Picking pedigree: Pirates could have choice of legacy prospects in 1st round of MLB Draft

When Ben Cherington was Toronto’s vice president of baseball operations, he watched with great interest the sons of four-time All-Star Dante Bichette and Hall of Famers Craig Biggio and Vladimir Guerrero develop into major leaguers for the Blue Jays.

Now, as Pittsburgh Pirates general manager, Cherington is positioned to pick a prospect in the 2022 MLB Draft who comes from a family with major-league pedigree. No fewer than 10 first-round prospects have relatives who played professional sports, including two whose fathers played in the NFL.

“It does feel like there are more of those,” Cherington said, “at least at the top of the draft.”

The Pirates have the No. 4 overall pick Sunday, which comes with a signing bonus slot value of $7,002,100, and could choose from a handful of prospects whose parents have pedigree. Cherington’s consciousness of that has been heightened, especially given the time he spent around Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette and Cavan Biggio.

“Just hearing their stories about how they grew up and what time spent in a major-league clubhouse was like and being 30 feet away from major-league batting practice over and over, watching their dads face major-league pitchers,” Cherington said.

“It’s not physically playing, but there’s probably something they learn from that, and it speeds up their baseball aptitude.”

The first two projected picks are the sons of former All-Stars and considered can’t-miss prospects. Most mock drafts have the Baltimore Orioles using the top pick on Georgia prep outfielder Druw Jones, the son of former Atlanta Braves 10-time Gold Glove winner and five-time All-Star Andruw Jones. Arizona is expected to use the No. 2 pick on Oklahoma prep shortstop Jackson Holliday, the son of former Colorado Rockies and St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Matt Holliday, a seven-time All-Star and the 2007 NL batting champion.

Two of the players the Pirates could be considering have ties to Pittsburgh pro sports teams.

IMG Academy outfielder Elijah Green is the power-hitting son of former Steelers tight end Eric Green, a 1990 first-round pick who became a two-time Pro Bowl pick. Chipola Junior College third baseman Cam Collier is the son of former Pirates infielder Lou Collier, a 1992 31st-round pick who played for them in 1997-98 and spent eight years in the majors. Cam Collier, who doesn’t turn 18 until Nov. 20, was scheduled to graduate from high school in 2023 but reclassified and enrolled at Chipola so he could be eligible for the draft this year.

Baseball America projects Green to go third overall to the Texas Rangers and for the Pirates to pick Collier at No. 4.

“I’m probably higher on Collier than all the prognosticators,” said MLB Network analyst Dan O’Dowd, former general manager of the Colorado Rockies.

“I think you’re looking at a big-time, prolific corner bat, middle-of-the-lineup left-handed bat that’s going to move relatively quickly through a minor-league season because I think he’s very, very advanced for his age.”

The first half of the first round could be filled with legacy prospects. Cal Poly shortstop Brooks Lee is the son of Cal Poly head coach Larry Lee. LSU third baseman Jacob Berry’s father, Perry, was a fourth-round pick by the Houston Astros in 1990. Texas Tech second baseman Jace Jung’s brother, Josh, was the No. 8 overall pick in 2019.

Arizona catcher Daniel Susac’s brother, Andrew, played for the Pirates in 2020. Nevada prep outfielder Justin Crawford is the son of former Tampa Bay Rays four-time All-Star outfielder Carl Crawford. And former Vanderbilt right-hander Kumar Rocker, who was drafted No. 10 overall by the New York Mets last year but didn’t sign, is the son of Philadelphia Eagles defensive line coach Tracy Rocker, a former Auburn star who is a member of the college football Hall of Fame.

O’Dowd, who will be part of MLB Network’s draft coverage starting at 7 p.m. Sunday, believes the bloodlines play a part but the exposure of watching their fathers go about their daily preparation at spring training is even more beneficial than being around a big league clubhouse for the legacy prospects.

“For the most part these kids have grown up in clubhouses and at spring training environments and they’ve been in big league environments, so this is not anything new to them,” O’Dowd said. “This is kind of what their level of expectations are for themselves. I’m sure that they’ve envisioned themselves being like this for a very long time. It just so happened that the gene pool that they came from is also significantly gifted, which in some of these cases is definitely passed along to the kids.”