Five New Years Resolutions for the Pittsburgh Pirates

Developing talent

It is no secret that the biggest weakness for the Pirates the last few years has been player development.  Between highly regarded players not panning out in Pittsburgh, and players such as Austin Meadows, Tyler Glasnow and Gerrit Cole thriving after being shipped out of Pittsburgh, player development is an area that needs to greatly improve.

The Pirates have already taken a number of good strides to correct this issue this offseason.  They hired Ben Cherington as GM who comes from a player development background in both Boston and Toronto.  Steve Sanders joined Cherington’s staff as assistant GM, essentially replacing Kyle Stark who was in charge of player development under ex-GM Neal Huntington.

Now that the people are in place, it is time to implement strategies to ensure player development improves.  The strategies need to be forward-thinking and centered around individual player strengths instead of blanket strategies that apply to all players.

For an organization like the Pirates, where resources are not as abundant as in the big markets, developing talent in the minor leagues and eventually implementing it at the Major League level is key.