With the NFL draft on Thursday, some Pittsburgh writers are starting to look at what the other organizations around the city have done over the past few years.
Baseball and football are obviously very different, but if the Pittsburgh Steelers can take some notes from the Pittsburgh Pirates over the next few years and do what's needed in the draft, there's reason to believe that their future can be just as big as the Pirates'.
Recently examining some of the Pirates' past picks, Danny DeMilio of Pittsburgh Baseball Now had some great thoughts about everything. It's really eye-opening to put this all together and simply look at what the Pirates have done in the draft, even if they've been in a position to make these picks due to not playing well.
"The Pirates selected right-hander Paul Skenes with the first pick in the 2023 draft out of LSU. Looking back on it now, Skenes was obviously the right pick but he was not the consensus choice at the time... The following year, the Pirates selected high school shortstop Konnor Griffin with the ninth pick. Somehow, eight teams passed on someone who would go on to become the unanimous top prospect in the sport and the player who would reach the big leagues as a teenager. Griffin flew through his first minor-league season in 2025 and set the world on fire…
"Last year, the Pirates again dipped into the prep pool but this time went with a starting pitcher. Right-hander Seth Hernandez was the sixth overall pick as one of the top high school pitching prospects in years. Hernandez did not appear in a game after being drafted but is off to an incredible start with Low-A Bradenton this year. Through his first three starts, the 19-year-old has allowed one run on three hits in 12 innings with three walks and a whopping 23 strikeouts," he wrote.
There are a lot of factors here, and the reality is that the Steelers haven't had a chance to draft as high as the Pirates have in recent years because the Steelers have been a much better team than the Pirates. However, as some Steelers fans have hoped for, there's a lot of hope in tanking.