Although I'm
not a scout, I have no shortage of opinions, as you'll soon see if you haven't
already. I certainly believe a lot can be told from minor league
stats. A lot of observation is needed, too, of course. I try to dig
up information where I can, mostly on the web, and I add my own observations,
especially where I've seen a player a lot and feel reasonably confident about
the impressions I've formed. I'm perfectly happy to add the observations
or opinions of others, including dissenting opinions. I'm very
interested in observations from other fans who get the chance to see the team's
prospects in action and read them whenever they're posted on various
Pirate-related blogs and the like. I'm not too hard to find online if you
have observations you'd like to share. What I'm trying to do here is not
to provide "definitive" reports on these players, even if I was capable of doing
that, so much as present the best information I can find about players both well
known and obscure.
Wilbur Miller
WHAT'S NEW
11/17/09 -- Updated
position listings and player entries as MLB released the list of minor league
free agents, available here.
Also posted new depth chart.
11/11/09 -- Noted that RHP
Denny Bautista opted for free agency and dropped the following, all of whom were
released: RHPs Yoslan Herrera and Tyler Herron; 1B Justin Byler and Kent
Sakamoto; 3B Eddie Prasch, Bobby Spain and Brett Willemburg; and OF Butch Biela,
Jason Delaney and Jared Keel. Also edited umpteen entries to change
"Lynchburg" references to "Bradenton."
11/6/09 -- Made
revisions after the Pirates removed C Steve Lerud and RHPs Eric Hacker and
Virgil Vasquez from the 40-man roster.
11/3/09 -- Made
revisions to reflect the trade of RHP Jesse Chavez to the Rays for 2B Akinori
Iwamura.
10/30/09 -- Added LHP Justin Thomas, whom the
Pirates claimed off waivers from the Mariners.
10/26/09
-- Made revisions to reflect RHP Tyler Yates being removed from the 40-man
roster and electing free agency.
10/19/09 -- Made
revisions to reflect RHPs Denny Bautista, Chris Bootcheck and Craig Hansen being
removed from the 40-man roster.
10/8/09 -- All player
profiles have been updated.
10/2/09 -- Started updating
the profiles of starting pitchers who are through for the season, and updated
the profile of RHP Jose Ascanio to note his labrum surgery.
THE PLAYERS
I've changed the
way the players are organized under each position. What you'll find are
the following lists for each:
40-Man
Roster Prospects Trying to Get Established Minor League Vets and
Organizational Players Where Are They Now?
I think these are
fairly self-explanatory. I'm not going to try stating exact criteria for
each, as there's inevitably some subjectivity in saying whether a guy
is a "prospect," although I've interpreted it pretty broadly. A lot of it
is a function of time. At the lower levels, most players fall into the
"trying to get established" category. At the upper levels, most players
will either be prospects or veteran/organizational guys. It's usually
pretty obvious from the way the team handles promotions, roles and playing
times.
The "Where Are They Now?" category literally covers guys whose
whereabouts I'm uncertain about. Usually they're players who've gotten
hurt and haven't played for a year or more, or players who've probably retired
or been released, but I haven't seen anything to indicate for certain that they
are or aren't with the organization any longer. Once I find out for sure,
I'll either move them to the appropriate category or drop them. Once each
season ends, I'll also include in this category minor league free agents
who were with the organization during the previous season, until
they sign either with the Pirates or somebody else. There should be
periods when this category disappears.
If you're interested in
following the Pirates' Latin American prospects in the Dominican and
Venezuelan Summer Leagues, here are some suggestions, including some prospects
to follow.