Yesterday marked Day 1 of the Rule 4 MLB amateur entry draft. The draft started at 7 P.M. and by the end of the night, the first round and first supplemental round saw their conclusion. The Pirates had two picks out of the first 60 selections that were made yesterday, number #8 overall and #45 overall. The first pick was the Pirates natural selection in the first round due to last year's record while the second pick was compensation for losing Ryan Doumit to the Twins. With that #8 selection, the Pirates picked Stanford pitcher Mark Appel. The #45 selection was used to nab Texas Tech outfielder Barrett Barnes.
