Baseball Prospectus released their farm system rankings today, putting the Pittsburgh Pirates eighth overall. BP was higher on the Pirates’ system than most. They had six people in their top 101 prospects list. They graded four Pirates as five-star prospects. Now they’ve got the Pirates highest in the organizational rankings.
The rankings included a “system at a glance” line, and the analysis for the Pirates was typical, noting that the majors have been bad, the farm system provides optimism, and it’s strong with pitching, which is the big need for the Pirates.
I’ve mentioned my thoughts on prospect rankings in the past. They’re fun to look at, but they don’t really change things. Whether the Pirates were ranked 8th by BP or 13th by Baseball America, the talent in the system is still the same. The only difference is how each outlet rates that talent against the other minor league systems.
Baseball America Rankings
In other prospect ranking news, Jim Callis of Baseball America had a few mentions of the Pirates in his latest “Ask BA” segment. He was asked who the top prospects were for hitting, power, and speed. Josh Bell was named to the power list. He didn’t make the top five, but was listed as one of three “youngsters to watch”.
Callis was also asked about which team has the most aces in their farm system. He mentioned that there were only 11 prospects that he would consider aces, and the Pirates were one of three teams with two of those prospects.
Links and Notes
**The Pirates played two games today. They lost to the Phillies at McKechnie Field, and beat the Dutch National team in St. Pete.
**Brad Lincoln and Kyle McPherson were scratched from outings.
**The rundown of how all of the Pirates draft prospects did over the last week.
**I held a live chat today, which will be a weekly thing now. Here is the transcript.
**Join the Pirates Prospects fantasy baseball challenge. It’s free to join, and you could win a 2013 Combo pack.
