?

Coming into the 2021 Major League Baseball Draft, the Pittsburgh Pirates needed to hit on a lot of their picks.  To do this, the team was expected to have to get creative with the Draft bonus pool.  They selected four prep players, who will all be bigger bonus players.  So that money would have to come from somewhere other than the expected savings on the first overall selection.

So, when the Pittsburgh Pirates selected a college senior with their 5th round pick, it made a lot of sense.  Obviously a college senior will not have a ton of negotiation leverage, so he will be an easy-to-sign player.  The pick at #133 overall is worth about $430K, the team will likely save close to $300-$350K in selecting Jackson Glenn.

Let’s not take anything away from the selection.  Glenn is an interesting prospect who performed at a really high level at Dallas-Baptist.  He led their team in most offensive categories batting to a line of .366/.438/.732 and hitting 21 home runs.  Obviously, that is a lot of solid production with that bat.  The Bucs selected him as a third baseman, but he played multiple positions in college.

Baseball America actually has Glenn ranked as their 449th best player.  So while this is considered a reach in numbers, this pick was all about trying to find a low-cost signing bonus, but posses some potential still.  Here is some of what Baseball America has on Glenn:

"At the plate, Glenn has shown above-average raw power which generally plays in games to his pull side. Glenn’s 2021 production was excellent, and a clear notch above his previous years–he hadn’t hit .300 in his first two years at Dallas Baptist."

This pick makes a lot of sense and fits what Ben Cherington is trying to do.  He will save a lot towards the signing bonus pool, yes, but he still gets a projectable hitter.  He is a little older at 24 years of age, but having such a breakout year could allow the team to be aggressive with where they place him.