Comments on: Do the Pirates Have a Top Farm System?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 03:37:00 +0000

Tim and I normally agree on things. And I have no reason to believe we don’t come to terms on our Dickerson/Freeman thoughts. I’ll be doing a ranking after the season, maybe even with Tim so we’ll see what happens then.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 05:10:00 +0000

Does Wes Freeman rank in the top 5 or outside the top 30?

Does Alex Dickerson rank in the top 5 or outside the top 30?

I’m guessing Pirates Prospects will rank Freeman outside of the top 50, Dickerson in the 10-20 range, and Allie in the top 10.

Dave Gershman may rank them in the exact opposite order.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 05:03:00 +0000

Add Allie at #7

By: Kevin

Kevin — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 02:04:00 +0000

Add Kingham at #11

By: Kevin

Kevin — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 03:41:00 +0000

Great job with your site Dave.

It’s still not too late to make changes in your top 15:)

What do you think about the question raised by Tim? Do the Pirates have a top farm system?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 01:52:00 +0000

You might very well be right about every assessment that you just made. We shall see.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 17:55:00 +0000

The evaluations are just starting to come in …

State College is widely viewed as the weak link in the Pirates farm system. Here is a link with a mid-season top 30 propects list …

http://pennleaguereport.typepad.com/penn-league-report/

There are 14 teams in the NYPenn League. You’d think a weak affiliate from a middling farm system would not be well represented. We shall see …

The list is still in progress but the Pirates are likely to have one of the larger and better collections of prospects.

Sammy Gonzalez @ 29
Ryan Hafner @ 24

and several not yet ranked including Stetson Allie, Alex Dickerson, Carlos Mesa, Wes Freeman, and Nick Kingham.

I’d guess that at least one of the above will be added to the list:)

Also, I’d guess that the Pirates will have as many top 30 propects as any team.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 11:36:00 +0000

Angus -

I read your comment on Bucs Dugout about being confused by my reasoning of Marte over Bell. I don’t have a SBN account, so I’ll respond here.

I ranked Marte ahead of Bell because he offers more options for success at this point PLUS his proximity to the majors. Marte gives you defense/range in CF that Bell will not in LF (RF in PNC Park). Marte gives you speed that Bell does not have.

Marte is also on the precipice of contributing to the majors in 2012…no doubt he will start at Indy and it is not unreasonable to assume he will be in PGH by June. Marte has the potential to move Cutch-22 to LF.

Bell has not had one swing as a professional and will most likely be in WV to start his career. He has many hurdles to clear to get to the same point as Marte.

The way I rank prospects is I ask 2 questions: 1) What is the prospect’s ultimate ceiling? 2) What is the likelihood of that prospect reaching that ceiling?

Question 2 involves distance from the majors, injury history, and previous stats accrued.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 05:56:00 +0000

Oh Angus.. Buddy Marte > Bell. I still like you though bro ;p. Just misguided.. haha.

Let’s just hope they are both amazing.

I do agree with Jimmer though.. if Marte finishes with numbers similar to what they are now extrapolated, he’s a top 100 lock, even with the low walk numbers.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 00:52:00 +0000

I think this group of prospects compares favorably with any from the Rays or Braves from the past decade.

It would be difficult to identify five teams with comparable pitching prospects. You might be able to say the same about hitters after this draft.