Pirates Clinch Top Pick in 2011 MLB Draft

by Marc Lancaster

Filed under: Pirates, MLB Draft

The Rays, Reds and Yankees weren't the only teams to clinch Tuesday night. The Pirates did, too.

Despite Pittsburgh's victory in St. Louis, the Mariners' win against the Rangers ensured the Pirates will have the No. 1 pick in next year's draft. The Pirates are 56-101 and the Mariners are 61-96, so they could still finish with the same record, but the Pirates would "win" the tiebreaker for the top pick -- the worst record in the previous season's standings.

As awful as the Pirates have been in recent years, they haven't held the top overall draft pick since 2002. Given that they used it to select Bryan Bullington, perhaps it's just as well they haven't been afforded the honor since then.

The Pirates picked second overall this year and chose right-hander Jameson Taillon, two years after taking Pedro Alvarez in the same spot.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Osvaldo Martínez Víctor Martínez Kazuo Matsui Paul McAnulty