All-Time Pittsburgh Pirates Draft

All-Time Pittsburgh Pirates Draft

This article is part of our MLB Observations series.

We continued our "all-time" teams series on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio on Sunday with the Pirates. Joining Todd Zola and I for this draft was RotoWire's long-time Pirates beat writer (and an usher for the Pirates for 20 years), John Toperzer (@PiratesTalk). As is custom, we gave our guest first choice on draft order and he opted to go first, taking Honus Wagner. Todd played the position-scarcity game and thus opted to double-up on the turn, leaving me to take Roberto Clemente in the second spot.

The Pirates pitching ... well, look at those outfielders! Nearly all the top Pirates by WAR or any other measure come from the dead ball era. I've been trying to discount players from that era more often in these drafts, especially on the pitching side. So I waited quite a while for my first pitcher and to fill out my pitching staff. So did Topper. Todd ... didn't.

Here are the results, first by draft order, then by team:

RdTeamPlayer
1TopperHonus Wagner
1EricksonRoberto Clemente
1ZolaWillie Stargell
2ZolaBill Mazeroski
2EricksonBarry Bonds
2TopperPaul Waner
3TopperBob Friend
3EricksonArky Vaughn
3ZolaRalph Kiner
4ZolaBabe Adams
4EricksonAndrew McCutchen
4TopperDave Parker
5TopperAndy VanSlyke
5EricksonJason Kendall
5ZolaWilbur Cooper
6ZolaPie Traynor
6EricksonAl Oliver
6TopperManny Sanguillen
7TopperBobby Bonilla
7EricksonJohn Candelaria
7ZolaSam Leever
8ZolaVic Willis
8EricksonPreacher Roe
8TopperNeil Walker
9TopperBob Veale
9EricksonRick Rhoden
9ZolaDeacon Phillippe
10ZolaLloyd Waner
10EricksonKent Tekulve
10TopperDonn Clendenon
11TopperGoose Gossage
11EricksonBill Madlock
11ZolaRoy Face
12ZolaMax Carey
12EricksonVern Law
12TopperDoug Drabek
13TopperSteve Blass
13EricksonStarling Marte
13ZolaRichie Hebner
14ZolaTony Pena
14EricksonRick Reuschel
14TopperRamon Hernandez
15TopperPhil Coyne
15EricksonJohnny Ray
15ZolaDick Groat

Results by Team:

 TopperEricksonZola
CManny SanguillenJason KendallTony Pena
1BDonn ClendenonAl OliverWillie Stargell
2BNeil WalkerJohnny RayBill Mazeroski
3BBobby BonillaBill MadlockPie Traynor
SSHonus WagnerArky VaughnDick Groat
    
OF1Paul WanerRoberto ClementeRalph Kiner
OF2Dave ParkerBarry BondsLloyd Waner
OF3Andy VanSlykeAndrew McCutchenMax Carey
UTPhil CoyneStarling MarteRichie Hebner
    
P1Bob FriendJohn CandelariaBabe Adams
P2Bob VealePreacher RoeWilbur Cooper
P3Goose GossageRick RhodenSam Leever
P4Doug DrabekKent TekulveVic Willis
P5Steve BlassVern LawDeacon Phillippe
P6Ramon HernandezRick ReuschelRoy Face

You'll notice - there's not a single current Pirates player on the list! Sorry, Pittsburgh. You deserve better - providing such a beautiful ballpark for the ownership group, it should host a contender.

Who else would you have added instead? Who had the best draft?

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ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Jeff Erickson
Jeff Erickson is a co-founder of RotoWire and the only two-time winner of Baseball Writer of the Year from the Fantasy Sports Writers Association. He's also in the FSWA Hall of Fame. He roots for the Reds, Bengals, Red Wings, Pacers and Northwestern University (the real NU).
Todd Zola
Todd has been writing about fantasy baseball since 1997. He won NL Tout Wars and Mixed LABR in 2016 as well as a multi-time league winner in the National Fantasy Baseball Championship. Todd is now setting his sights even higher: The Rotowire Staff League. Lord Zola, as he's known in the industry, won the 2013 FSWA Fantasy Baseball Article of the Year award and was named the 2017 FSWA Fantasy Baseball Writer of the Year. Todd is a five-time FSWA awards finalist.
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