Jim Callis provided a post-trade deadline update to his ranking of the farm systems in baseball and he has the Pittsburgh Pirates as the sixth best overall. The Pirates were ranked fourth in his preseason top ten and they have five prospects on their mid-season top 100 list.
Callis cites the injuries to Jameson Taillon and Nick Kingham as setbacks for the pitching side, but has encouraging words to say about the hitters, mentioning Josh Bell, Alen Hanson, Austin Meadows, Harold Ramirez and Reese McGuire. Specifically, he calls McGuire one of the top catching prospects in the minors.
The Pirates were passed by the Dodgers and Rockies. The Dodgers were only two spots behind them in the preseason, but the Rockies bolstered their farm system through a strong draft and the Troy Tulowitzki deal. They were outside the top ten prior to the season.
The Cubs are ranked fourth, while no other NL Central team made the top ten.