**Keith Law updated his top 25 prospects, removing a few guys who have already graduated, and adjusting some of the rankings for what has happened this year. The only Pirates prospect on the list was Gregory Polanco, who was ranked third overall, behind Byron Buxton and Carlos Correa. Polanco moves up ten spots from Law’s original rankings, likely due to his huge season.
Law didn’t give much analysis on Polanco, other than mocking the idea that he has things to work on. Oscar Taveras was ranked fourth, and Law noted he was in a similar situation, with both outfielders expected in the majors next month.
**At Baseball America, Ben Badler has Polanco as the top fantasy baseball prospect. He also adds the note that Polanco would rank second in his top 100 if he was re-ranking the list today, and removing guys who no longer had prospect eligibility. Badler also has Buxton first overall. Badler notes that Polanco is only in the minors due to service time, and that he will be up in a few weeks.
**Earlier in the week, Baseball Prospectus had a report on Polanco, noting that he does actually have things to work on. The report on his defense in right field wasn’t good, and that’s a key area for future improvement. But count me in as someone who believes he’s only being held back for service time reasons. Polanco legitimately has things to work on, as does every young player. But a few weeks from now, he will be working on those same things in the majors, and it’s not because he’ll be showing drastic improvements with his fielding or any other issues during those weeks.
