Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects: Best Players Added Via International Free Agency

NEW YORK, NY - JULY 11: Rodolfo Castro #64 of the Pittsburgh Pirates gestures after he hit a home run against the New York Mets during the fifth inning of a game at Citi Field on July 11, 2021 in New York City. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - JULY 11: Rodolfo Castro #64 of the Pittsburgh Pirates gestures after he hit a home run against the New York Mets during the fifth inning of a game at Citi Field on July 11, 2021 in New York City. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images)
1 of 6
PITTSBURGH, PA – JULY 20: A New Era pillbox Pittsburgh Pirates baseball hat is seen in the dugout during the game against the Philadelphia Phillies at PNC Park on July 20, 2019 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)
PITTSBURGH, PA – JULY 20: A New Era pillbox Pittsburgh Pirates baseball hat is seen in the dugout during the game against the Philadelphia Phillies at PNC Park on July 20, 2019 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)

The Pittsburgh Pirates farm system is filled with prospects from the draft, but who are their best Five internationally signed prospects?

Many of the Pittsburgh Pirates notable prospects have been acquired through the amateur draft. Quinn Priester, Henry Davis, and Nick Gonzales were all first-round picks. Anthony Solometo, Carmen Mlodzinski, and Bubba Chandler were also high-ranking draft picks they’ve gotten the last 2 years.

But they also have a handful of prospects that were acquired through international signings. Now by that, I mean the Pirates signed them themselves. Roansy Contreras, Oneil Cruz, Miguel Yajure, and Ji-Hwan Bae may be the team’s most notable prospects that came from the international market, but they traded for the first three and signed Bae after he was released by the Atlanta Braves during John Copperella’s international signing scandal.

So among the international prospects the Pittsburgh Pirates signed, which are considered their top 5? I’m mostly taking into consideration where sites such as FanGraphs and MLB Pipeline rank their top prospects, but will also look at their performances so far as well.

Schedule