The Pittsburgh Pirates are stuck in a no man’s land, both at the major league and minor league level.
One of the worst places that any team can find themselves in is where the major league roster is bereft of talent, and the farm system is mediocre at best. For a team stuck in that situation, it can take years to work their way back to a potential postseason berth. Unless, of course, ownership opens the vaults, and simply buys the major league talent needed to contend.
That is a major part of why Ben Cherington was brought in as the Pittsburgh Pirates new general manager. Not only is he going to have to rebuild the major league roster, but he will need to develop a deeper farm system as well. Cherington certainly has the track record to do so – his tenure in Boston and Toronto coincided with dramatic improvements in both team’s minor league rankings.
There is some talent in the Pittsburgh farm system, and several of their former top prospects made their way to the majors last season. And there is tremendous upside in their remaining top prospects as well, as they had three players that were consensus top 100 prospects prior to the 2019 campaign. However, the minors still need an injection of talent for the Pirates to be able to build a sustainably contending franchise, as there are several questions about their remaining top prospects.
Let us take a look at those top ten prospects for the Pittsburgh Pirates, some of whom may be called upon to help at the major league level sooner than expected.