Jason Bay, Freddy Sanchez to represent Pirates at 2016 MLB Draft

Jason Bay and Freddy Sanchez will represent the Pirates at the draft early next month, MLB.com announces. That means they'll announce the Pirates' first-day picks after the first round.

That Bay and Sanchez will represent the Bucs is interesting. I talked with a Bucs Dugout commenter (I forget who) a few years back about how much the Pirates would acknowledge players from the team's 20-year streak of losing seasons. Soon after, they invited Jack Wilson back to PNC Park to present awards to Andrew McCutchen and Pedro Alvarez on Opening Day.

Now, of course, they're tipping their caps to Bay and Sanchez as well. That seems healthy to me. The Pirates have had three winning seasons in a row, and the streak no longer stings enough for it to seem weird for the Bucs to celebrate the best players from that era. And, obviously, it's not Jason Bay and Freddy Sanchez's faults that the Pirates stunk while they played for them.

Bay is now 37 and Sanchez 38, by the way. Bay last played for the Mariners in 2013 and retired prior to the 2014 season. Sanchez last appeared in the majors in 2011 and officially retired this past offseason.