Pittsburgh Pirates: 10 Years and 10 Rounds of the 2013 MLB Draft

The Pittsburgh Pirates will be making the first overall selection in less than two weeks. The 2023 Major League Baseball Draft starts up on July 9th and thanks to the new "Draft Lottery System", the Pittsburgh Pirates have the top pick. A pick that will be crucial for them to not mess up.

I say that because something similar could have been said about the 2013 Draft. The Pittsburgh Pirates had two picks inside the top 15 that year after failing to sign Mark Appel the previous year. While missing out on Appel had its own fallout which affected the 2012 Draft, it also led to a potential Franchise altering Draft in 2013.

With the Bonus Slot system in place at that point, the Bucs were in a great position to really spend and they did. They were able to select two of the best prep players in the Draft in outfielder Austin Meadows at 9th overall and catcher Reese McGuire at 14th overall.

The team was apparently interested in McGuire at pick #9 but no one expected Austin Meadows to still be on the board that that point. So when that happened, it really looked like the Bucs had cleaned up in the first round. At the very least the Bucs had won the first round and had set themselves up to have a great Draft.

However, it did not really work out that way. With the 2023 Draft just days away, let's go back and look at the top 10 rounds of the 2013 Draft. Just a quick note, it is not a great group but there is one prospect who ended up having a long-term impact for the Organization even after being traded: