Last year, the Pittsburgh Pirates’ second-round pick was the 50th overall selection. They used that pick on then high school right-hander Angel Cervantes. He was one of the top prep arms in last year’s draft class. However, the two sides were unable to reach an agreement. While it originally looked like a massive swing-and-miss by the Pirates in their drafting, it may end up as a blessing in disguise for the Bucs in 2026.
Pirates’ Failure to Sign Angel Cervantes Isn’t All Bad
A Top 50 Pick, Wasted…
Cervantes was considered the 49th-best draft prospect by MLB Pipeline and the 51st-best by Baseball America. At the time of the draft, Cervantes was just 17 years old and the third youngest player in his draft class. Both Pipeline and BA projected his change-up as a plus offering. His four-seam fastball sat around 90-93. However, given Cervantes’ age and size (listed at 6’2”, 215 lbs), there is certainly potential for more velocity. He also utilizes a slider and curveball to round out his pitch mix.
Angel Cervantes was the No. 50 pick in the draft. He could have been a Pirate.
Instead, he’s starting games for the No. 1 team in the country — featuring six shapes and a fastball averaging 20″ of carry.
He ranks No. 4 on our new 2028 board drop.
👇FULL BOARD w/ reports👇 pic.twitter.com/T1FkIm8PPS
— Over-Slot Baseball (@OverSlot_) March 18, 2026
Unfortunately, the two sides couldn’t agree on terms for a signing bonus, or at least one rich enough to pry Cervantes from his commitment to UCLA. The slot value that Cervantes was taken from was worth $1,934,700. The Pirates ended up using all but $809,700 of their allotted signing bonus pool. While it’s far from the first time a team was unable to sign one of their early-round draft picks, missing out is nevertheless a disappointment. Cervantes opted to fulfill his commitment.
A Chance to Redeem Themselves
However, the Pirates don’t lose out completely. Their consolation prize for missing out on signing Cervantes is a compensation pick in the second round of the 2026 draft. Now, they’ll have the 51st overall pick. One major positive from this is that the Bucs now have four picks in the first two rounds. Of course, they have their first-round pick, which is also the fifth overall selection in the draft. The fifth overall pick has a slot value of $8,366,500.
Last year, the Pirates had a competitive balance round B pick, which is after the second round. This competitive balance pick round rotates each year, so the Pirates will have a round A pick after the first round, which will be the 34th overall selection (the same sort of pick the Pirates used to select the likes of Carmen Mlodzinski, Thomas Harrington, and Levi Sterling). This pick is worth $2,897,400 this year.
Then the Pirates have the 44th pick. This is their first of two picks in the second round. The Pirates’ first- and second-round selections currently have a slot value of $2,278,780. After that is their compensation pick for failing to sign Cervantes. This selection is worth $1,938,100. The Pirates are one of only two teams with at least four selections in the first two rounds. The only team with more is the St. Louis Cardinals, who have five (including the two competitive balance round B picks they received from the Seattle Mariners in the Brendan Donovan trade).
On top of that, the Pirates have the largest signing bonus pool among all 30 teams. They have $19,130,700 to offer their draft picks this year. The Pirates and the Tampa Bay Rays are the only teams to have a bonus pool worth at least $18 million. The Rays’ pool is worth $19,009,300. No other team is within $1 million of either the Pirates or the Rays.
Missing out on Cervantes may end up being a big miss for the Pirates. After all, the last two times they’ve failed to sign a top-three round draft pick, they ended up missing out on Gunnar Hoglund in 2018 and Nick Lodolo in 2016. However, the Pirates are at least still walking away with something. Having four picks in the first two rounds gives them a good chance of netting a potential future star. They may end up drafting someone better than Cervantes with the 51st overall pick this year.
Main Photo Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
