MLB.com will be releasing their top 100 prospects tonight, announcing the top 50 live on MLB Network and MLB.com. I’ll have this post updated throughout the night as the position of different Pirates are announced.
UPDATE 9:10 PM: The 51-100 rankings have been posted to MLB.com. Alen Hanson comes in at #54, and Gregory Polanco comes in at #65. They’ve counted down from 50 to 39 on the broadcast and no other Pirates have been announced.
UPDATE 9:18 PM: They’ve announced down to pick number 27, and no Luis Heredia. Noah Syndergaard was rated 29th, and was the number 10 right-handed pitcher. So it looks like Heredia didn’t make the top 100. Jameson Taillon and Gerrit Cole will both be on the list, giving the Pirates four prospects in the top 100.
UPDATE 9:28 PM: Jameson Taillon comes in ranked 15th.
UPDATE 9:36 PM: Gerrit Cole is ranked 9th.
UPDATE 10:54 PM: In the sidebar of this article is a points ranking system, awarding points based on where teams had prospects ranked. A team gets 100 points for the number one prospect, 99 for number two, and so on. The Pirates finished sixth in this list. The top five were Seattle, St. Louis, Tampa Bay, Minnesota, and Miami. I don’t think that can be translated to farm system rankings, since it’s only limited to top 100 prospects. It is interesting to see how teams stack up from this list.
Tim started Pirates Prospects in 2009 from his home in Virginia, which was 40 minutes from where Pedro Alvarez made his pro debut in Lynchburg. That year, the Lynchburg Hillcats won the Carolina League championship, and Pirates Prospects was born from Tim's reporting along the way. The site has grown over the years to include many more writers, and Tim has gone on to become a credentialed MLB reporter, producing Pirates Prospects each year, and will publish his 11th Prospect Guide this offseason. He has also served as the Pittsburgh Pirates correspondent for Baseball America since 2019. Behind the scenes, Tim is an avid music lover, and most of the money he gets paid to run this site goes to vinyl records.
I was relatively disappointed in their coverage, not going to lie. I can’t only imagine how fans of other teams feel though. You can tell the older guy doesn’t really know what he’s talking about; just reads off the prompter. Then Mayo has to come in and actually supply people with real knowledge.
Having 4 on list is fine too bad that there isn’t someone else closer to majors than Polanco and Hanson.
Who knows, Heredia may have been 101. If he has a decent 2013 he’ll be on list next year (with Bell added too if he meets expectations).
Wish they’d taken a closer look at Taillon.
what a joke re: no Heredia in the top 100; I’m sure the Braves have a ton of pitchers in the top 100 who’ll never turn out to be anything but trade chips that never pan out