Great! A new thread to begin another day of talking about how little talent the Pirates have! To focus on their drafting (in)ability:

- There is nobody from their 2006-2009 draft classes to play in the majors yet.
- From the 2005 class, there's McCutchen, Brent Lillibridge (.182 career BA, traded with Mike Gonzalez for Adam LaRoche), and Steven Pearce (a couple hundred ABs, nothing yet)
- 2004: Brian Bixler (133 ABs, .447 career OPS)
2003: Paul Maholm (35-39, 4.30), Tom Gorzelanny (25-26, 4.79), Craig Stansberry (put on waivers, picked up by SD) and Josh Sharpless (pitched in 20 games a few years ago)
2002: Three pitchers who made 34 combined major-league appearances (Davidson, Demaria, and Bullington), Brad Eldred (1B with career .199 BA), and Matt Capps
2001: Stephen Drew and Jeremy Guthrie, neither of whom signed with them; Steve Keppinger, a decent SS traded in 2004 with Kris Benson to the Mets for junk; John Van Benschoten (2-13, 9.20 ERA); Chris Duffy (a backup OF who left last year in free agency); Chris Shelton (eventually taken in Rule 5 draft form Pittsburgh), Jonathan Albaladejo (cup of coffee, then released); Rajai Davis (who was traded to the Giants for Matt Morris. Morris was released after going 0-4 with a high ERA); and Shane Youman (eventually waived)
2000: Chris Young (who's had some decent years for the Padres; traded by PIT for Matt Herges); Sean Burnett (just traded); 3B Jose Bautista (typical Pirates story...drafted by PIT in '00; taken in '03 Rule V by BAL; released/signed by TB, KC, and the Mets; eventually traded back to PIT as part of the Kris Benson trade mentioned above; in other words, they draft a guy, let him go for nothing, some horrible teams decide they don't want him either, and then the Pirates trade to get him back. Awesome.) They also drafted Nate McLouth and Ian Snell that year. Almost certainly their best draft of the decade...

So, what do we know about the Pirates in the 2000s? I've listed literally ever player drafted by the Pirates who has appeared in a major-league game, and what do the Pirates have to show for their efforts?

Current roster: Pearce, Bixler, and McCutchen in the OF; Duke, Snell and Maholm in the rotation; and Capps and Gorzelanny in the bullpen
Pieces used to get other players: a throw-in (Lillibridge) towards getting Adam LaRoche; the players acquired as part of the Burnett trade (Milledge and Hanrahan), and the players acquired as part of the McLouth trade (Hernandez, Morton, and Locke)

Like I said in the other Pirates thread yesterday, you don't get talent back if you don't give talent. More than, say, 20 years agom the number one way to get that talent is through the draft, because the blockbuster "rent-a-player in exchange for your top three prospects" trades don't happen like they once did.

I don't know how the Pirates decade of drafting compared to other teams...but it has to be one of the worst performances in baseball...