Pittsburgh Pirates reportedly considering multiple players for No. 1 overall pick

The Pittsburgh Pirates have the fortune of having the No. 1 pick in this year’s MLB Draft, which is considered by many to be the strongest class in many years. It is headlined by a group of five players who are all considered to be first overall potential players.

Unfortunately for them, they all are draft eligible during the same year. Only one player will be able to be selected first. And according to a report from Kyle Glaser of Baseball America, the Pirates are still in the process of figuring out who that pick will be.

But it sounds like Pittsburgh isn’t just going to draft the No. 1 player on their board, which has been rumored for a few weeks now. Instead, the team is looking for a player to take an below-slot deal at No. 1 The slot value on the No. 1 pick in this year’s draft is $9,721,00.

Glaser reports that the Pirates are talking with four players — Vanderbilt commit Max Clark, North Carolina commit Walker Jenkins, Florida outfielder Wyatt Langford and LSU pitcher Paul Skenes — about taking a bonus below that slot value. Langford is the favorite at the moment to go 1-1 in the draft.

LSU outfielder Dylan Crews is the fifth player in the elite group at the top of the draft. It is believed Crews would not take a below-slot deal.

MLB.com ranks Crews as the No. 2 prospect in the draft while many outlets have him ranked at No. 1

The Pirates are shopping a below-slot number to four players for the No. 1 pick, according to multiple industry officials: Wyatt Langford, Paul Skenes, Max Clark and Walker Jenkins.

There’s a lot of belief Langford will be the pick, but Jenkins is rising as a possibility.

— Kyle Glaser (@KyleAGlaser) July 9, 2023

Signing someone for under the slot value gives you more money to use on players with your later draft picks. Pittsburgh has a bonus pool of $16,185,700 to use on its picks over the first 10 rounds of the draft — as long as none of its players go unsigned.

If a player fails to sign with the team, the player’s pick’s slot value is removed from the bonus pool.

The Pirates drafted at No. 1 overall in 2021. They drafted former Louisville catcher Henry Davis with a below-slot deal as well. Davis received just less than $2 million under what the slot value was for the pick in 2021.

The decision has worked out well so far. Davis was called up to the major last month, and is currently hitting .246 in 19 games.

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