Mining for Prospects: Untapped Markets

Dovydas Neverauskas hails from
baseball neophyte Lithuania

A few weeks ago, it became public knowledge that the Pirates signed Australian pitching Nick Hutchings back in November.  One of the interesting developments revealed by the signing was a relationship between Pirates and the Australian League team Adelaide Bite.  Pirates scout Tony Harris doubles as the Bite's manager.  Hutchings is also one of several players in the Pirates organization from Australia.  None of them are big-time prospects or high-profile international signings, but that may come.

South African Glove Wizard

During Neal Huntington's tenure, the Pittsburgh Pirates have signed international players from exotic and under-the-radar locations.  They signed two kids from India who literally won what was the equivalent of a reality show contest. Only one remains in the Pirates farm system - Rinku Singh - and he's basically a non-prospect at this point.  An argument can be made that those particular signings were publicity stunts, but the same is not true of other strange signings.  The Pirates signed Dovydas Neverauskas out of Lithuania and followed that up a few years later by signing Alex Lukashevich out of Belarus (both profiled here). Neverauskas is ahead of Lukashevich right now in both development and prospect status, but both are legitimate guys to watch.