(Photo by Rob Tringali/Getty Images)
A quick note before I begin. I will only be looking at players selected within 10 picks of each Pirate pick. Keep that in mind when you read this. At the end of the article I will put together the Pirates 2009 Opening Day roster with the adjusted picks.
It all started in 1997 when the Pirates, with the 8th overall pick, selected J.J. Davis. Davis was an OF from California who was a 3-sports star. He also had scholarship offers from USC (Basketball), and Oregon State (Football).
The Pirates selected Davis over Michael Cuddyer, Jon Garland, and Lance Berkman. At the time Davis, was only the 10th highest rated high school player, suggesting that the Pirates may have selected him too high.
Davis struggled mightily in the Pirates minor league system up until 2002 when he .287 and had 20 homers for AA Altoona. In 2003, he got a shot in AAA with the Nashville Sounds of the Pacific Coast League and hit .284 with 26 homers, and 23 steals.
He received a late-season call-up, but wasn't played in favor of Jason Bay. He, however, at the time was at the same age as Davis, but hadn't put up the same kind of numbers Davis did in the minors.
It was baffling to some why Lloyd McClendon chose to start Bay over Davis. One source cites "Character Issues" as the reason. Davis never recovered from the incident, and was out of baseball by the 2006 season.
What could have happened to Davis if he was started over Jason Bay back in 2003? No one knows. To correct the mistake on drafting Davis, I have the Pirates selecting 1B Lance Berkman.
In 1998, the Pirates had the 15th overall pick and selected 1B Clint Johnson out of Vanderbilt University. Brad Lidge and C.C. Sabathia were among the notables selected within 10 picks of Clint Johnson. Johnson was a positional player turned pitcher.
Clint Johnson could quite possibly be the biggest bust during this 10 year period of draft blunders. Johnson never played above the AA level, and lasted eight years as a professional baseball player. Johnson actually pitched at times during his tenure in the minor leagues.
In 1995 the New York Mets selected Johnson in the 50th round, but the two sides could not reach an agreement. Johnson was in the Pirates organization until 2001 when he was selected by the Toronto Blue Jays in the Rule 5 minor league draft. To correct this mistake, the Pirates select SP C.C. Sabathia.
We're going to send you the most entertaining Pittsburgh Pirates articles, videos, and podcasts from around the web.
4 Comments
Loading more comments...
This comment and all replies have been deleted This comment has been deleted Undo delete