Tim Benz: With No. 1 MLB draft pick, Pirates are in unique position - if they allow it to be
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Holding the top overall choice in the 2023 Major League Baseball draft provides two rare opportunities for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
1. Theoretically, they can just make a pure baseball decision on a player, and money doesn’t have to come into play.
2. Theoretically, they can’t screw it up.
Theoretically.
That’s if the franchise takes LSU outfielder Dylan Crews or his national championship Tigers teammate, right-handed pitcher Paul Skenes.
For weeks now, the perception has been that both players are can’t-miss stars and both worthy of at least approaching the $9.72 million slotted signing bonus for this year’s first pick. So the Pirates’ choice should simply be if they prefer selecting a high-pedigree, significantly accomplished position player at 1-1 or a high-pedigree, significantly accomplished pitcher at 1-1.
Coke or Pepsi. Beer or wine. Coffee or tea.
By now, I feel like any Pirates fan or media member who has tracked the draft even peripherally has cast their vote. But I have yet to see, or hear, anyone plant a flag so firmly in either the Crews or Skenes camp that they’d be outright angry if the Pirates went in the opposite direction.
Obviously, one player will turn out better than the other. But at least on draft night, the ability for what the Pirates do best — sell hope about prospects — will be at an all-time high regardless of which one is chosen. That afterglow will last for however long that player incubates in the minors.
It really does feel like the Pirates are in a “can’t lose” position. It’s uncharted territory for an organization that has done nothing but lose for the better part of three decades.
That is, of course, unless the front office does allow that first factor to come into the equation, and they do make it about money.
With Crews expected to ask for at least every slot dollar, if not perhaps more, and Skenes expected to be in that same neighborhood, there is a belief by some that the Pirates may go off the board with Florida Gators slugger Wyatt Langford or Indiana high school outfielder Max Clark. Another high schooler, outfielder Walker Jenkins (South Brunswick, N.C.), has also been mentioned.
By doing that, the Pirates could potentially spend more of their draft pool money throughout the rest of the selection process.
Meeting with media members on Saturday, general manager Ben Cherington did little to mute that concern.
“I just want to be clear, I wouldn’t stop at two players. We have more than that under consideration,” Cherington said. “We think it is a strong group at the top. And, by group, I really do mean that goes much deeper than two players.”
In this case, though, it shouldn’t. It should be about Crews or Skenes. Just about every draft board out there evaluates these two players as the best two available. And if anyone is projecting Langford or one of the high school kids to the Pirates, it’s based on a presumption that the franchise is looking to play the slot-pool game or that they are just pinning their hopes on perpetual long-term development.
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Neither of these should come into play here. Especially since some are saying Crews could be MLB-ready “before the end of 2024,” and some are wondering if Skenes could help a big league club this year. Yet, Cherington is tamping down the impact of a fast rise to the majors as part of the analysis when making the pick.
“Even if you’re talking about a college player who might be a little bit closer than a high school player, still, lots can happen in this game,” Cherington said. “Even between this year and 12 months from now, a lot can happen to our team — what the needs might be, or what the fit might be. So I think we still want to go back to the best player available.”
And, by just about all accounts, Crews is the best position player available and Skenes is the best pitcher available.
Cherington was asked if the Pirates would be willing to pay the full slot price or perhaps even go a little higher if that meant getting their preferred option.
“We’re kind of layering that. Right now we’re just focused on getting the board set up and getting the order right — at least in our opinion, right,” Cherington said Saturday. “I believe that needs to come first. Honor the board, and then that information (about slot money projections) gets layered on.”
Well, that’s encouraging. That suggests Cherington wouldn’t be scared off by whatever asking price Crews or Skenes would demand. However, he added this caveat.
“Historically, when you have the first pick, the biggest portion of that (draft pool) is going to be this first pick. So we have to consider that,” Cherington said. “That’s where the best player is going to come from. But the whole draft is important, and our job is to get as much as we can.”
OK, so maybe I was wrong. Maybe the Pirates can make this about money, and they can screw this up.
If the franchise is really moving in the right direction as so many of its longstanding true believers insist that it is, that won’t happen. Here’s to hoping that ends up being the case.
I say draft Crews. If not, draft Skenes. Take one of the two best players.
And just take the win.
Source: TribLIVE
