Arguably the greatest draft pool in history to this point and it is an especially fascinating one because of the high number of quality players who don’t qualify as Legacies. Another interesting point is that the top three picks, despite having more than 330 WAR between them, are not Marquee Players.
These are the Legacy Players for the 1986 Season:
Cincinnati Reds: Barry Larkin (70.5; 2180 – one-club player) MARQUEE
Atlanta Braves: Greg Maddux (106.6; 363 GS)
California Angels: Chuck Finley (57.9; 379 GS)
Oakland Athletics: Mark McGwire (62.2; 1329)
Pittsburgh Pirates: Barry Bonds (162.8; 1010)
San Francisco Giants: Will Clark (56.5; 1160)
Seattle Mariners: Jamie Moyer (49.8; 323 GS)
Texas Rangers: Rafael Palmeiro (71.9; 1573)
Barry Bonds was also eligible for the Giants (1976 G), but the Pirates get him with the higher pick.
Greg Maddux was also eligible for the Cubs (298 GS), but the Braves get him with the higher pick.
Terry Steinbach (28.0; 1199) was also eligible for the A’s, but McGwire’s higher WAR makes him the selection.
Robby Thompson (33.8; 1304) was also eligible for the Giants, but Clark’s higher WAR makes him the selection.
Jay Bell (37.1; 1106) was also eligible for the Pirates, but Bonds’ higher WAR makes him the selection.
There are 179 rookies for this season (including some residual MiLBers from last year) and the Draft will consist of 6 rounds.
The Draft order will be as follows (winning percentage from 1985 IRL season in brackets; bold indicates Legacy Pick in 1st Round):
Round 1
1. Pittsburgh Pirates (354)
2. Atlanta Braves (407)
3. Texas Rangers (385)
4. Cincinnati Reds (553)
5. Oakland Athletics (475; dice roll)
6. California Angels (556)
7. San Francisco Giants (383)
8. Seattle Mariners (457)
9. Cleveland Indians (374)
10. Milwaukee Brewers (441)
11. Philadelphia Phillies (463)
12. Minnesota Twins (475; dice roll)
13. Chicago Cubs (478)
14. Boston Red Sox (500)
15. San Diego Padres (512; dice roll)
16. Houston Astros (512; dice roll)
17. Baltimore Orioles (516)
18. Montreal Expos (522; dice roll)
19. Detroit Tigers (522; dice roll)
20. Chicago White Sox (525)
21. Kansas City Royals (562)
22. Los Angeles Dodgers (586)
23. New York Yankees (602)
24. New York Mets (605)
25. Toronto Blue Jays (615)
26. St. Louis Cardinals (623)
Rounds 2 thru 6
1. Pittsburgh Pirates (354)
2. Cleveland Indians (374)
3. San Francisco Giants (383)
4. Texas Rangers (385)
5. Atlanta Braves (407)
6. Milwaukee Brewers (441)
7. Seattle Mariners (457)
8. Philadelphia Phillies (463)
9. Oakland Athletics (475; dice roll)
10. Minnesota Twins (475; dice roll)
11. Chicago Cubs (478)
12. Boston Red Sox (500)
13. San Diego Padres (512; dice roll)
14. Houston Astros (512; dice roll)
15. Baltimore Orioles (516)
16. Montreal Expos (522; dice roll)
17. Detroit Tigers (522; dice roll)
18. Chicago White Sox (525)
19. Cincinnati Reds (553)
20. California Angels (556)
21. Kansas City Royals (562)
22. Los Angeles Dodgers (586)
23. New York Yankees (602)
24. New York Mets (605)
25. Toronto Blue Jays (615)
26. St. Louis Cardinals (623)
Eligible PIT players: 12 position players + 9 pitchers = 21
Clearly a watershed moment for the club, our first #1 pick that I can remember since we took Oscar Charleston in the 1910s.
Of almost equal importance to the 1st overall pick is the fact that we are in that slot throughout and, with this being a fairly deep pool with plenty of PIT eligibles, we go into it hopeful of picking up a couple more decent guys with our second and third rounders.
So while of course it is all about that #1, here’s who else comes with him:
1. OF Barry Bonds, 21 (PIT IRL: 1986-92)
- Little explanation needed other than to tell you that Barry – who only just qualified by 10 games as a Legacy for us – will be contracted thru 1997 on a deal worth in excess of $40m, during which period we cannot trade him. Given his yearly salary at the conclusion of this deal is $8.7m and our total payroll for 1986 is $18.6m, it is fair to say we won’t be extending him either unless he is much less money-oriented in this timeline than IRL. So, in other words, we get the Hall of Fame Barry rather than the Hall of Shame Barry.
2. SS Jay Bell, 20 (PIT IRL: 1989-96)
- We weren’t that far off having both Bobby Bo and Jay still available (Bobby, somewhat ironically, was taken 24th overall by the Mets...). Were that the case, we’d have almost certainly taken Bonilla but not by much. We’ve struggled to find a long-term solution at SS and this add now means we can move Scott Fletcher on at some point, a guy we should get a nice return for who is also taking up a CC slot. Doubt it’ll be this year as we’ll likely let Jay warm up at AAA for a season, but most likey in the 1986-87 offseason. We’ll see, Fletch is handy and not ridiculously expensive.
3. 3B Eddie Williams, 21 (PIT IRL: 1997)
- Slightly disappointing that none of the remaining guys we’d earmarked remained available by this point, but we could do worse than Eddie who’ll probably see some time with us after Rob Deer has whiffed out his welcome at the club.
4. P Barry Jones, 22 (PIT IRL: 1986-88)
5. C Mark Parent, 24 (PIT IRL: 1995)
- Fringy guys not without some hope of at least a cuppa.
6. OF Glen Braxton, 19 (MiLB ONLY)
- AAA depth, although you just never know.
A big shout-out to the IRL ’85 Pirates for being so terrible...
