NEW ORLEANS - The Pittsburgh Pirates finished 12 games below .500 last season, but their minor leaguers proved enticing for the rest of baseball.
The Pirates lost five players among the first six chosen in Monday's Winter Meetings draft, including catcher Chris Shelton, who went to Detroit first overall.
Cleveland also had five players picked as a total of 20 were chosen.
Players are eligible for the draft if they are not on a team's 40-man roster and have been in professional baseball for three seasons - four if they signed before turning 18.
Players selected must remain on the 25-man active roster or the disabled list for all of 2004 or be offered back to their former teams for $25,000.
