New Bubba Chandler conspiracy theory emerges as Pirates’ top prospect remains in minors

We've been saying it for well over a year at this point, but top Pittsburgh Pirates pitching prospect Bubba Chandler should be knocking on the door of the big leagues any day now. Even with a rocky stretch earlier this season at Triple-A Indianapolis, there is no denying that he has some of the nastiest stuff in the Pirates' farm system.

The month of June – which just so happened to be when the Major League promotion rumors were hotter than ever – saw Chandler's ERA balloon up to 8.53. He struggled mightily with command, striking out just 11 batters on the month while walking 12. He rebounded beautifully heading into the All-Star break, however, tossing 12 scoreless innings over his final two games of the season's first half – giving fans reason to believe that he had made a full return to his dominant, pre-June form.

So, while Chandler was expected to have made his Major League debut by now, the June slump kept him in the minor leagues longer than expected – or did it? Perhaps, instead of a reactionary move, it was a calculated decision on the Pirates' part to keep Chandler down.

New Bubba Chandler conspiracy theory emerges as Pirates’ top prospect remains in minors

In his updated top-10 prospect rankings for each MLB team, ESPN's Kiley McDaniel made an intriguing note about the Pirates (whose No. 1 prospect remains Chandler, of course).

"The Pirates would seem likely to be adding prospects at the deadline but also could promote Chandler at any point," McDaniel wrote. "And his graduation would obviously hurt the system ranking in the winter."

Forget service time manipulation (though that may be at play, too); are the Pirates delaying Chandler's inevitable promotion to the Majors so that their farm system rankings don't suffer against the rest of the league? For a team that frequently touts its deep prospect pool in an effort to distract fans from how deficient its Major League roster is, it wouldn't be that far fetched.

Regardless, the Pirates will eventually run out of excuses for keeping Chandler in Triple-A, especially if he opens the second half of the season the way he ended the first. He has little, if anything, left to prove in the minor leagues, and he deserves a chance to prove himself at the next level.

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