2012 Biggest Prospect Disappointments

The Pirates farm system had a very good year in 2012.  Top pitching prospects Gerrit Cole, Jameson Taillon, and Luis Heredia pitched well and stayed healthy.  In the positional player department, young Latin American prospects Alen Hanson and Gregory Polanco enjoyed massive breakout seasons.  Several other players - Kyle McPherson, Jeff Locke, Nick Kingham, Barrett Barnes, Clay Holmes, Tyler Glasnow, and Wyatt Mathisen, among others - also performed well.  The net overall result was a resounding positive.  That said, it doesn't mean the system was without it's share of failures.  Looking at those failures might not be as enjoyable as the examining the success stories, but it's important to recognize the system's shortcomings. Six players that took a step backwards are listed below.

2013 MLB Draft: Notable Former Pirates Draftees

Even though the MLB amateur draft is essentially six months away and player's stocks can rise and fall, that doesn't change the fact that come draft day, Pirates fans will hear plenty of familiar sounding names being announced.  That's because several players previously selected by the Pirates are expected to hear their names called during the first few rounds of the upcoming June draft.  Check it out after the jump.

Minor League Daily Update - 4/7/2012

The Pirates four full-season minor league affiliate teams played yesterday and finished the day 2-2.  Altoona and West Virginia won, while Indianapolis and Bradenton walked away in defeat.  All four teams are also scheduled to play tomorrow.

Indianapolis lost its opener to the Toledo Mud Hens 5-1.  Justin Wilson got the start and pitched 5.0 innings.  He only gave up 2 hits, but walked 6 batters and gave up 3 earned runs, although Wilson also fanned 6 batters.  Chase D'Arnaud led off and went 0-3 with a run scored, a walk, and 3 strikeouts. Starling Marte went 1-4 in his AAA debut with a deep RBI triple and a strikeout.  Jordy Mercer, Eric Fryer, and Gorkys Hernandez each had a hit, giving the Indians a total of four hits.  Reliever Bryan Morris had an inning for the ages.  His inning was perfect and he managed to strike out four batters because of a dropped third strike.  His K/9 currently sits at a nearly impossible to reach 36/9. 

Altoona bested the Erie Seawolves 4-2 to go to 2-0 on the young season.  Nathan Baker started for the Curve and pitched an efficient 5.0 innings, only giving up 2 hits, 2 walks, and an earned run while striking out 5 hitters.  Tim Alderson did well in relief, giving up a hit and a walk, while striking out 3 in 2.0 innings.  Robbie Grossman led off and went 1-5 with a run and 2 strikeouts.  Jarek Cunningham had another good day, going 2-4, with a run, a double, and 2 RBI's.  Tony Sanchez also went 2-4 and he added a double and an RBI.  Ramon Cabrera DH'd and went 0-4.  Quincy Latimore, Elevys Gonzalez, Matt Curry, and Andrew Lambo all each had one hit, while Brock Holt managed two hits. 

Brandeton lost their second game against the St. Lucie Mets to go to 1-1 on the season.  A.J Burnett struck out 5 in 4.2 innings in a rehab start.  He only gave up 2 hits and a walk, totaling in an earned run.  No one had multiple hits on the Marauders, Gift Ngoepe managed a triple.  Alex Dickerson has yet to get a hit on the season, going 0-4 without a strikeout or a walk.  Wes Freeman was once again the DH and went 0-2, but did manage to avoid striking out and actually drew a walk as well.  Tyler Waldron got rocked coming from the pen, giving up 4 hits and 4 runs, 3 of them earned, in 2.2 inning of play.  Waldron also walked 3 batters, but did strikeout two.

Stetson Allie took the ball for the Power and the results were disastrous.  Unfortunately that might be putting it lightly.  Allie only managed to get one out before exiting the game.  He walked the first 4 batters; that sequenced included 3 wild pitches.  He then struck out a better before hitting another batter, driving in a total of two runs thus far.  Michael Jefferson came in and struck out the next two Hagerstown Suns, limiting the damage.  That ultimately helped the Power to win 5-3.  Alen Hanson was again the offensive star, going 2-5 with a double, an RBI, and a strikeout. Hanson also scored twice.  Josh Bell was also 2-5 with an RBI, but both hits were singles and he struck out in each of his other at-bats (3). Jose Osuna went 1-4 and scored a run.  Willy Garcia was 0-4 with 2 strikeouts and an RBI. Gregory Polanco also struck out twice and managed no hits, but he walked once, so he finished 0-3.  Interesting stat alert: the Power gave up more runs than they gave up hits and had errors combined.  The Power gave up 2 hits and committed no errors, but allowed three runs. 

Information about today's games after the jump.

The MLB Draft under the new CBA: This sucks but there is hope

For more on the 2012 MLB Draft click here.
  







Timeline

Mid November: The world is over.  The new CBA arrives.  It destroys the draft - the Pirates best chance of competing - and love, hope, and happiness. 

December 27: There is hope. A slightly late Christmas gift. Charlie reports the Pirates will get a draft bonus pool that will be around nearly 10 million dollars in 2012.  

February 20: Hope is again crushed. Jim Callis of Baseball America reports will only get $6,563,500 to sign their players.  That is without Derrek Lee - who will provide an extra $900,000 - but that's only if he signs a major league deal with another team, which looks doubtful.

February 21: After crying a lot, I attempt to argue why this sucks but there is still a glimmer of hope.  All is not lost.

Buried Treasure Top 20 Prospects

Here is my top 20 Pirates Prospects list for the 2012 season all in one place. So far I have prospects 11-20 finished.  I promise to have my entire top 20 ready for spring training, so check back frequently! Just click the link to go to that player's profile.






01 - Jameson Taillon
02 - Gerrit Cole
03 - Starling Marte
04 - Luis Heredia
05 - Josh Bell
06 - Robbie Grossman
07 - Tony Sanchez
08 - Jarek Cunningham
09 - Jeff Locke
10 - Nick Kingham
11 - Kyle McPherson
12 - Stetson Allie
13 - Alex Dickerson
14 - Colton Cain
15 - Matt Curry
16 - Zack Dodson
17 - Gorkys Hernandez
18 - Rudy Owens
19 - Zack Von Rosenberg
20 - Clay Holmes

#11 Prospect - Kyle McPherson

My #11 Pirates prospect, Kyle McPherson shares certain similarities to my #12 prospect Stetson Allie. Both are right handed pitchers in the Pittsburgh farm system.  From there, they also have their differences.  The buzzword for Allie is ceiling, while the catch-phrase for McPherson is floor. 

McPherson was drafted in the 14th round (428th overall) by the Pirates in 2007 out of the University of Mobile.  At the time, McPherson was intriguing - possessing a solid fastball that sat in the low 90's, passable command, and decent secondaries - but intriguing was the limit.  In his first two full seasons, 2008 and 2009, McPherson did little to change that.  He posted solid ERA's, but McPherson's peripherals were weak.  In 2008, McPherson posted a mediocre 6.6 K/9 although his 0.8 BB/9 demonstrated excellent control as a 20 year old pitching at State College.  McPherson saw his already iffy K/9 dip a bit in 2009, pitching at both State College and West Virginia as a 21 year old, posting a 6.3 K/9, although his 1.2 BB/9 was again impressive.

#12 Prospect - Stetson Allie

Potential, ceiling, flamethrower, "Holy crap he has no idea where his fastball is going."  All are words or phrases almost certainly muttered at one time or another regarding my #12 Pirates prospect, Stetson Allie. The 6'2 or 6'4 (depends on the source), 220 lbs right handed pitcher was the Pirates second round pick in 2010.  Allie was actually Baseball America's #8 draft prospect but fell due to signability concerns.  The Pirates ignored those concerns and took Allie and then paid him 2.25 million dollars to forgo his college commitment to UNC.  

Allie, even at the time of the draft, had incredible pure stuff.  Baseball America said about Allie, "His pure stuff rivals Jameson Taillon's as the best in this draft." Allie's bread and butter is his fastball, that sat in the mid to high 90's as a high school senior and regularly touched triple digits.  He complemented that with a filthy slider that reached the low 90's and has plenty of movement.  Allie rarely used his third pitch - a changeup - in high school, so the Pirates would and will need to develop it for him to be a starter.  Allie also has no stamina problems, as he has a strong, workhorse frame and during high school his stuff held deep into games.  What will hold Allie back, particularly as a starter, is his control and command.  Due to his rawness, Allie was certainly a project coming out of high school, but it's hard to find any pitcher at any level of baseball with the pure stuff possessed by Stetson Allie.