Pittsburgh Pirates Top 30 Prospects: Ranking from 18-13

With the season approaching, we have started breaking down our Pittsburgh Pirates top 30 prospects. Next up will be numbers 18-13 in terms of prospect rankings. All six are currently in the minor leagues, including two draft picks from 2016.

Pittsburgh Pirates General Manager Neal Huntington has done a very good job lately of drafting.  Early on in his tenure as General Manager, Huntington was criticized for his drafts.  However, since 2010 he has seemed to find multiple good prospects in each draft.  His drafts have seemed even better since the league instituted the draft bonus rules.  One area that he has really drafted strong has been high upside prep pitchers.  On this list, there are two prep arms from last years draft.

Also, as noted before, the Pittsburgh Pirates have done a solid job of finding talent in the international market.  Rene Gayo, who is the Pirates’ head scout in the international market, is known for the hitters that he has found.  This list includes Starling Marte, Gregory Polanco, and Alen Hanson.  However, Gayo has found a few pitching prospects that have worked their way up the system.  There are going to be three pitchers on this list who were all signed by Rene Gayo out of Latin America. With that, here are Rum Bunter’s 18-13 prospect rankings.