Comments on: First Pitch: The Minor Leagues Exist For a Reason

By: Mark Busch

Mark Busch — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 07:05:10 +0000

No one suggested that Hanson should have been in Pittsburgh last season (as you implied when you talked about his age 19-25 seasons). I thought the best hitter in the SAL should have been promoted to A+ last summer.

But I am very uncomfortable with the notion that it is OK to leave players in the Minors as long as possible just so that we can have them in the mid-late 20s instead of their early 20s. I know that the Pirates will definitely keep Cole in Indy to start the year to delay his service clock. I think that’s a reasonable calculation. But keeping a player for several more years in the Minors could potentially cost the player tens of millions over his playing career. It treats the prospects like property instead of people. I mean, how far would you be willing to take it? Should the Pirates have kept Cutch in the Minors for several more seasons, since the Pirates weren’t going to be competitive in 2009, anyway? Should keep keep all of our top prospects in the Minors until we have a team that can compete, then promote them all at once?

By: Mark Busch

Mark Busch — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 06:48:01 +0000

Hanson was the clear exception because of his insane slash line over the first half of the season. That’s when the Pirates should have promoted him. He was leading the South Atlantic League in a lot of offensive categories. And he’s a shortstop (hopefully he sticks there), making his bat play even better.

He cooled off in July, but with his August resurgence, it looks like that down month was nothing more than standard variance.

And finally, organizational need ought to be considered. It takes a back seat to a player’s development, but when you’re the best offensive player in a league as a shortstop, and there are still four more levels to climb until you reach the show, it’s time to get promoted. The Pirates are a team on the cusp of contention, and they’ve had a black hole at shortstop the last few seasons. I’d like to see him in Pittsburgh sooner rather than later. If he struggles at A+, or AA ball, then sure, you keep him there for a while and try to make him a better player. But he dominated at the plate in A ball, it was time for him to move on.

By: Ian Rothermund

Ian Rothermund — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 17:36:10 +0000

I think I just have a, better safe than sorry, mentality.

By: whiteAngus

whiteAngus — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 17:10:21 +0000

one more thing about always drafting in the top 10:
the Royals have had success with offensive players in the draft, yet their heralded pitching drafts have flopped miserably over the last few years.
hochevar, montgomery, lamb, etc… all top talents who havent come through in one way or another. it truly is a crap shoot.
so what did the royals do? they trade for an established starter who originally was a 16th round draft pick.

By: whiteAngus

whiteAngus — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 17:06:55 +0000

also, the pirates hired i believe 4 new scouts recently. links are easy to find as well.

By: whiteAngus

whiteAngus — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 17:05:36 +0000

multiple outlets, including BA and BP, have said that the pirates farm system has improved greatly and that 2013 will be their deepest in years. if Sano and Appel were both signed, you would be looking at probably the #1 farm system in the game.

i dont have the links but you can easily find them.

By: whiteAngus

whiteAngus — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 17:03:13 +0000

looks like the pirates held back on Cutch and NFW appropriately, especially Walker. Pedro was obviously rushed but thats all hindsight now.

By: whiteAngus

whiteAngus — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 17:01:30 +0000

ive read that it takes an average of 6 seasons for a player to “stick” in the big leagues, if he we were going to stick at all. this is mostly for the high school players. college players just slightly less time.

By: buster09

buster09 — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 16:02:06 +0000

@Mark Busch : I would think that comparing hitting prospects to pitching prospects and their developement would be an apple to oranges situation. There is absolutely no way to draw a omparison.For a really good example of the slower developement of pitching prospects and the success of that approach,check out how the Rays do it compared to,say,the Tigers.

By: Ian Rothermund

Ian Rothermund — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 12:40:48 +0000

I’m just of the opinion that simply moving a player up because he could be better than the guy ahead of him is a bad idea. Subtle holes in a player’s game can be exploited at hIgher level, and while ultimately you’ll never know what you have until you give them a chance, I just don’t think a guy like Hanson needed to be moved up. If he would’ve gone up to Bradenton last year, what happens to Gift? His bat wasn’t ready for AA, but his defense is far beyond what Hanson can offer at this point in time. Furthermore, if they were both on the same team, that means one of them (and likely both) would be losing reps at the position, and that doesn’t make sense.

The same goes for Cole in my opinion as well. Starting next season, I’m sure he’s one of the top-5 starters in the organization. If this were a video game and all that went into it was a bar graph of stats, he would be in Pittsburgh’s opening day roster. However, I don’t see any point in rushing a guy’s developmental process and advancing him a few months ahead of time and risking a potentially several year set back. Now, he still might fail, but what does everyone really lose by giving an extra few months or even a year to work on peripheral skills?

Going back to Hanson for one last comment…right now he’s seen as a potential impact player. Not that he should be treated with kid gloves his entire minor league career, but I just didn’t see last year as the time to do that considering his age and need to improve defensively