Baseball Prospectus released their 2011 top 11 prospects for the Pittsburgh Pirates today, which is free for everyone since it’s their first prospect list of the season. They also included rankings for prospects 12-20, as well as a top 10 prospects list of player 25 and under. I’ll post the rankings below, but I suggest you check out the article linked above to read some great scouting reports on each prospect.
Five-Star Prospects
1. James Taillon, RHP
2. Stetson Allie, RHP
Four-Star Prospects
3. Luis Heredia, LHP
4. Tony Sanchez, C
Three-Star Prospects
5. Rudy Owens, LHP
6. Bryan Morris, RHP
7. Starling Marte, OF
8. Jeff Locke, LHP
9. Diego Moreno, RHP
Two-Star Prospects
10. Colton Cain, LHP
11. Zack Von Rosenberg, RHPNine More:
12. Mel Rojas, Jr., OF
13. Zack Dodson, LHP
14. Alex Presley, OF
15. Gorkys Hernandez, OF
16. Chase D’Arnaud, SS
17. Andrew Lambo, OF
18. Nick Kingham, RHP
19. Josh Harrison, INF
20. Quincy Latimore, OF
The top three illustrates the impact of the 2010 draft and international spending. The Pirates added two five star pitching prospects through the draft in Jameson Taillon and Stetson Allie, along with a four star pitching prospect in Liis Heredia. The Pirates have only had two players who rated as five star prospects over the last few years, and they were Andrew McCutchen and Pedro Alvarez. In fact, over the last three years, the Pirates haven’t even had a four star pitching prospect.
The biggest surprise for me would be Diego Moreno ranking ninth, even ahead of Zack Von Rosenberg and Colton Cain (and the ranking of Cain over Von Rosenberg is rare, but can totally be justified). Moreno has a great arm, and was rated the best relief pitching prospect in the minors this past season. However, I’m not sure I’d take him over guys like Von Rosenberg and Cain, who have a ton of upside as starting pitching prospects, which can play a bigger impact. It’s also interesting that Cain and Von Rosenberg were rated two star prospects, when both players were rated three star prospects in 2010, and neither did anything to decline in value in their rookie seasons.
The 1-11 rankings are slightly different from what we’ve got for the upcoming Pirates Prospects 2011 Handbook, and the 12-20 rankings are extremely different. The biggest difference would have to be Quincy Latimore in the top 20 and Justin Wilson missing the top 20.
Baseball Prospectus also has the top 10 players who are 25 and under:
Top 10 Talents 25 And Under (born 4/1/85 or later)
1. Pedro Alvarez, 3B
2. Andrew McCutchen, OF
3. Jameson Taillon, RHP
4. Stetson Allie, RHP
5. Luis Heredia, LHP
6. Tony Sanchez, C
7. Neil Walker, 2B
8. Jose Tabata, OF
9. Rudy Owens, LHP
10. Brad Lincoln, RHP
The most interesting thing here is that Tony Sanchez rates higher than Neil Walker and Jose Tabata, despite the rookie campaigns that each player had. We talk about the 2010 Altoona rotation of Rudy Owens/Jeff Locke/Bryan Morris/Justin Wilson all the time, although Brad Lincoln kind of gets left out of the discussions. Seeing Lincoln on this list should show that he’s still got a shot at helping the major league rotation, even if he has lost his “prospect” tag, and struggled in his initial shot at the major league level.
Again, check out the link for some great prospect reports on the top 11 guys.
