PITTSBURGH -- The Pirates have had 16 consecutive losing seasons and one of the underlying reasons for the long stretch of futility has been their poor record of selecting amateur players in the first-year player draft.

The Pirates often drafted on the cheap and put signability ahead of talent when making their selections. That has resulted in a dearth of talent that is not only obvious at the major-league level, where the Pirates are again under .500, but in the minor leaguers, where three of their four full-season farm clubs have losing records.

The Pirates' penurious ways in the draft changed last year, though. They spent more than $9 million on their picks, including giving a major-league contract worth $6,335,000 to first-round selection Pedro Alvarez, a third baseman from Vanderbilt.

The Pirates also took an aggressive approach in the later rounds, drafting players who appeared solidly committed to playing in college then wooing them with large signing bonuses. Among them was sixth-round pick Robbie Grossman, an outfielder from Cypress, Texas, who is starring as an 18-year-old for low Class A West Virginia in the South Atlantic League.

The Pirates plan to open the checkbook again this year in the draft, which begins tonight with the first three rounds at Secaucus, N.J., home of the MLB Network. The rest of the draft will be held via conference call from the commissioner's office in New York with rounds 4-30 scheduled for Wednesday afternoon and the remainder of the 50-round affair slated to be held Thursday morning.

The Pirates have the fourth overall pick in the first round.

"We're not going to spend as much in the first round as we did last season because we don't see a player with the same ability as Pedro Alvarez falling to us at No. 4," Pirates general manager Neal Huntington said. "But ownership has again allowed us to select who we feel are the best players. There are no limitation being placed on (scouting director) Greg Smith and his staff.

"When it gets to Aug. 15 (the deadline for signing draft picks), I fully expect we'll be among the top 10 teams in money spent on signing bonuses for draft picks, perhaps even in the top five."

Huntington, Smith and much of the baseball operations staff have been bunkered at the Pirate City complex in Bradenton, Fla., for the past week and are playing things close to the vest in regards to who they may select in the first round.

However, industry scuttlebutt has the Pirates poised to select right-handed pitcher Aaron Crow of the Fort Worth Cats of the independent American Association, Boston College catcher Tony Sanchez or Southern California shortstop Grant Green.

Crow, 22, is said to be seeking a major-league contract in the $4.5-million range. Crow failed to come to terms with Washington after being the Nationals' first-round draft pick last year following a college season in which he was the Big 12 Pitcher of the Year at Missouri.

Crow is 3-0 with a 1.06 ERA in three starts with Fort Worth this season.

Sanchez, 21, is considered the best catcher in the draft and hit .346 with 14 home runs and 51 RBIs in 58 games for Boston College this spring. He is said to be willing to sign for the $2.5 million bonus that Major League Baseball is recommending for the fourth overall pick.

Green, 21, is considered the top shortstop in the draft and hit .374 with four home runs, 32 RBIs and 16 stolen bases in 54 games for USC this season.

The Pirates aren't looking for any specific positions in the draft but Huntington would like to add pitching. The Pirates have a paucity of pitching prospects in their farm system.

"This draft is not as top heavy with outstanding players like it was last year but it is deeper overall," Huntington said. "We feel we will be able to get some good players beyond the first round and deep into the draft.

"Ideally, we would like to get as much pitching as we can. If we're in the fourth round or the eighth round and we consider a position player and a pitcher pretty much equal, we're likely to take the pitcher."

jperrotto@piratesreport.com

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