BA's Pittsburgh Pirates Top 10 Prospects List

I knew the Pirates were high on Sanchez, but not quite that high. And Lambo fell off the list this year.



TOP TEN
PROSPECTS
1. Jameson Taillon, rhp
2. Tony Sanchez, c
3. Stetson Allie, rhp
4. Starling Marte, of
5. Luis Heredia, rhp
6. Bryan Morris, rhp
7. Rudy Owens, lhp
8. Jeff Locke, lhp
9. Zack Von Rosenberg, rhp
10. Chase d'Arnaud, ss/2b

BEST
TOOLS
Best Hitter for Average Tony Sanchez
Best Power Hitter Quincy Lattimore
Best Strike-Zone Discipline Matt Hague
Fastest Baserunner Justin Bencsko
Best Athlete Starling Marte
Best Fastball Jameson Taillon
Best Curveball Jameson Taillon
Best Slider Stetson Allie
Best Changeup Jeff Locke
Best Control Rudy Owens
Best Defensive Catcher Tony Sanchez
Best Defensive Infielder Argenis Diaz
Best Infield Arm Jordy Mercer
Best Defensive Outfielder Gorkys Hernandez
Best Outfield Arm Starling Marte

PROJECTED 2014
LINEUP
Catcher Tony Sanchez
First Base Andrew Lambo
Second Base Neil Walker
Third Base Pedro Alvarez
Shortstop Chase d'Arnaud
Left Field Andrew McCutchen
Center Field Starling Marte
Right Field Jose Tabata
No. 1 Starter Jameson Taillon
No. 2 Starter James McDonald
No. 3 Starter Luis Heredia
No. 4 Starter Bryan Morris
No. 5 Starter Rudy Owens
Closer Stetson Allie

Interesting James Mcdonald is #2.. Has he ever shown a glimmer of the potential he had at L.A?

Moving McCutchen to LF would be a mistake imo

If any of you live nearby, I suggest you purchase your tickets early for WV Power games.

Taillon, Allie and Von Rosenberg are all slated to start there this year.

According to UZR and most fielding metrics moving McCutchen would not be a mistake. He takes horrendous angles to balls and with his speed he should be better than he is defensively.

There is 0.000000000000000000000000000000000001% chance that Pedro Alvarez is still at 3b by 2014, he struggled mightily last year and his range is nonexistant. He will be at 1b by 2012 unless he goes on Jenny Craig.

McDonald had some very impressive starts for the Pirates after the trade, he will be the #1 guy coming out of ST (more of an inditement of the Pirates starters than of his status however).

Von Rosenberg is the one guy on the list that I do not care much for so far. He is young and can improve but looked lost at times last year.

Sanchez was doing great right up until he hurt his shoulder and then broke his jaw. I think he is in AA to start this season however as they want him in MLB ASAP.

Heredia has more potential to be a #2 than McDonald and Allie will not be moved to the pen unless something bad like injuries happen. He will be given every chance to be a starter.

I think Sanchez is placed right where he deserves. He was one of the best players in the FSL before getting injured.

Good to see Gorkys Hernandez make his yearly appearance on this list in some form or fashion. I think he has made the handbook in name for about seven consecutive years.

Andrew Lambo at first base?

tm decomposer said:

Andrew Lambo at first base?

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Unless they trade Pedro that ain't happening. Lambo has a long way to go to make it, he didn't exactly do much after the trade last year.

Lambo has off-field issues if I remember. I would invest $0 in him.

jmho

Is Allie for sure being sculpted into a reliever/closer? Or is that just speculation for now?

Also, Taillon is no surprise on top of the Pirates' (pretty weak) list and as their future #1, but how do you all feel he stacks up against other prospects? Where would he fall on your top 100 list?

I think Sanchez is going to be pretty good. Seems that they finally have a little bit of talent coming through their system. Other than Cutch and Alvarez, it's been pretty weak in recent years despite having a high draft pick every year.

morgoth said:

tm decomposer said:

Andrew Lambo at first base?

Click to expand...

Unless they trade Pedro that ain't happening. Lambo has a long way to go to make it, he didn't exactly do much after the trade last year.

Click to expand...

????
Pedro is a 3B!

ALL_THE_HYPE said:

Is Allie for sure being sculpted into a reliever/closer? Or is that just speculation for now?

Click to expand...

The Future: Though it's easier to project Allie as a closer, the Pirates hope he can become a starter and he'll begin 2011 in the West Virginia rotation.

ALL_THE_HYPE said:

Also, Taillon is no surprise on top of the Pirates' (pretty weak) list and as their future #1, but how do you all feel he stacks up against other prospects? Where would he fall on your top 100 list?

Click to expand...

He'd be in my mid-teens.

Jaypers said:

ALL_THE_HYPE said:

Is Allie for sure being sculpted into a reliever/closer? Or is that just speculation for now?

Click to expand...

The Future: Though it's easier to project Allie as a closer, the Pirates hope he can become a starter and he'll begin 2011 in the West Virginia rotation.

[quote="ALL_THE_HYPE":3r20yjjc]Also, Taillon is no surprise on top of the Pirates' (pretty weak) list and as their future #1, but how do you all feel he stacks up against other prospects? Where would he fall on your top 100 list?

Click to expand...

He'd be in my mid-teens.[/quote:3r20yjjc]

Yeah seems like a waste to automatically slot Allie in as a closer..live arms like that (especially from the left side) don't come around too often.

I had previously ranked Taillon in my top ten when I did a preliminary top 25 a few months back (Believe I had him at #6). After further reflection and also a deeper understanding of the 2010 draft guys, I think I'd keep him near there, but probably more in the 8-11 range. He's one player I'm very interested in seeing how he does against professional competition.

Allie is a stud and will be a solid starter in MLB. Where in rotation remains to be seen.

Book it.

jmho

ALL_THE_HYPE said:

Is Allie for sure being sculpted into a reliever/closer? Or is that just speculation for now?

Also, Taillon is no surprise on top of the Pirates' (pretty weak) list and as their future #1, but how do you all feel he stacks up against other prospects? Where would he fall on your top 100 list?

I think Sanchez is going to be pretty good. Seems that they finally have a little bit of talent coming through their system. Other than Cutch and Alvarez, it's been pretty weak in recent years despite having a high draft pick every year.

Click to expand...

You can blame that on the previous GM Dave Littlefield. His drafting of Brad Lincoln and Danny Moskos instead of about litterally anyone else set the team back horribly.

Sanchez was viewed by alot of people as "value" type of pick but he has proven to be a very good pick in a position they really really need.

Allie will be a starter until he proves otherwise.

Taillon is very exciting and if he was in a higher profile teams system he would be selling much higher.

ALL_THE_HYPE said:

Jaypers said:

[quote="ALL_THE_HYPE":39llq883]Is Allie for sure being sculpted into a reliever/closer? Or is that just speculation for now?

Click to expand...

The Future: Though it's easier to project Allie as a closer, the Pirates hope he can become a starter and he'll begin 2011 in the West Virginia rotation.

[quote="ALL_THE_HYPE":39llq883]Also, Taillon is no surprise on top of the Pirates' (pretty weak) list and as their future #1, but how do you all feel he stacks up against other prospects? Where would he fall on your top 100 list?

Click to expand...

He'd be in my mid-teens.[/quote:39llq883]

Yeah seems like a waste to automatically slot Allie in as a closer..live arms like that (especially from the left side) don't come around too often.

I had previously ranked Taillon in my top ten when I did a preliminary top 25 a few months back (Believe I had him at #6). After further reflection and also a deeper understanding of the 2010 draft guys, I think I'd keep him near there, but probably more in the 8-11 range. He's one player I'm very interested in seeing how he does against professional competition.[/quote:39llq883]

Unless you know something I don't...... Stetson Allie is RH

Joshua.Roundtree said:

[quote="ALL_THE_HYPE":2r4cqcts]

Jaypers said:

[quote="ALL_THE_HYPE":2r4cqcts]Is Allie for sure being sculpted into a reliever/closer? Or is that just speculation for now?

Click to expand...

The Future: Though it's easier to project Allie as a closer, the Pirates hope he can become a starter and he'll begin 2011 in the West Virginia rotation.

[quote="ALL_THE_HYPE":2r4cqcts]Also, Taillon is no surprise on top of the Pirates' (pretty weak) list and as their future #1, but how do you all feel he stacks up against other prospects? Where would he fall on your top 100 list?

Click to expand...

He'd be in my mid-teens.[/quote:2r4cqcts]

Yeah seems like a waste to automatically slot Allie in as a closer..live arms like that (especially from the left side) don't come around too often.

I had previously ranked Taillon in my top ten when I did a preliminary top 25 a few months back (Believe I had him at #6). After further reflection and also a deeper understanding of the 2010 draft guys, I think I'd keep him near there, but probably more in the 8-11 range. He's one player I'm very interested in seeing how he does against professional competition.[/quote:2r4cqcts]

Unless you know something I don't...... Stetson Allie is RH[/quote:2r4cqcts]
You're right. Maybe I'm mixing him up with someone else.

JAYPERS (IL): Seeing how you have Allie in the closer's role on your 2014 lineup card, does this mean you (or the Pirates) have doubts about him becoming a true SP? If the answer is no, what does he best project as?

Dejan Kovacevic: Thought someone might ask about that. The Pirates are adamant that they will give Allie every chance to be a starter, as they see him as having top-of-the-rotation potential. So, that's the default mode. At the same time, the scouts with whom I spoke will project him only for relief. Hence, the choice.

I really don't see the drafting of Daniel Moskos so horrible as people make it out to be. Grant it, he couldn't hack it as a starter but he's becoming a solid, left-handed relief pitcher who is likely to compete for the closing role.

For Andrew Lambo, I still have very high hopes for him. I do realize he has off field issues but he showed promise when he was traded to the Pirates and he performed well enough in the AFL for me to have hope in him.

And now focusing on the Stetson Allie situation, I don't understand why scouts say he's going to be a reliever this early in his career. He is only 18 years of age. No need to make a power arm like his a closer. I could see more so Bryan Morris as a reliever rather than a starting pitcher.

I posted my top pirates prospect list here: http://thisonesfornick.com/2010/10/25/p ... s-of-2011/