Grossman, 18, was tabbed by Baseball America as the 26th-best position player available and 49th-best player overall in this year’s draft. Grossman, who signed a letter of intent to play baseball at the University of Texas, was also a preseason-All-American selection by Rawlings prior to his senior year.
“The addition of Robbie Grossman is a big step forward for the organization,” said Pirates General Manager Neal Huntington. “We gave Robbie strong consideration as our second round pick, but as part of our calculated strategy, we were thrilled that a player of his ability was still available when we selected in the sixth round due to his strong interest in playing collegiate baseball.”
Grossman is thrilled to be part of the Pirates organization.
"Long negotiations in the summer and we finally got something done," Grossman explained. "I'm excited to be here and excited to start my pro career and excited to make it up to Pittsburgh and help the team out as much as I can."
The 6’1”, 190-pound Grossman was the winner of the Josh Beckett Award for the Houston, Texas area Player-of-the-Year in 2008 as a senior at Cypress-Fairbanks (TX) High School after he hit 11 home runs while also being named a First-Team All District 17 A selection.
“He is a very driven young man that adds character and ability to our system,” said Greg Smith, Pirates Director of Scouting. “Considered one of the top high school prospects in the draft, he is a talented outfielder and hitter with a high upside.”
Robbie was also a member of the USA Baseball Junior National Team in 2007, where he hit .450 at the Pan American Junior Championships and was named to the All-Pan American team while helping the team win a bronze medal and a berth to the 2008 International Baseball Federation World Championships. He also took home All-District honors and was the 2007 MVP of the Region 3 Championship Series for Cypress-Fairbanks, which won the Class 5A Texas State Baseball Championship while batting .415 with four home runs, 19 RBI and 16 stolen bases for the season. Grossman also played in the AFLAC All-American High School Baseball Classic in San Diego in the summer of 2007.
The Pirates have now come to terms with 30 of their 50 selections from this year’s draft.
Pittsburgh will get Grossman into minor league action as soon as possible.
"Robbie's actually been playing the better part of the summer thinking he was getting ready for a college season," Huntington stated. "He's going to report to Bradenton and get into that lineup as quickly as he's comfortable and as quickly as we're comfortable."