Pittsburgh Pirates Minors: All Decade Busted Prospect Team

With the decade coming to a close, now seemed like a good time to look back on who the best Pittsburgh Pirates prospects were since 2010.  Instead, let’s look at the prospects that never worked out.

The 2010s were much better than the 2000s for the Pittsburgh Pirates. They had multiple winning seasons and made the post-season on three separate occasions.  Part of this was because of the farm system that Neal Huntington and company built up.  As is with any small market team, the Bucs saw their core players come up through their own organization.

Furthermore, Neal Huntington committed to tearing down the team when he first was hired.  This was important because not only was the major league club in turmoil but so was the farm system that Dave Littlefield left behind.  It was important to find someone who would commit to rebuilding the Pittsburgh Pirates in the correct way.  Yes, it took a couple of years for Huntington’s plan to kick in, but the team and the fan base were rewarded with three straight playoff appearances.

While Huntington had top draft picks during his first few seasons as Pittsburgh Pirates General Manager, he ended up having more picks outside the top 10 than inside.  This played a large role in his demise as General Manager.  Huntington’s initial plan had a lot of success but ultimately led to his dismissal due to a failure in continuing to find those top prospects who would make an impact at the Major League level.

With that being said, who were the top prospects in the 2010s that were promised to be the next star player for the Pittsburgh Pirates?  Let’s take a look at each position.

The infield position is an area that Neal Huntington really focused on, especially in the second half of his Pittsburgh Pirates tenure.  However, out of all the picks he had in the 2010s the best infielder he drafted was likely Kevin Newman (Josh Bell was an outfielder at the time of the draft), without much consideration for anyone else.  Here are the top infield prospects that busted.

Catcher: Reese McGuire

First Base: Connor Joe

Second Base: Max Moroff

Third Base: Jung-Ho Kang

Shortstop:  Alen Hanson

In terms of catching prospects, Neal Huntington overall failed to develop a true big league catcher. Although McGuire was a first-round pick, his bat never seemed to develop in the Bucs minors.  The team dealt him away in the famous Francisco Liriano salary dump.  He is doing better for Toronto than he ever did in the Pirates system.

Connor Joe was a surprise draft pick in 2014.  He was not really on any analyst’s radars at the time of the Bucs pick but he still projected to be a solid hitter.  Joe immediately had back problems in the minors and saw his development stall out.  The Bucs traded him for Sean Rodriguez in 2017.

Max Moroff was a 16th round pick, leaving a low ceiling for expectations.  With that being said, it gives him a break calling him a complete bust.  Still, Moroff quickly moved up the Pittsburgh Pirates top prospect lists for his disciplined approach at the plate and ability to play middle infield.  He ended up never producing at the big league level and was traded to the Indians last offseason.

Jung-Ho Kang signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2014 and was prospect eligible. He ranked inside the Bucs top 30 and had a fine first couple years playing for the Bucs.  However, a DUI in his home country of Korea voided his work visa to enter back into the United States.  Between a major knee injury and the DUI charge, Kang missed nearly two years of Major League Baseball activities.  He returned in 2019 to bat .169 in 65 games and ultimately was released.

Alen Hanson was at one point a top 100 prospect, ranking inside Baseball America’s top 100 in 2013 and 2014, and was the potential shortstop of the future.  The bat never developed and he regressed defensively.  As a utility player, Hanson hit .205/.239/.261 in 64 games over two years with the Pirates before being placed on waivers.

If there was one area that Neal Huntington focused on it was drafting pitchers.  Huntington tried to build the Pittsburgh Pirates farm system into a pitching factory.  Instead, many of his top picks did not work out, especially the starting pitching prospects.

Luis Heredia

Nick Kingham

Yeudy Garcia

Luis Heredia was one of the top pitching prospects available during the 2010 July 2nd International Signing period.  Heredia got a franchise-record deal for an international amateur free agent at $2.6 million. He projected to be a front of the rotation type arm because at 16 he was already standing at 6’5” and had a fastball in the low 90s.  Instead, Heredia never developed anymore and had trouble staying in shape.  He is now pitching in Mexico’s professional league.

Nick Kingham was on the opposite end of the spectrum.  Drafted in 2010 along with Jameson Taillon, Kingham was viewed as a high upside projectable prep arm.  He actually outperformed Taillon as they moved up the minor league levels.  However, he had to get Tommy-John surgery in 2015 which greatly affected him.  His fastball used to sit around 94-95, but after surgery, it sat in the lower 90s.  The Bucs DFA’d him this past season.

Yeudy Garcia signed out of the Dominican Republic at 20 years of age, which is relatively late for an international amateur.  However, he immediately impressed with his power stuff, throwing a fastball in the mid to upper 90s and a sharp breaking pitch.  Garcia has yet to pitch above Double-A and has put up an ERA over 5.00 each season since 2017.  He is now 27 and has transitioned to the bullpen.

Closer: Stetson Allie

Stetson Allie is likely the biggest bust in the 2010s from the draft ranks. The Bucs gave Allie $2.25 million out of high school and hoped to utilize him as a future closer with a fastball that was clocked at 100 miles per hour.  Instead, Allie’s command issues showed up immediately, walking 29 batters in his first 26 innings of work.  The next season he walked eight in 2/3 of an inning causing the Bucs to promptly move him to another position.  Allie was released after 2015.

The Pittsburgh Pirates had a lot of hope during the 2010s.  They regularly had a top 10, if not top five, ranked minor league system in baseball.  However, what led to the last few years of missing the playoffs and ultimately the demise of the previous regime was the inability to get the prospects to perform to expectation.

The Pittsburgh Pirates have had some top prospects pan out, but for the most part, many of the “top” prospects have not worked out.  Hopefully, under new leadership, the Pittsburgh Pirates can turn their farm system into a top-rated one but also get continuous production out of it over the coming years.