Pittsburgh Pirates Minors: Three Offseason Tasks to Focus On

The other biggest need heading into this offseason is for the team to find some pitching depth, specifically starting pitching.  Last year showed that it is hard to compete in this league without effective starting pitching.  Furthermore, it proved that team’s need to have reliable depth behind their main five or six starters.

The Bucs rotation was ravaged by injuries last year.  They saw staff ace Jameson Taillon go down with Tommy-John surgery, meanwhile Chris Archer, Trevor Williams, and Steven Brault all spent time on the Injured List.  The team’s lack of quality depth was exposed quickly and the team suffered even more so because of it.

With Mitch Keller slated to start in the big league starting rotation next year, the Pirates 2020 rotation is as follows: Joe Musgrove, Trevor Williams, Chris Archer, Steven Brault, and Mitch Keller.  This leaves JT Brubaker and Cody Ponce as the only notable starting pitching prospects at Triple-A, and some scouts see both as relievers at the big league level.

There has been a lot of speculation that the Pittsburgh Pirates could look to trade away some of their veteran talent.  With the team really lacking quality pitching prospects in the upper minor leagues, they should look to deal for a couple of pitching prospects this offseason.