Joe Starkey: Intrigue builds around Pirates’ potentially franchise-altering decision

I’m tempted to say the Pirates can’t go wrong when they step to the podium around 7 p.m. Sunday to make the first overall pick of the draft.

But these are the Pirates. They can always go wrong, and often do.

This is Bob Nutting’s franchise, after all, and in this millennium alone, the Pirates chose Mark Appel eighth overall (just ahead of the likes of Lucas Giolito and Corey Seager) only to see him refuse to sign. They chose Tony Sanchez fourth overall (because he was cheap) only to see him become unusable. They chose Will Craig in the first round, only to see him hit precisely one home run in his Pirates career and become the first first baseman in baseball history to instigate a rundown between home and first.