(Photo by Rob Tringali/Getty Images)
In 1999, the Pirates had the eighth overall selection and selected P Bobby Bradley from Wellington Community High School in Florida. Notable players selected within 10 picks of Bradley include Barry Zito, Ben Sheets, and Brett Myers.
Bobby Bradley, at the time, was not a BAD draft choice. Bradley had a sensational rookie season in which he had a 12-1 record with a 0.38 ERA along with 156 K's in 92 innings pitched.
The knock on Bradley was that he was a high school pitcher that relied on a breaking ball and given an incredible $2,250,000 bonus.
In Bradley's first 2 summers with the GCL Pirates and Hickory Crawdads he went 9-3 with an ERA around 2.50, and in 2000 he was among the league leaders in virtually every category.
He was even selected to participate in the Futures Game during the All-Star Break. However, and elbow injury derailed that dream. After the season, Baseball America selected him as the best Low-A prospect.
In 2001, Bradley's career was beginning to circle the drain. He was very productive during his time at Lynchburg going 1-2 with a 3.12 ERA in nine games. His season was cut short due to elbow surgery, and in October he had to undergo Tommy John Surgery and was out the entire 2002 season.
In 2003 and 2004, he spent time with Lynchburg and Altoona pitching well, but not spectacular.
His career ended after the 2005 season when the Pirates cut Bradley from the 40-man roster to call-up Zach Duke, due to Bradley having a compressed nerve that would require surgery.
What would Bradley's career have looked like without the injuries? No one knows, but he was surely on the right path. To correct the biting of the injury bug, the Pirates will select SP Ben Sheets.
The year is 2000 and the Pirates have just selected Sean Burnett a high school teammate of Bobby Bradley. Pitchers Boof Bonser, and Adam Wainwright were the only notable names selected around Sean Burnett.
Sean Burnett was in no way a bad choice, but he was also not a great choice. Burnett advanced through the Pirates organization at a good rate until he made the Major League squad in 2004.
He was forced to miss the entire 2005 season after requiring Tommy John Surgery late in 2004. Sean spent 2006 and 2007 in AAA, and returned to the Pirates in 2008. Burnett had a solid return to the majors in 2008 posting a 4.76 ERA out of the bullpen.
The 2009 campaign has been a good one for the former No. 1 overall pick, however the Pirates traded him to the Washington Nationals at the beginning of July. To correct this mistake the Pirates will select SP Adam Wainwright.
4 Comments
Loading more comments...
This comment and all replies have been deleted This comment has been deleted Undo delete