Humberto Sanchez

Here's some of the things the Pirates knew about Tony Sanchez when they drafted him: He had conditioning issues in his past (seriously, he went on the Subway diet), he had a questionable bat, and he was strong defensively. There's a reason some felt he was drafted 20 slots too soon.

So, let's see. A former chunker who has an average bat with some pop...but is strong defensively. Hmm. Who does that remind me of?

The Pirates didn't have a bad draft in 2009. And Tony Sanchez might turn out to be a good player (he's not even playing AA ball yet, so let's not assume he's going to replace Ryan Doumit just yet). But the MLB draft is more of a crap shoot than any of the other major sports, so I believe that you're always better off drafting the best player available--not the most signable player. (Bryan Bullington, anyone?)

And just so you know, the Pirates are already prepared to pass up a tremendous prospect this upcoming draft. Fact is, Bryce Harper might not even be in Neal Huntington's top 10 this June.

Yet, I'm supposed to trust Neal Huntington's scouting prowess on Tony Sanchez?

So go buy yourself a $5 footlong, Bird, and tell them Tony Cota sent you. Or Humberto Sanchez. Or....I'm sorry--I keep getting them confused. Tell them Tony Sanchez sent you.

Tony Sanchez vs. the Doubters

The MLB Draft is extremely important for a team like the Pirates. To have any chance to succeed long term, they need to hit as often as possible. That obviously has not always happened.


Last year, the Pirates had the fourth overall pick and took Tony Sanchez. This was viewed by almost everyone as a huge reach and the "cheap" pick. The MLB draft is not like other pro sports drafts. There are a lot of factors when it comes to picking someone. For example, there is no slotting system that tells you how much a guy can sign for. High school players can refuse to sign cause they want to go to college or more often use college as leverage to get more money to sign.


Noted NFL draft expert Anthony specifically called Sanchez the "worst pick in the history of the draft." If I remember correctly, he said Sanchez had the upside of "Humberto Cota." Cota was a career minor leaguer who played very sparingly with the Pirates. High praise indeed.


The Pirates GM held firm that Sanchez was legitimately high on their draft board. People laughed and claimed "same old cheap Pirates." The Bucs then went on to spend more than only a couple teams (who both spent way more on one guy than the Pirates did) because they drafted a number of high school pitchers who had fallen dramatically due to "signability" concerns. The Pirates bought them out of going to college. I know I wouldn't have turned down a million dollars to go play baseball coming out of high school. Shockingly, that was not highlighted by the media nearly as much as the perceived first round mistake, but this isn't an article ripping the media. I will do that some other time. Because of the overall draft strategy, I decided to give Neil Huntington and the Pirates' scouts the benefit of the doubt ..


Sanchez then signed quickly and immediately went to the minors and started crushing the ball. He has not stopped. His stats so far in his minor league career (courtesy of MILB.com)

2009 Season:
Team	League	AVG	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	TB	BB	SO	SB	CS	OBP	SLG	OPS
SC	NYP	.308	4	13	2	4	1	0	0	1	5	1	2	0	0	.357	.385	.742
WV	SAL	.316	41	155	29	49	15	1	7	46	87	21	34	1	0	.415	.561	.976
LYN	CAR	.200	3	10	2	2	2	0	0	1	4	1	4	0	0	.385	.400	.785
Minors		.309	48	178	33	55	18	1	7	48	96	23	40	1	0	.409	.539	.949

2010 Season
Team	League	AVG	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	TB	BB	SO	SB	CS	OBP	SLG	OPS
BRD	FSL	.348	19	66	15	23	8	0	3	18	40	14	15	0	1	.476	.606	1.082
Minors		.348	19	66	15	23	8	0	3	18	40	14	15	0	1	.476	.606	1.08

Here are some of the guys people (like Anthony) wanted the Pirates to draft. None are off to anywhere near as good a start:


Zach Wheeler
Matthew Purke (Did not sign)
Grant Green
Bobby Borchering
Aaron Crow


Its obviously WAY to early to make any sweeping generalizations (not as early as say ripping the guy on the day of the draft...). However, isn't overreaction and snap judgments what we are here for?  With that in mind, I think Anthony should write a personal apology letter to Tony Sanchez.