At Pirates Prospects, you will find the best and most in-depth coverage of the Pittsburgh Pirates minor league system. However, the site is more than just covering prospects. To help you use Pirates Prospects this season, here is a rundown of what you can expect from the site:
Daily Articles
-Pirates live blog with other Pirates blogs
-Pirates’ game recap
-Minor League schedules, with the daily probable pitchers, and lineups, when they’re announced
-Prospect watch, featuring all of the top performers in the farm system from that day
-Daily news articles providing analysis on the major league team, the minor league teams, specific prospects, or topics such as the draft, payroll, trade rumors, etc.
Regular Features
-Interviews with players, coaches, and team officials
-Video of the top prospects in the system
-Live game recaps from the minor league games
-Reports on the 2011 draft, including player trackers, updated daily, for Anthony Rendon, Gerrit Cole, and Matt Purke, a weekly preview, and a weekly prospects rundown.
Site Resources
–Player pages: With extreme detail on every player in the system, plus profiles from Wilbur Miller
–40-man roster/payroll tracker: Keeping track of the current 40-man roster, and the projected end of the year payroll, updated whenever a transaction takes place
–25-man roster: A listing of all of the players on the 25-man roster, plus players on the disabled list and when they were added to the list, as well as weekly analysis on each player on the active roster
–Future Payroll Commitments: A listing of all of the payroll commitments the Pirates have for the 2012-2015 seasons.
–Important Dates in 2011: Covering all of the important dates you need to remember throughout the 2011 season.
All of these resources are updated regularly, so bookmark them and check back often.
Draft Coverage
Once the draft comes along, Pirates Prospects will be the best place to keep track of the Pirates’ draft. We will host a live blog on each day of the draft, plus we’ll have player pages for each draft pick, soon after they are selected.
After the draft, we keep track of every pick that is signed, and how much money the Pirates have reportedly spent, using our Draft Pick Signing Tracker. We also provide interviews with the draft picks. Last year we interviewed Nick Kingham, Jason Hursh, and Austin Kubitza, and in the process we were the only ones to report what Kubitza was asking for ($1.5-2 M). We also broke seven draft pick signings, including Nick Kingham, Matt Curry, and Jared Lakind.
Live Game Reports
We don’t just write about the prospects, we go see them in action. This year we will be reporting from every level in the farm system, as well as live coverage of Anthony Rendon. In some cases we will have video of the prospects at each level.
Radio Interviews
This year I will be a regular guest on the following shows:
-Extra Innings with David Todd, the official Pirates’ post-game show on 104.7 FM in Pittsburgh
-Sports Central with Cory Giger on ESPN 1430 in Altoona, and ESPN 1450 in State College
Social Media
You can follow Pirates Prospects on Twitter and Facebook, to receive alerts whenever there is an update to the site.
Follow @pirateprospects on Twitter for site alerts, plus discussions during the games, and live updates when I’m covering games. Also follow @MBandi for discussions during the games, and more Pirates talk.
You can follow the site on Facebook, and get alerts on your news feed whenever a new post is made.
Products
Pirates Prospects has published two books for the 2011 season: the 2011 Prospect Guide and the 2011 Annual. Both can be purchased on the Products Page, and if you buy both together, you can get a discount. Not only will you be receiving two of the best products covering the Pittsburgh Pirates system, but you will also be helping to support the site, allowing for all of the above features and coverage to remain free on the site.
