3 prospects Pirates fans should be furious Derek Curiel Jr. was drafted over

The Pittsburgh Pirates stunned many with their selection of LSU outfielder Derek Curiel Jr. with the No. 5 overall choice in the MLB Draft. It had long seemed like UC Santa Barbara arm Jackson Flora would've made a lot of sense for the Pirates, a player commonly mocked to them, but when the consensus top pitcher in the class went off the board to the San Francisco Giants one pick before Pittsburgh arrived on the clock, it seemed as if Ben Cherington didn't know where to go.

Curiel Jr. has his merits as a safe, high-floor player, but at No. 5, you want dynamic upside, and it's unclear if the young outfielder can provide that. With that said, there are a number of players who would've seemed to be better fits, and three in particular come to mind.

3 draft prospects the Pirates should've selected over Derek Curiel Jr.

Jacob Lombard - SS - Gulliver Prep (FLA)

Jacob Lombard is a dynamic, speedy, power-hitting shortstop with fantastic bloodlines. His older brother, George Lombard Jr., is the New York Yankees' top prospect and ranks No. 11 on Baseball America's latest top 100 list, and his father, George Sr., was a big leaguer and has been around the game in one capacity or another forever.

Lombard might have been riskier, but the ceiling is much higher, and he was a near-consensus top-five selection leading up to draft day. While Konnor Griffin's presence doesn't make shortstop a long-term need, Lombard has the athleticism to move around the diamond if needed.

Eric Booth Jr. - OF - Oak Grove High School (MS)

If Cherington was specifically targeting an outfielder, Eric Booth Jr. would have been the higher-upside choice. Booth Jr. was the sixth-ranked player in the class per MLB Pipeline and owns blazing speed. He's more than just a speedster, though, with the experts projecting 20-25 home run power at the big league level for the talented youngster.

Basically, this comes down to the polish of Curiel Jr., versus the sky-high upside of Booth Jr. To an extent, it's a pick your poison, but there is reason to believe that the Booth's floor isn't so low that it justifies passing on his upside.

Gio Rojas - LHP - Marjory Stoneman Douglas H.S. (FLA)

If we operate under the assumption that Flora was the player that the Pirates really wanted, then Rojas would've been the best possible pivot. The high school southpaw was the top-ranked lefty in the class and MLB Pipeline's No. 8 overall prospect.

Stacking pitching talent in the pipeline to prepare for a future when Paul Skenes walks out the door would make a ton of sense, and as we saw last year with Seth Hernandez, Pittsburgh doesn't shy away from taking high school hurlers. Rojas sits in the mid 90s with his four-seamer and can already run it up to 98 as a teenager, which is truly uncommon velocity for a lefty of any age. Throw in a devastating slider and a changeup that admittedly needs work (but has potential), and he has a good chance to become a dominant fixture atop a rotation. It just won't be in Pittsburgh.

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