The Choices That Define a Franchise

A common talking point with some of my baseball fan friends is the draft.  We always enjoy playing the "what if" game. Some years are easy with the likes of the the Trout's and Pujols, but every team passed on them. The years that hurt are the ones where you miss on your first round pick and one of the picks close to there turn into complete studs.  

In 2008 the Pirates had the second overall pick. They had been linked to Pedro Alvarez for quite some time leading up to the actual pick so it wasn't a big surprise when they took him. While some scouts were skeptical of his swing, the pick was by no means considered a reach.  

The Royals would go on to take Eric Hosmer with the third pick which in hindsight would have been pretty nice.  The big one was the 5th overall pick by the Giants when they took Buster Posey.  Oh how I would love the Pirates to have Posey. 

Pedro wasn't without some nice moments, but his career got derailed when he started to get the yips at third base.  At peak he could put up a 3 WAR season, but once the defense went he became replacement level.  

Still to this day I will try and search for some new Pedro cards. He only signed a few times during his Pirate tenure so with no autos to chase it was pretty much base and some patch cards.  Last week I finally snagged a center piece type of card for under $10

 2016 Museum Collection Quad Patch /5

Pretty fancy!!! 

2015 Panini Elite Pedro Alvarez Auto

This is pretty much it for him with autos. A pretty nondescript ugly card that I paid $2 for.  I think he may have signed a few things once he became an Oriole, but I'll stick to this lone auto. 

Do you ever play the what if game in regards to the draft?

Thanks for reading.