Last week, the Pirates added four of their most exciting prospects to the 40 man roster to protect them from the Rule V draft that will be held this December. There may still be a few players who are in danger of being poached (most notably lefty Brandon Waddell), but even if they lose a couple guys, one thing is for certain: it can’t possibly be as bad as it was in 2003.
15 years ago, the Pirates had the most embarrassing Rule V draft in history. GM David Littlefield did not add some of his top prospects to the 40 man roster even though he had spots open, and the league took five Pirate minor leaguers in the first six spots in the draft.