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Pittsburgh Pirates: What To Be Thankful For This Year
By Marty Leap
A Strong Farm System
When Huntington was fired the Pittsburgh Pirates were not in a great spot in terms of MLB talent. That said, he left behind a strong farm system. Cherington has continued to add to this farm system through trades, the 2020 draft and international free agency. Now, quietly, the Pirates have one of the best farm systems in baseball.
FanGraphs ranks the Pirate farm system as the 4th best in all of baseball. This includes six top 100 prosepcts in Hayes, Oneil Cruz, Travis Swaggerty, Tahnaj Thomas, Nick Gonzales, and Peguero. FanGraphs give 12 Pirate prospects with a future value (FV) of 45 or better, any prospect wit ha FV of at least 45 is projected to be a future MLB regular who will be worth at least 1.5 fWAR per season.
While the MLB product may not be good for the Pittsburgh Pirates currently, that looks ready to change in the next few years. Swaggerty, Cruz and pitcher Cody Bolton (ranked as the organization’s no. 10 prospect by FanGraphs) should join Hayes as a member of the team’s young core during the 2021 season, and Gonzales could join the fold in 2022.
Next. Free Agent Target: Cameron Maybin. dark
Then in 2023, the pitching should arrive. Thomas, Quinn Priester and Malone could all arrive in 2023, to join Bolton in the team’s starting rotation. Priester and Malone both carry 45+ FVs according to FanGraphs.
There are brighter days ahead for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Fans should start to see a bigger glimpse of this bright future in 2021, and they should be thankful for that.