Friday, June 3, 2016

6/3: Pirate Drafts - Barry Bonds, Tony Womack, Gonzo, John Grabow...

  • 1985 - Barry Bonds was drafted by the Pirates in the first round (6th pick overall) of the 1985 draft and signed two days later for a $125,000 bonus. He was the prize in the Cracker Jack box; the only others to reach the MLB from that year were OF Tommy Gregg and pitchers Brett Gideon & Bill Sampen.
Barry Bonds 1987 Topps
  • 1991 - JC catcher Jon Farrell was the Pirates first selection (#24) in the draft; he got as far as AA ball. The only noteworthy selection of the day was seventh round pick 2B Tony Womack, who spent 13 years in MLB, five as a Buc, for whom he hit .278 while stealing 122 bases.
  • 1993 - Pittsburgh pretty much missed the mark in this draft. They selected HS OF’er Charles Peterson first (#22/$420K bonus), who never made it to the show, followed by second round OF Jermaine Allensworth (#34/$194K bonus); he played 2-1/2 years for the Bucs, hitting .272 as a reserve. RHP Kane Davis was the only other big league contributor beyond a cup of coffee; his top season was 2001 for Colorado, when he made 57 appearances and went 2-4 with a 4.35 ERA.
  • 1997 - The Pirates drafted HS OF/1B JJ Davis as their top pick (#8) and signed him to a $1.675M bonus (Davis was a three sport star and had a football scholarship in hand from USC). He played 67 MLB games, with 106 at-bats and a .179 BA. In a bit of go around - come around, Paul Meyers of the Post Gazette wrote that RHP Jason Grilli was on the Pirates “hot list” of potential picks, but he went off the board before they could get him as the #4 overall selection of the Giants. They found bullpen arms later on, selecting LHPs John Grabow third and Mike “Gonzo” Gonzalez in the 30th round. 
Mike Gonzalez 2002 Bowman Best

No comments: