I've posted a review of the Pittsburgh Pirates' draft over at MLB Bonus Baby. There's comments on all 51 picks. The next team up will be the Baltimore Orioles.

Here's an excerpt for you, this being the size of each year in my draft previews before the draft:

1. Tony Sanchez, C, Boston College, #4 overall, 6’0’’/215: I, like many observers, absolutely loathed this pick when it occurred. This smelled like old Pirates’ ball, the kind where Moskos is better than Wieters. Sanchez is a good player, and easily the best college catcher in the 2009 class, but he’s not top ten good. However, he was affordable for slot, and the Pirates value that. He signed almost immediately, and after a quick 4-for-13 stint with State College in the NYPL, Sanchez is now 13-for-30 (.433) with West Virginia in the single-A Sally League. DOB: 5/20/88. Signing bonus: $2.5 million.

1s. Victor Black, RHP, Dallas Baptist, #49 overall, 6’4’’/205: Though I wasn’t a fan of the Sanchez pick, I immediately liked this one. Black greatly improved from 2008 to 2009 due to hard work on his mechanics, thus improving his command. He’s got great natural stuff, with a hard fastball that lacks movement, but also paired with an effective slider. He’s got a bit longer to go than most college junior pitchers, but he’s got the natural stuff of a potential #3 starter. Good pick for talent, about average for draft value, and he signed quickly. He’s thrown 6 good innings for State College. DOB: 5/23/88. Signing bonus: $717,000.

2. Brooks Pounders, RHP, Temecula Valley HS (CA), #53 overall, 6’4’’/225: Pounders has a big body, but he’s not going to be throwing every pitch past batters. Rather, Pounders comes with an advanced repertoire for a prep, including a changeup that is already considered something close to average. His command is solid, and there’s a chance he can move fairly fast. I expected Pounders to last to the next round or so, and this isn’t really a projectability pick, so I’m a tad down on it, but Pounders could easily work his way up to becoming a solid #3 or 4 workhorse in the rotation. He signed fairly quickly, but was lit up for a couple of runs in just two-thirds of an inning in his GCL debut. He followed that up nicely with 3 perfect innings five days later. DOB: 9/26/90. Signing bonus: $670,000.

3. Evan Chambers, OF, Hillsborough CC (FL), #84 overall, 5’11’’/210: I’m not a big fan of this pick at all. Chambers has some thunder in his bat, but I don’t think his recognition skills are good enough to warrant this high of a selection. I expected him to go somewhere early in the second day, probably in the neighborhood of the 5th round, so this was also a bit of an overdraft. He’s got enough skills to be an average center fielder, but the whole package is generally some plus tools with some average ones with some minus skills. He’ll need time, and I’m not sure he was worth the risk of such an expensive investment. He signed fairly quickly and is off to a 7-for-36 (.194) start with State College. DOB: 3/24/89. Signing bonus: $423,900.

4. Zack Dodson, LHP, Medina Valley HS (TX), #115 overall, 6’2’’/190: Dodson’s also a very risky pick. I’ve heard multiple reports that his mechanics are Purke-like, though his command in games was much worse than Matt Purke’s. My initial reaction is that he might need a remake of his mechanics altogether. However, even with the shaky mechanics, Dodson is able to unleash an average fastball for a lefty, combined with a nice slow curve. BA has speculated that he has a seven-figure asking price, so this is a bad pick for signability. The talent is there, however, and this is about where I thought he might go, possibly landing a round later. He still has not signed, and this one will probably go down to the wire. DOB: 7/23/90. Commitment: Baylor.

The cutoff point in the Pirates' draft in terms of transitioning to unsignable or organizational players is after the Peter Bako pick in the 15th round.

Direct link here.

What do you guys think?