Keith Law: Pirates Farm System 5th Best

Jameson Taillon is out for the season which certainly makes an impact on the clubs farm system.

The Pittsburgh Pirates farm system has received a number of accolades in the past 18 months.  Despite a half season filled with injury after injury the Bucs system was ranked fifth today by Keith Law of ESPN.  We highly value what Law feels about the system because he watches a lot of the young talent in the game on an almost nightly basis.  Law listed his top five farm clubs on ESPN Insider and you can check it out here (ESPN is having a 50% off special you might want to check out as well)

Law metnions that there is gap between the top systems and the Bucs.   The farm system rankings are always interesting.  We don’t think any organization has their ultimate goal to be ranked number one each and every season because there should always be promotions.  A farm system can also be used to add talent at the deadline to give ball clubs a push at the deadline each year.

The Bucs have promoted Gregory Polanco out of the farm and on to the big club.  Another hit the farm system took this season was Jameson Taillon going down with Tommy John surgery.   Most would have expected Taillon to also be promoted by this time, but one of the big hits for the Pirates is the fact that 19-year old first round pick Reese McGuire has battled mightily at the plate in the minors.

We loved the McGuire pick, but as of yet, it hasn’t worked out exactly as the club would have liked.  Thankfully, he is playing above his age level.  Another hit on the system has been the longest hamstring injury in the history of hamstring injuries suffered by outfielder Austin Meadows, the other Pirates top pick.

It’s not all bad news with the Bucs system as Adrian Sampson is having a break out year currently pitching for the Altoona Curve.

The article also mentions Tyler Glasnow, Harold Ramirez and Nick Kingham, the right handed pitcher working at AAA Indianapolis who Law calls “MLB ready starter.”