For Pirates GM Ben Cherington, owning top pick in MLB Draft 'doesn't feel like a burden'

The Pittsburgh Pirates own the No. 1 overall selection in the MLB Draft for the fifth time in franchise history, and Ben Cherington sees it as a chance to change their trajectory for the foreseeable future.

But the Pirates general manager also is aware of their previous top picks.

The Pirates’ first three choices with the top pick of the first round — Jeff King (1986), Kris Benson (1996) and Bryan Bullington (2002) — never made an All-Star Game, while Gerrit Cole (2011) has made three of his four All-Star appearances with other teams since being traded.

The gravity of owning the top pick isn’t lost on Cherington, who is embracing the opportunity to put his stamp on the Pirates on Sunday night without worrying about whether he is selecting the next superstar.

“I don’t feel like it’s more pressure,” Cherington said Wednesday afternoon before the Pirates played the Atlanta Braves at PNC Park. “We know how important the draft is. The draft is going to be critical for the Pirates every year, no matter how high we’re picking. Hopefully it’s not this high very often or soon.

“I don’t feel like there’s any more pressure this year. We all feel pressure every year to get it right. But that’s an opportunity, too. We also talk about that. We get the chance to make that selection. It’s pressure, yes. But it’s exciting pressure, and it’s an opportunity. It doesn’t feel like a burden at all.”

Cherington knows there’s no guarantee the Pirates will get a generational talent, given they have yet to draft a Hall of Famer in the first round. Barry Bonds, drafted No. 6 overall by the Pirates in 1985, came close when he received 60.7% of votes in balloting last year.

Only three No. 1 overall picks have been inducted into the Hall of Fame — Harold Baines (1977), Ken Griffey Jr. (1987) and Chipper Jones (1990) — and one-third of the 45 Hall of Famers inducted since the MLB Draft started in 1965 were first-round picks.

“I guess in the 25 draft rooms, or something, that I’ve been in, I don’t remember ever a conversation like, ‘We have to get a Hall of Famer,’ ” Cherington said. “That’s like another level of aspiration. That would be great. We just need lots of good players. There’s good players in this draft, and let’s get as many as we can. (Drafting) 1-1 is important. It’s the first choice. It means it’s our choice on how to start the draft. It is important to us that we select a player that can help us win games, but beyond that, we’re not putting more to it than that.”

Both Baseball America and MLB.com projected the Pirates to pick Marcelo Mayer, a shortstop from Chula Vista (Calif.) Eastlake High School. Mayer is one of four prep shortstops expected to be selected in the top 10, along with Jordan Lawlar of Dallas Jesuit, Kahlil Watson of Wake Forest (N.C.) and Brady House of Winder-Barrow (Ga.).

Vanderbilt right-handers Jack Leiter and Kumar Rocker and Louisville catcher Henry Davis also are in consideration. Oklahoma City (Okla.) Heritage Hall right-hander Jackson Jobe is regarded as a top-five pick.

“That first pick is either a blessing or a curse, man,” said former Colorado Rockies general manager Dan O’Dowd, an MLB Network analyst who will be involved in its draft coverage Sunday. “It’s a blessing when it’s just such a clear-cut choice, like (Bryce) Harper, Cole or (Stephen) Strasburg — those are idiot choices there — but it gets harder when there’s more (than one clear-cut option). There’s more shades of gray than there is black and white in the draft.”

Although Cherington said the Pirates have narrowed their candidates to single digits, he declined to divulge which draft prospects are visiting town for in-person interviews. Cherington continues to claim he hasn’t decided who to select with the top pick.

“We have people in our draft room who might believe they know who we’re taking, but I honestly don’t,” Cherington said. “We don’t know. I think we’re closer, obviously, because Sunday is closer than it was a week ago. We’re going to take all the time we have.”

Given the draft has expanded from five rounds last year to 20 this year and the Pirates are placing an emphasis on adding talent to their minor-league system, Cherington said he might “take some of that burden” of choosing the No. 1 overall pick “so our group can focus on the rest of the draft.”

Cherington was careful not to declare a window of success for the last-place Pirates by putting a time frame on the arrival of the top pick to the major leagues, focusing instead on accumulating talent throughout the draft and surrounding those picks with more talent.

“Finding the right player in the draft is really hard. I don’t want to make it any harder for the group by saying we’ve got to take this or that kind of player because it lines up with some timeline,” Cherington said. “I’d rather us just focus on who’s the best player for the Pirates and how can we get (20) more of them. Let’s just focus on that. … We’re going to take a player 1-1 with the expectation and hope of that guy’s a Pirate for a long time and helping us win.”