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The 2024 MLB Draft

MLB Draft 2024 Analysis: Who Do The Pittsburgh Pirates Take At No. 9?

MLB Draft 2024 Analysis: Who Do The Pittsburgh Pirates Take At No. 9?

The Pittsburgh Pirates have young pieces and the top pitching prospect in Paul Skenes. Who do they add to the mix at No. 9 in the 2024 MLB Draft?

Mar 8, 2024 by Joe Harrington
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Last year, the Pittsburgh Pirates took star pitcher Paul Skenes No. 1 overall. 

By the time the draft arrived, it was pretty much a done deal but with Dylan Crews and Wyatt Langford at the top of the draft, the race for No. 1 last in 2023 put more attention on the MLB Draft than it usually does. 

And for the Pirates, it was a chance to once again draft the savior for a franchise that has been mostly inept for 30 years. The Pirates have drafted in the top-10 every year since 2020 and drafted No. 10 in 2018. Twice they’ve drafted No. 1 in that span. And since 1990, have drafted No. 1 five times, Nos. 2 -4 five times and been the top 10 of the draft 22 times. 

Gerrit Cole, the No.1 pick 2011 is the best player they’ve selected in that span. But he only went to one All-Star Game for the Pirates. It’s been a lot of players who never reached their draft expectations or players who were traded away and then found success. 

But the times seem to be changing for the Buccos. 

The No. 45 pick, a supplemental first round pick, in 2015, Ke’Bryan Hayes was a Gold Glove winner last season. The 2021 No. 1 pick Henry Davis debuted in 2023 as did 2020 first round pick Nick Gonzales. Infielder Jared Triolo also has upside after hitting .298 last season. Oneal Cruz, an International signee, could be a budding superstar as he prepares for his fourth season after missing almost all of last season with an injury. 

And then there is Skenes, the No. 1 pitching prospect in the game, who is expected to debut sometime in 2024. 

There is both a lot riding on the No. 9 pick for the Pirates as they hope to compete this season, but the pressure is off a bit compared to Davis and Skenes. Wyatt Langford’s surge through the Texas Rangers system and Davis going ahead of two fellow 2021 National League Central draft picks (Cincinnati’s Matt McLain and Sal Frelick) who had stronger debuts in 2023, and those picks could look questionable. 

So who do they take at No. 9? Let’s a take a look. 

What The Pittsburgh Pirates Roster Has Before The 2024 MLB Draft

Youth! And a sudden desire by ownership to not be a laughingstock (though the jury is still out on that one). 

The Pirates, who have signed the fewest free agents in baseball over the last decade or so, have handed extensions to Hayes, Mitch Keller and Bryan Reynolds over the last year to form a solid core. The team expects to get better with the development of Davis, who appears to be shifting from catcher to outfield. That may be a temporary move, but the Pirates do have another young catcher with promise in Endy Rodriguez, but he is out for 2024 with a UCL injury. 

The Pirates didn’t light-up free agency this offseason. But they did light it up for the Pirates. A 1-year $10.5 million deal for former All-Star and two-time World Series champion Aroldis Chapman was very un-Pirates -like. Adding two veteran starters in Martin Perez and Marco Gonzales will probably allow them to make sure Skenes is ready to be promoted. They’ll pitch behind ace Keller, who made his All-Star debut in 2023. 

Keller’s issue has been consistency in his career. 

It’s hard not be somewhat bullish on the bullpen with Chapman, a hard-throwing lefty, joining a group that includes another 2023 All-Star, David Bednar, one of the best closers in baseball. Lefty Ryan Borucki was also very good in 2023 with a 2.45 ERA in 38 appearances. 

Veteran catcher Yasmani Grandal, first baseman Rowdy Tellez and the return of Andrew McCutchen all give the young players good mentors around them. 

The Pirates were competitive in the first two months of 2023 and were playing some of the best baseball in the division in September. They didn't finish last again, so that's good. But they are projected to finish last in 2024, but could be a sneaky good and fun team. 

And if they aren’t, all those veterans on one-year deals could be enticing trade chips, especially Chapman, as he was in 2023 for the Kansas City Royals. 

Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects And Minor League System

The Pirates have the 12th-best system according to Baseball America, but The Athletics’ Keith Law has them at No. 9. 

Their farm system is powered by pitching prospects Skenes, Bubba Chandler and Jared Jones, all top-100 prospects at Baseball America. And former top-10 pick, second baseman Termarr Johnson, was also at No. 77 at Baseball America. 

Another pitcher, Anthony Solometo is ranked No. 82 in the MLB Pipeline top 100. 

Chandler, Solometo and Skenes are all starting the season, likely, in Double A, which means a promotion to the majors isn’t out of the question this season for any of them. Jones is in Triple-A and was a non-roster invitee and could be the first prospect called up. 

Notable is that the top everyday player, Johnson, hasn’t reached Double A, which should factor in …

Who Are The Pittsburgh Pirates Taking With the No. 9 MLB Draft Pick?

This is one of the easier ones to predict but it’s still a tough choice. 

Ideally the Pirates want Davis to be a catcher. And Bryan Reynolds is in center field for years to come. But the Pirates should take advantage of a deep outfield crop of advanced college hitters. Charlie Condon is rocketing himself up the draft boards through three weeks, but Braden Montgomery (Texas A&M Baseball), Vance Honeycutt (UNC Baseball) and Mike Sirota (Northeastern Baseball) could all be here. 

Montgomery had a huge Kubota College Baseball Series Weekend 3 showing. Sirota will be playing a lot of games on FloBaseball in the CAA and Vance Honeycutt made several big plays against Campbell in a top-25 showdown.

The interesting pick here would be Tommy White. 

"Tommy Tanks" has been amazing since his freshman year at North Carolina State when he hit .362 and 27 home runs. He transferred to LSU and in two seasons he has hit .368/.429/.740 with 51 home runs and 36 doubles. He’s not an outfielder, he’s a third baseman and the Pirates are loaded in the infield. But perhaps he shifts to first base where the Pirates don’t have a longterm option. 

Like Condon, White might not be around for this pick, but that only means that one of the outfielders slotted ahead of him would likely be available.

The Pirates could always take the opportunity to draft another pitcher, but that likely means something has dropped off with their top prospects. Still, it could be hard to pass up Hagen Smith or Chase Burns. 

More MLB Draft 2024 Coverage 

When Is The 2024 MLB Draft?

The 2024 MLB Draft is part of MLB All-Star week and will be in Arlington, Texas, where the World Series champion Texas Rangers are hosting the All-Star Game. 

The All-Star Game is July 16. The official date of the draft has yet to be announced, but the 2023 MLB Draft began the Sunday before the All-Star Game, which was played on Tuesday.  

MLB Draft 2024 Order

The New York Mets, New York Yankees and San Diego Padres’ first picks dropped 10 spots because the clubs exceeded the second surcharge threshold of the competitive balance tax by more than $40 million. 

Here’s the order: 

  1. Cleveland Guardians
  2. Cincinnati Reds
  3. Colorado Rockies
  4. Oakland A’s
  5. Chicago White Sox
  6. Kansas City Royals
  7. St. Louis Cardinals 
  8. Los Angeles Angels 
  9. Pittsburgh Pirates
  10. Washington Nationals 
  11. Detroit Tigers
  12. Boston Red Sox
  13. San Francisco Giants
  14. Chicago Cubs
  15. Seattle Mariners
  16. Miami Marlins 
  17. Milwaukee Brewers
  18. Tampa Bay Rays
  19. New York Mets
  20. Toronto Blue Jays
  21. Minnesota Twins
  22. Baltimore Orioles 
  23. Los Angeles Dodgers 
  24. Atlanta Braves 
  25. San Diego Padres 
  26. New York Yankees
  27. Philadelphia Phillies 
  28. Houston Astros 
  29. Arizona Diamondbacks 
  30. Texas Rangers
  31. Arizona Diamondbacks
  32. Baltimore Orioles 
  33. Minnesota Twins
  34. Baltimore Orioles
  35. Arizona Diamondbacks
  36. Cleveland Guardians
  37. Pittsburgh Pirates
  38. Colorado Rockies
  39. Kansas City Royals

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