Fangraphs and ESPN each released updated farm system rankings and the Pittsburgh Pirates do well in each one.
On ESPN, the rankings are part of their draft coverage, but they were updated this week according to Kiley McDaniel. They have the Pirates rated as the fifth best farm system in baseball, trailing Cleveland, Baltimore and the New York Yankees.
On Fangraphs, the Pirates rank second overall, but they could be moving into first place soon. The Tampa Bay Rays are currently in first, but their top prospect will soon graduate from the list. Shane Baz has a 5.00 ERA in six starts this year, in addition to some time from last year. He’s nearing the 50-inning limit (needs 10.0 more), though he might pass the service time maximum before that happens. When he does, then the Pirates will move into first place. However, that will be short-lived because Oneil Cruz needs just 47 at-bats to lose his prospect status.
So for now, the Pirates do well, but they will move down (after moving up) soon. That obviously doesn’t take into account how the draft and trading deadline could help the system.
If you missed it, Baseball America updated their top 100 prospects yesterday (that link also includes the recent MLB Pipeline update).
