Pirates quietly walked away with MLB Draft steal nobody is talking about

On night one of the MLB Draft, all eyes were on the Pirates' first pick Seth Hernandez. He could very well be the greatest high school arm to get drafted of all time, given the way development has changed across the modern era. Two rounds later, the Pirates selected Murf Gray, a third baseman from Fresno State University. MLB Pipeline and Baseball America were not very high on him, yet FanGraphs had him ranked as a top-20 draft prospect and Pittsburgh somehow stole him at pick 73.

Essentially, using FanGraphs' rankings as justification, the Pirates secured three potential first-rounders with their three picks at Nos. 6, 50, and 73. Gray falling that far was a shock to some experts, as FanGraphs projected him to be a middle-to-late first-rounder. MLB Pipeline and Baseball America both had him ranked outside of their top 100 prospects, however, basically suggesting that he'd be a fourth-round pick in their eyes.

FanGraphs MLB Draft rankings show that the Pirates got a steal of a pick with Murf Gray.

So what did FanGraphs possibly see that the other networks missed? In their scouting report of him, their reasoning for making him a top 20 prospect was, "[He's a ] mid-to-late first-round [pick] due to power, performance track record and overt big league physicality."

Clearly, his power potential stood out to them, with 36 home runs and 48 doubles in his collegiate career, as well as his career strikeout rate of 10.9% with a .918 OPS. He added another really solid summer using wood bats in the Cape Cod League, with an 8% strikeout rate with an .867 OPS and five home runs. They also love his frame - he's 6'4" and 230 pounds, which can create a 55-grade game power.

The Mountain West Conference is not the same competition as the Southeastern Conference, yet it is still good enough competition that these numbers aren't terribly inflated. That summer in the Cape really helped his case, and FanGraphs was the only network to buy in.

Luckily, the Pirates still found a way to pick him up, and he very well could jump into the Pirates' top 10 prospects in FanGraphs' rankings. He projects at a third baseman, and with all the Ke'Bryan Hayes trade buzz, maybe he'll become the future at third base. If that is the case, what a steal the Pirates got at pick 73.