Yesterday was the Pirates’ best drafts; today here’s the best of MLB. Since the Rule 4 draft was instituted in 1965, there’ve been 33 drafts that accumulated at least 100 bWAR. What follows is the full list. Again, a few notes: only signed players are included, and the WAR are from the player’s entire career and not just for the drafting team.
Pirates 1985: 162.8 (Barry Bonds)
Cubs 1984: 156.3 (Greg Maddux, Jamie Moyer)
Indians 1989: 150.8 (Jim Thome, Brian Giles, Curt Leskanic)
Cardinals 1999: 141.6 (Albert Pujols, Coco Crisp)
Athletics 1965: 141.3 (Rick Monday, Sal Bando, Gene Tenace)
Red Sox 1983: 137.9 (Roger Clemens)
Tigers 1976: 136.1 (Alan Trammell, Dan Petry, Jack Morris)
Red Sox 1976: 132.6 (Bruce Hurst, Wade Boggs)
Yankees 1990: 129.8 (Carl Everett, Andy Pettitte, Jorge Posada)
Orioles 1978: 128.0 (Cal Ripken, Jr., Mike Boddicker)
Red Sox 1989: 124.9 (Mo Vaughn, Jeff Bagwell, Paul Quantrill)
Astros 1988: 122.0 (Luis Gonzalez, Kenny Lofton)
Reds 1965: 121.4 (Johnny Bench, Bernie Carbo, Hal McRae)
Expos 1977: 120.4 (Bill Gullickson, Scott Sanderson, Tim Raines)
Mariners 1993: 116.9 (Alex Rodriguez)
Mets 1965: 116.3 (Nolan Ryan, Steve Renko)
Expos 2000: 115.8 (Grady Sizemore, Cliff Lee, Jason Bay)
Expos 1985: 115.6 (Randy Johnson, Pete Incaviglia)
Blue Jays 1989: 114.9 (John Olerud, Jeff Kent)
Cubs 1985: 113.7 (Rafael Palmiero, Mark Grace)
Athletics 1976: 111.4 (Rickey Henderson)
Phillies 1971: 111.3 (Mike Schmidt)
Rangers 1986: 110.9 (Kevin Brown, Roger Pavlik, Dean Palmer, Rey Sanchez)
Angels 1988: 110.4 (Jim Edmonds, Jim Abbott, Gary Disarcina, Damion Easley)
Pirates 1972: 107.5 (John Candelaria, Willie Randolph)
Twins 1989: 107.2 (Chuck Knoblauch, Denny Neagle, Scott Erickson)
Blue Jays 1982: 104.6 (David Wells, Jimmy Key)
Cardinals 1971: 103.9 (Larry Herndon, Jerry Mumphrey, Keith Hernandez)
Angels 2009: 102.9 (Mike Trout, Randal Grichuk, Garrett Richards, Patrick Corbin)
Indians 1991: 102.6 (Manny Ramirez, Paul Byrd)
Padres 1981: 101.2 (Kevin McReynolds, Tony Gwynn)
Orioles 1967: 100.2 (Bobby Grich, Don Baylor)
Tigers 1975: 100.1 (Jason Thompson, Lou Whitaker)
As you can see, there’s no draft currently threatening the Bonds one (and that literally was all Bonds). The Angels’ 2009 draft, though, is very likely to pass it eventually, especially since it’s not all just Trout.
Ten franchises have never had a 100-WAR draft: Braves, Brewers, Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Giants, Marlins, Rays, Rockies, Royals, White Sox.
For reference, the following teams conducted their first drafts after 1965:
Padres, Brewers, Royals, Expos: 1968
Blue Jays, Mariners: 1977
Rockies, Marlins: 1992
Rays, Diamondbacks: 1996
Here are the number of times each franchise had a draft that accumulated at least 60 bWAR:
Dodgers: 8
Expos/Nationals, Red Sox: 7
Yankees, Royals: 6
Phillies, Orioles, Blue Jays, Indians, Twins, Rangers: 5
Pirates, Cardinals, Brewers, Reds, Braves, Tigers, White Sox, Angels, Athletics, Mariners, Astros: 4
Cubs, Padres: 3
Mets, Diamondbacks, Rockies, Giants, Rays: 2
Marlins: 1
TODAY’S SCHEDULE
Today’s Starter and Notes: The Pittsburgh Pirates won 14-2 over the Houston Astros on Wednesday night. The Pirates will send out Joe Musgrove for his 16th start of the season. He picked up eight strikeouts and allowed one run over seven innings in his last start against the San Diego Padres. His prior outing was six runs over four innings against the Atlanta Braves. The Astros will counter with veteran right-hander Brad Peacock, who has a 3.62 ERA in 82 innings, with 87 strikeouts and a 1.10 WHIP. He is coming off of two runs over six innings, with 11 strikeouts, in his last start against the New York Yankees. His two previous starts saw him give up four runs each, going up against the Toronto Blue Jays and the Milwaukee Brewers.
The minor league schedule includes Max Kranick getting the start for Bradenton in an early afternoon game. In four June starts, he has a 2.45 ERA and a 1.05 WHIP. Osvaldo Bido starts for Greensboro for the 16th time tonight. He has a 1.50 ERA in June, with 25 strikeouts in 24 innings. His 84.1 innings ranks third in the South Atlantic League, while his 1.04 WHIP is the sixth best. Domingo Robles is coming off back-to-back outings in which he failed to get through five innings. The first game from that pair was against today’s opponent, Binghamton.
Jose Maldonado makes his second start for Bristol. The 20-year-old right-hander allowed three runs over 4.2 innings in his debut. Alex McRae allowed three runs over 6.1 innings in his last start for Indianapolis, six days after he allowed three runs over six innings against the same team (Pawtucket). Jesus Valles makes his third start for Morgantown. He allowed three runs on six hits and three walks in four innings during his last start. The GCL Pirates have off today.
MLB: Pittsburgh (37-41) @ Astros (50-31) 2:10 PM
Probable starter: Joe Musgrove (4.57 ERA, 69:22 SO/BB, 84.2 IP)
AAA: Indianapolis (41-35) vs Columbus (47-30) 7:05 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Alex McRae (5.02 ERA, 54:18 SO/BB, 61.0 IP)
AA: Altoona (39-35) vs Binghamton (38-35) 6:35 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Domingo Robles (4.05 ERA, 19:7 SO/BB, 26.2 IP)
High-A: Bradenton (40-35) @ Jupiter (26-45) 12:00 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Max Kranick (4.01 ERA, 57:22 SO/BB, 74.0 IP)
Low-A: Greensboro (47-29) @ Lakewood (31-46) 7:05 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Osvaldo Bido (3.09 ERA, 72:22 SO/BB, 84.1 IP)
Short-Season A: Morgantown (6-6) @ Batavia (8-3) 7:05 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Jesus Valles (5.40 ERA, 4:5 SO/BB, 8.1 IP)
Rookie: Bristol (2-6) @ Elizabethton (4-4) 6:30 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Jose Maldonado (5.79 ERA, 4:1 SO/BB, 4.2 IP)
GCL: Pirates (1-2) vs Orioles (3-0) 12:00 PM 6/28 (season preview)
DSL: Pirates1 (9-13) vs Cubs1 (7-14) 10:30 AM (season preview)
DSL: Pirates2 (19-3) vs Tigers2 (8-14) 10:30 AM (season preview)
HIGHLIGHTS
From Indianapolis, Cole Tucker had a big night on Tuesday. Here’s all four hits and a terrific play up the middle
We couldn't pick one so we picked them all.@cotuck tied a career high with four hits and had another great defensive play at short.
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
6/25: Pirates send Pat Dorrian to Baltimore Orioles to complete Yefry Ramirez trade.
6/25: Pirates recall Dario Agrazal. Option Jason Martin to Indianapolis.
6/25: Cody Bolton promoted to Altoona. Blake Cederlind placed on the temporary inactive list.
6/25: Daniel Amaral activated from Bradenton injured list.
6/24: Oneil Cruz assigned to GCL Pirates on rehab.
6/24: Yandy Vega and Hai-Cheng Gong assigned to GCL Pirates.
6/23: Jordan Lyles assigned to Indianapolis on rehab. Trayvon Robinson activated from Indianapolis injured list.
6/22: Gregory Polanco placed on injured list. Jason Martin recalled from Indianapolis.
6/22: Braeden Ogle promoted to Bradenton. Cody Smith promoted to Greensboro.
6/22: Jesus Liranzo assigned to Altoona.
6/21: Tate Scioneaux and Vicente Campos released.
6/20: Hunter Owen promoted to Indianapolis.
6/20: Lolo Sanchez and Rodolfo Castro promoted to Bradenton. Scooter Hightower assigned to Bradenton.
6/20: Chris Sharpe promoted to Altoona. Kyle Mottice promoted to Greensboro.
6/19: Pirates sign Jase Bowen and Ryan Harbin
6/19: Trevor Williams activated from injured list. Mitch Keller optioned to Indianapolis.
6/19: Hai-Cheng Gong and Yandy Vega assigned to Bristol. Emilson Rosado, Norkis Marcos, Nick Garland and Yoyner Fajardo assigned to GCL Pirates.
6/19: Daniel Amaral and Ryan Valdes placed on Bradenton injured list.
6/19: Jake Elmore placed on Indianapolis injured list.
6/18: Blake Weiman promoted to Indianapolis. Brandon Waddell sent to Altoona.
6/18: JT Brubaker and Brandon Maurer assigned to Morgantown on rehab.
6/18: Chris Stratton activated from injured list. Yefry Ramirez optioned to Indianapolis.
6/17: Pirates sign Matt Eardensohn.
6/17: Pirates sign Kaleb Foster.
6/17: Pirates sign four draft picks.
6/17: Raul Siri added to Bradenton roster.
THIS DATE IN PIRATES HISTORY
Five former Pittsburgh Pirates players born on this date, including the first player to hit a ball into the Allegheny on a fly. Starting with the oldest today, we have 1883-84 catcher Jackie Hayes, 1947 pitcher Hank Behrman, 1962-63 catcher Elmo Plaskett and 1995-96 lefty pitcher Lee Hancock. You can find bios for all of these players in the link just above.
The fifth player is Daryle Ward, who played for the 2004-05 Pirates, but it was something he did with another team that makes him special. Ward is the son of Major League outfielder Gary Ward, who had a decent career himself. The younger Ward broke into the big leagues with the Astros in 1998 and on July 6,2002, he became the first player to reach the Allegheny River on the fly. It took 11 years before that feat was equaled by Garrett Jones.
The link above also includes a game recap from 1991, in which the eventual NL East champs, had a ninth inning comeback at home to beat the Cubs. You can find the boxscore of the game here, which comes with complete play-by-play of the game and the ninth inning rally.
On this date in 1903, Deacon Phillippe battled Hall of Fame pitcher Joe “Iron Man” McGinnity for 11 innings, as the Pirates defeated the Giants by a 4-2 score. Both runs were unearned against Phillippe due to a Tommie Leach error, but it was Leach who hit a two-run double that scored Hall of Famers Fred Clarke and Honus Wagner for the winning runs. Wagner had no trouble against his fellow HOF’er, collecting four hits and a walk off McGinnity. The game was witnessed by 32,000 fans at the Polo Grounds and it took two hours and 15 minutes to play.
