The Pittsburgh Pirates System Stacks Up Well Against Houston Astros

We have been

taking a look at the Pittsburgh Pirates system compared to the opposition in the NL Central.  We have been using Fansided’s “Seedlings to Stars” Top 100 list as our go-to site for prospect rankings.

We’ve checked out the Brewers and Cardinals so far.

We’re headed to DC today to watch what’s left of the Pens as they take on the Caps.  So we needed to make this quick.

The Houston Astros system is thin, but it’s due to the fact that many of the players went to the bigs.  Their system was in the bottom tier of baseball,  but it could take a jump with some more trades.   Unfortunately for the Astros, none of their current prospects were ranked in the top 100 by S2S.

As you know, the Astros brought up numerous talented players in 2011 and they actually played very well.  In our eyes, they fared especially well against the Pirates.  The Astros won seven games against the Bucs last season.  They won eleven games in 2010.

The amazing thing about the Astros is the team had as many as twelve rookies on their ball club including Jose Altuve, Jordan Lyles and Jimmy Paredes. All of them are under 22 years old. Altuve was 20.

Two other notables who didn’t look lost for the Astros were David Carpenter and J.D Martinez. So, while we always try and pick on the Astros, they’ve done their damnedest to ruin seasons for the Bucs in an important series win here, and a timely win there.  In 2010, there were times when the ‘Stros just owned the Bucs as they racked up eleven wins.

In looking at their prospects, we agree with most of the experts and say the top two players who would be considered the best Astros prospects are Jonathan Singelton and George Springer.

Singelton is the first baseman who hasn’t flashed much power to this point acquired in the Hunter Pence deal.

Springer is a toolsy outfielder that many scouts feel strongly about.  We love East Coast hitters, too.

Jarred Cosart is a right handed pitcher that was also included in the Pence deal.  Why he throws so hard, but strikes out so few is something we are curious about.

In looking at the Astros system, we think they remind us of the approach the Bucs used to take to the amateur draft. It was about dollars, not talent.

The Astros will face a difficult season.  It could actually get ‘Pittsburgh Pirates 100-plus losses bad’ for the gang in Houston.  If you want to keep an eye on a rebuild, watch them – it should definitely be completely blown up and some bargains might become available.

The Bucs had a difficult time dealing with the old Astros front office, but maybe Neal Huntington and new Astros GM Jeff Luhnow could strike up a deal on one of those Astros starting pitchers between now and opening day?

Here is the complete S2S list:

Be sure to check out Pirates second baseman Neil Walker on our latest podcast by clicking the story below: