6/3 Draft Picks: Barry Bonds, Tony Womack, John Grabow, Mike Gonzalez, Jermaine & JJ, Quinn Priester, Jared Triolo

1985 – Barry Bonds was drafted by the Pirates in the first round (6th pick overall) of the 1985 draft and signed shortly thereafter for a $125,000 bonus. He was the Bucco prize in the Cracker Jack box; the only Pirates picks to reach the MLB from that year were OF Tommy Gregg and pitchers Brett Gideon & Bill Sampen. And if you’re wondering, BJ Surhoff, Will “The Thrill” Clark, Bobby Witt, Barry Larkin and Kurt Brown were taken ahead of Bonds. Ex-Pirates coach Joey Cora was taken #23 overall in that same draft by the San Diego Padres.

Barry Bonds – 1986 Donruss Rookies

1991 - JC catcher Jon Farrell was the Pirates first selection (#24) in the draft; he got as far as AA ball. The only noteworthy selections of the day was seventh-round pick 2B Tony Womack, who spent 13 years in MLB, five as a Buc, for whom he hit .278 while stealing 122 bases. LHP Matt Ruebel, a third rounder, pitched a couple of years for the Pirates (1996-97: 4-5-1/5.54 in 70 games) and 19th rounder RHP Marc Pisciotta tossed in three MLB campaigns. Some late prep picks made the grade, although not with Pittsburgh. 39th-round pick RHP Dustin Hermanson worked 12 big-league campaigns, 56th-rounder RHP Paul Brower lasted nine seasons and 57th-round selection RHP Paul Wilson hurled for seven years, but none of the trio signed with the Pirates.

1993 – Pittsburgh didn’t write home about this draft. They selected HS OF’er Charles Peterson first (#22/$420K bonus), who never made it to the show, followed by second round OF Jermaine Allensworth (#34/$194K bonus), who played 2-1/2 years for the Bucs, hitting .272 as a reserve. RHP Kane Davis was the only other big league contributor beyond a cup of coffee; his top season was 2001 for Colorado, when he made 57 appearances and went 2-4/4.35. 

1997 – The Pirates drafted HS OF/1B JJ Davis as their top pick (#8) and signed him to a $1.675M bonus (Davis was a three-sport star and had a football scholarship in hand from USC). He played 67 MLB games, with 106 at-bats and a .179 BA. In a bit of what goes around, comes around, Paul Meyers of the Post Gazette wrote that RHP Jason Grilli was on the Pirates “hot list” of potential picks, but he went off the board before they could get him as the #4 overall selection of the Giants. They found a couple of sturdy bullpen arms later on, selecting LHPs John Grabow in the third round and Mike “Gonzo” Gonzalez in the 30th.

Jared Triolo – 2023 image Sportsnet Pgh.

2019 - Pittsburgh drafted a couple of high school kids 1-2, RHP Quinn Priester (#18 – $3.4M) and OF Sammy Siani (#37 – $2.15M), and then picked a pair of college bats next to balance the checklist on the first night: OF Matt Gorski of Indiana (#57 – $1M) and 3B Jared Triolo of Houston (#82 – $870,700). The next selection was a return to the prep ranks with OF Matt Fraizer (#95 – $525,000), taken in the third round and who is currently in the Red Sox minors. Triolo has been on the Bucs MLB roster since 2023, and Gorski is in the LA Dodgers organization. Siani is in Seattle’s system while Priester was dealt to Boston and is now with Milwaukee.