Gerrit Cole is the number one prospect in the system.
Baseball Prospectus released their top 10 prospects for the Pittsburgh Pirates system today. The article, with scouting reports on each player, can be seen here. Below are the names of their top ten.
1. RHP Gerrit Cole
2. RHP Jameson Taillon
3. CF Gregory Polanco
4. RHP Luis Heredia
5. IF/LF Alen Hanson
6. OF Josh Bell
7. C Wyatt Mathisen
8. RHP Tyler Glasnow
9. RHP Nick Kingham
10. OF Barrett Barnes
Outside of Cole and Taillon, that’s a very young system. All of the other players in the top ten have played below high-A ball. Polanco, Hanson, Kingham, and Barnes should jump to high-A this year, and some of those guys could make the jump to Double-A by the end of the year.
The common theme with most of the guys in the lower levels is that they have a lot of potential. Some of the players are ranked more on raw tools, abilities and projections, rather than results and a clear picture of their future. Other players have put up the results, but will need to have those results in the upper levels to really cement themselves as top prospects.
In his summary of the system, Jason Parks wrote “No system in baseball can boast the one-two punch of Cole and Taillon, and with talented position prospects sitting on the next tier, the Pirates have one of the most impact-heavy systems in the game.”
The emergence of Polanco and Hanson added two more impact guys. No one from last year’s impact list really fell off the list. Josh Bell missed most of the year, but the tools and potential are still there. After Bell on that list, the Pirates have several guys who are just one season away from getting the recognition Hanson and Polanco received this year. That group expands beyond the ten names above, as there are breakout candidates like Dilson Herrera, Jin-De Jhang, and Clay Holmes who aren’t featured on the above list, but could easily crack the top 10 next year with a strong season.
December 10, 2012 at 9:54 am
i laughed because Parks tweeted last night that he received a report on Dilson Herrera that made him want to light a bunch of candles and take a bubble bath.
good to see an objective 3rd party give these nice reports.
December 10, 2012 at 9:55 am
But DK says the system hasn’t improved and isn’t very good. I just can’t reconcile these “facts”.
December 10, 2012 at 10:37 am
You believe what DK writes? I feel for you.
December 10, 2012 at 12:17 pm
sarcasm, my friend
December 10, 2012 at 2:00 pm
Mine, too…
Where IS that sarcasm icon anyway?
December 10, 2012 at 10:40 am
Justin…I am still wondering about a guy who wants to take a bubble bath with candles.
Now, if there’s a pretty female in there with him, then….
December 10, 2012 at 9:54 am
Umm Hanson IF/LF? Any details Tim?
December 10, 2012 at 10:38 am
JMHO, but until he proves that he can field consistently in the IF, he will have to be considered as a possible move to the OF.
However, his bat ‘will play’.
December 10, 2012 at 12:18 pm
Yeah but you don’t usually list a player that way until they have to move. He is a SS now.
December 10, 2012 at 2:00 pm
good point!
December 10, 2012 at 10:35 am
Wait, where’s Tony Sanchez?
December 10, 2012 at 2:01 pm
in a bar somewhere writing a Tweet.
Twitter: Rebel
December 10, 2012 at 3:39 pm
Now that was funny!! Love it
December 10, 2012 at 9:31 pm
Thx! every once in awhile….;)
December 10, 2012 at 6:30 pm
i will still go with Taillon over Cole but it’s a personal preferrence thing. Taillon’s performance in albeit 3 games in AA as a 20 year old was so dominant. Makes me drool when i think of a kid that is still getting stronger and really hasn’t been turned loose yet. They arepretty much 1a & 1b. Heredia in full season ball is gonna be fun to watch too.
December 10, 2012 at 7:26 pm
Yeah, I was really intrigued and happy to hear about the reintroduction of his 2-seamer, but especially the talk about him really “learning” how to pitch. He could be in Pittsburgh soon after Cole if he comes in and lights it up this coming year.
December 10, 2012 at 11:15 pm
With Cole, Taillon, and Heredia that could be the start of a very dominate rotation.
December 12, 2012 at 11:48 am
I am the same way, except with Heredia 1a, Taillion 1b, Cole 1c. I know I’m in the minority for thinking this, but just because Heredia’s younger and further away from MLB ready, that shouldn’t make him a “worse” prospect than Cole or Taillion, IMO. I’ve said before, I think Heredia has the highest ceiling of all three of them.(I mean that figuratively AND literally!!!)
December 10, 2012 at 7:39 pm
I’m surprised to see Mathisen and Glasnow (but I do like both of them) instead of McPherson.
December 10, 2012 at 8:49 pm
Decent report considering the excellent draft position the Pirates had for the last 10 years. Shame its not great.
December 10, 2012 at 9:33 pm
If we had had the same kind of success those first five years that we’ve had the last five, we’d be in REAL good shape!
December 10, 2012 at 9:45 pm
Agreed. Most of the people on that list are 1st/2nd round draft picks or international signings.
December 10, 2012 at 11:13 pm
If you look through out baseball, they are almost always early round picks. Nothing new or unique about that one.
December 11, 2012 at 3:45 pm
@ Fred Langford : did you see both Cole and Taillon pitch in person ? After watching them both on back to back nights myself,I wasn’t sure why Cole is always shown to be more advanced than Taillon. Though I saw Cole pitch several times ,I really thought that Taillon has more tilt and sinking on his fastball. And I am NOT being negative about Cole.