Pirates Minor League Thread

[CutchTruth]

Sounds about right. I like Oliver a bit more than that and Pimentel too. Pimentel confuses me. The scouting report sounds really good to me, but no one is really high on him. I guess the major issue is that for him to start, he needs a third pitch. Plus AA's really creamed him so far. Still, his walks aren't outrageous, he's not terribly old, and he seems to have two plus pitches. That's pretty good if you ask me.

Again, not sure what I'm missing.

[CutchTruth]

Thank you. From the name I take it you write Buried Treasure correct? Or is that just a coincidence.

Yes, although I think you've figured that out by now!

[burgh_fan66]

Sounds about right. I like Oliver a bit more than that and Pimentel too. Pimentel confuses me. The scouting report sounds really good to me, but no one is really high on him. I guess the major issue is that for him to start, he needs a third pitch. Plus AA's really creamed him so far. Still, his walks aren't outrageous, he's not terribly old, and he seems to have two plus pitches. That's pretty good if you ask me.

Again, not sure what I'm missing.

About Pimentel I've been thinking with him only having one option remaining the Pirates will almost be forced to switch him over to bullpen work, do you see it the same way or do you think they give him a chance at starting?

[CutchTruth]

That's what will probably happen, but I'd consider doing something weird. Start him at High-A to work on his third pitch. Then send him to AAA and let him sink or swim.

[burgh_fan66]

I've been looking at the players who I think will make up the Pirates minor league levels this up coming season. So I thought I'd share some general observations.

AAA appears to be heavy on pitching talent with 9 players who I think will start the year there that could be considered decent to great prospects. Cole, McPherson, Wilson, Oliver, Irwin, Cumpton, Black, Welker and Inman.

AA appears to be Taillon and little else. Dickerson and Ngoepe add some intrigue to the hitting side but the only other pitchers worth noting are probably Sadler, Pimentel and Strickland.

A+ has a couple interesting arms in Kingham, Rowland and Von Rosenberg but is dominated by hitters with Osuna, Hanson, Polanco, Barnes and probably some of Rojas, Garcia and Gaffney.

A looks once again to be the most interesting group of all. They could have hitters like Mathisen, Jhang, Herrera, Wood, Moroff, Bell, Garcia?, Gaffney? and Vasquez?. On the pitching side they have high end arms like Heredia, Holmes and Sampson coupled with guys like Glasnow, Dodson and Kuchno.

Everything below A ball is too uncertain right now since DSL promotions and draft choices will make up the majority of those two rosters. I think all this is another way of saying I'm a little disappointed with the AA roster this upcoming season especially since I go and watch them on at least a few occasions a year.

[Tomahawk27]

Dickerson is a guy who I will be following closely this season. If I remember correctly, he had a good offensive season but it was just that, only good. As a college player, people expected greater production but hey, I'll take a solid year at this point.

I'm thrilled Heredia is in A ball but if he were to pitch well all year, do you think he would get a start or two in A+?

[burgh_fan66]

Probably not. He is still only going to be 18 years old. That is younger than Bell, Hanson or Polanco was at the A level last season. I'm not even sure he'll start the year there. The Pirates probably have him on an inning count so I could see them having him start the year in exteneded spring training for a month or so before assigning him to A ball.

[Tomahawk27]

Oh well. Like I said, I'm still happy that he is that young, that high, pitching that well

[burgh_fan66]

Still working on who I think will go where.

I think the most interesting discussions on what level a player should go to are the following ones and a lot of them are A- (short season) or A (full season):

Wyatt Mathisen A-/A
Jin-De Jhang A-/A
Dilson Herrera A-/A
Max Moroff A-/A
Jesus Vasquez A-/A
Tyler Glasnow A-/A
John Kuchno A-/A

Jacob Stallings A/A+
Willy Garcia A/A+
Tyler Gaffney A/A+
Zach Dodson A/A+
Dalton Friend A/A+
Pat Ludwig A/A+

Gift Ngoepe A+/AA
Mel Rojas A+/AA

Andrew Lambo AA/AAA
Brandon Cumpton AA/AAA
Jeff Inman AA/AAA
Stolmy Pimentel AA/AAA
Hunter Strickland AA/AAA

[burgh_fan66]

May not mean much as Bleacher Report isn't the best reference but they have the Pirates farm ranked 1st overall.

[Tomahawk27]

Hmm, I can't say I follow many other teams' farm systems but it seems like this may be a stretch. All the other ones I've been reading have us as a top 10, maybe even a top 5, but I haven't seen #1.

Regardless of where we rank, this is a testament to our scouts, Huntington, and a few others as well. Compared to where this system was 5-6 years ago, they aren't even comparable. Just imagine is Marte still qualified for prospect status...

[CutchTruth]

Hmm, I can't say I follow many other teams' farm systems but it seems like this may be a stretch. All the other ones I've been reading have us as a top 10, maybe even a top 5, but I haven't seen #1.

Regardless of where we rank, this is a testament to our scouts, Huntington, and a few others as well. Compared to where this system was 5-6 years ago, they aren't even comparable. Just imagine is Marte still qualified for prospect status...

Or even Jeff Locke who missed by 1 inning. Or if Mark Appel (or Brandon Thomas) had signed. Or if we hadn't traded Grossman or Owens.

Personally, a brief glance makes me think we're in the 4-8 range. More importantly than being #1 is being top 10 for years at a time, and the system is set up to do that as long as we don't make any huge trades (which, in the correct context, could be a positive thing).

The system is very strong, especially compared to where it was 5 years ago, as you said.

[CutchTruth]

These are the guys I've given some thought too.

Wyatt Mathisen A-/A - A
Jin-De Jhang A-/A - A-
Dilson Herrera A-/A - A
Max Moroff A-/A - A-
Jesus Vasquez A-/A
Tyler Glasnow A-/A - A
John Kuchno A-/A

Jacob Stallings A/A+
Willy Garcia A/A+ - A+
Tyler Gaffney A/A+ - A
Zach Dodson A/A+ - A+
Dalton Friend A/A+
Pat Ludwig A/A+

Gift Ngoepe A+/AA - AA
Mel Rojas A+/AA - AA

Andrew Lambo AA/AAA
Brandon Cumpton AA/AAA
Jeff Inman AA/AAA
Stolmy Pimentel AA/AAA
Hunter Strickland AA/AAA

[burgh_fan66]

The ones I'm most interested in are:

Jhang and Mathisen. I'm not really sure what they will do with them. I would imagine they will send at least one to A ball but I wouldn't be surprised at either one or even both.

Glasnow is another interesting one I think at the very least they will start him in extended spring training but like you I think they will push him to A ball

Garcia, Gaffney and Rojas I think are all linked together. I just don't see the Pirates pushing Rojas to AA nor do I see Garcia going to A+ but I'm torn on Gaffney I think he could go either way though I tend to lean towards A ball.

[CutchTruth]

The ones I'm most interested in are:

Jhang and Mathisen. I'm not really sure what they will do with them. I would imagine they will send at least one to A ball but I wouldn't be surprised at either one or even both.

Glasnow is another interesting one I think at the very least they will start him in extended spring training but like you I think they will push him to A ball

Garcia, Gaffney and Rojas I think are all linked together. I just don't see the Pirates pushing Rojas to AA nor do I see Garcia going to A+ but I'm torn on Gaffney I think he could go either way though I tend to lean towards A ball.

I think Rojas needs to be pushed to AA. He'll turn 23 in May. He can't be 23 and in A+ ball and still be a legitimate prospect. I think it's sink or swim time. Garcia is obviously much younger and his strikeout issues could have him return to West Virginia. The Pirates have shown they like pushing college, so maybe Gaffney to A+ and Garcia to A ball. That actually might make more sense.

On Mathisen/De Jhang, I think they need to split them up to get them the most playing time. However, they could keep them together and simply have them switch roles as C and DH, which would ease the burden on them learning the defensive aspects of catching plus reduce wear and tear. They just need to both get a lot of at-bats. I just think as a 2nd round pick that did well, Mathisen will get pushed to A ball. The closest example to me is Robbie Grossman.