Dissecting the Pirates Farm System

Over the past several years, the Pirates farm system has steadily improved under the watch of general manager Neal Huntington.  At the moment, prior to the official graduation of Gerrit Cole, it may be at its zenith.  The farm system is absolutely loaded with both pitching and hitting prospects.  For fun, I decided to break the farm system into two systems, one consisting of just pitchers and the other of hitters. From there, I'll compare each Pirates farm system to farm systems league-wide, identifying those that that one or both of the Pirates farm systems are clearly stronger than.  This will show how incredible the Pirates farm system currently is and how balanced it is as well.

#18 Prospect - Rudy Owens

Rudy Owens, my #18 Pirates prospect, stands at 6'3" and weighs 215 pounds.  The Pirates drafted Owens in the 28th round, 830th overall in the 2006 MLB draft. He was committed to Arizona State, but went to Chandler-Gilbert CC and signed with the Pirates just before the draft-and-follow deadline.

Owens throws both a 4-seam and 2-seam fastball.  His 2-seam fastball is his best pitch and sits in the high 80's and low 90's. His 4-seam fastball comes in faster, sitting in the low 90's and touching the mid 90's occasionally. For secondary pitches, Owens throws an excellent changeup and a still developing, but adequate curveball.  Without overpowering stuff, Owens relies on superb command of his pitches, especially his two fastballs. 

A Narrative: How Far the Pirates Have Come

While messing around on the internet late at night, I decided to compare the Pirates farm system in its current state to the state it was in several years ago. I looked back as far as 2007, the last calender year in which Dave Littlefield was GM of the Pirates for at least a day. That same year, Neal Huntington replaced him, taking over as GM.

Since the Baseball America top 10 list for the Pirates had recently come out, I decided that would be the best medium for comparison. Looking back at the 2007 list, I noticed a name that had not crossed my mind in some time: Brian Bixler.