5 former top prospects the Pirates should take chances on to improve depth

Good MLB teams have good depth. Conversely, the Pittsburgh Pirates last season certainly had no such thing. It’s not ideal when your only non-top prospect depth options to toe the rubber midseason are Domingo Germán and Jake Woodford. While neither pitched all that much in 2024, you’d like to see the Pirates have better options to turn to in the event of a short-term injury or roster emergency.

With over 500 players being declared minor league free agents on Nov. 4, the Pirates could easily find some decent depth pieces to stash at Triple-A. There are a handful of former top prospects they could do this with.

The worst-case scenario in adding any of these players is that they don’t appear in the big leagues or appear for just a few games. The best-case scenario is that they show some of the talent that made them top prospects years ago. Either way, it’s better to have players with some upside rather than players like Woodford, Germán, or Jake Lamb.

5 former top prospects who would be great bounce back bets for Pirates at Triple-A

Dominic Smith

Before Pete Alonso and Mark Vientos, the New York Mets’ top first base prospect was Dominic Smith. At one point, he showed a lot of promise, batting .299/.366/.571 with a .390 wOBA and 150 wRC+ in 396 plate appearances between 2019 and 2020. But since then, he has only managed to hit .241/.311/.360 with a .296 wOBA and 87 wRC+ across multiple stops.

2024 was more of the same. Although he briefly became a Boston folk hero, Smith slashed .233/.313/.378 while striking out nearly a quarter of the time (24.5%). Of the few positives, he managed to put up his best walk rate (9.1%) and isolated slugging percentage (.145) since 2019, but it still amounted to an unimpressive .306 wOBA and 93 wRC+ in 307 PAs with the Boston Red Sox and Cincinnati Reds.

Smith did have his moments in 2024. He had an .819 OPS, .355 wOBA, and 128 wRC+ between June and July. He also made good contact at an above-average rate with an 89.3 MPH exit velocity and 10.6% barrel rate. Smith can hold his own at first base and has graded out as a positive defender in the eyes of outs above average the last three seasons, combining for +4 OAA.

Smith would serve a similar function as Jake Lamb did this year, providing some extra first base depth at Triple-A. Hopefully, his role would not expand past that, but at worst, he’s a mediocre bench bat, which is fine to have stored away at Triple-A in the event of an injury or an extra roster spot opening up.