It’s been awhile since I’ve published prospect rankings on this site. In fact, it’s been almost two years.
This hasn’t been a great business decision. Prospect rankings are the biggest seller in this industry. Everyone loves a list and a hard opinion about a subjective matter. We also love attempts to predict what is coming next. But I’ve never really liked ranking human beings, nor trying to lock them in to one likely possibility out of many.
I prefer a tiered ranking system, which displays the talent levels throughout the system. The goal of a farm system in baseball is to provide what the MLB organization needs. This can’t be the lone-source of talent for any organization, but for a small market team like the Pittsburgh Pirates, the impact talent needs to come from within. The goal of this tiered system is to focus on who can be an impact player, who can start, and who can provide depth.
This ranking system will evolve over the course of this year, aiming to better display who is on the starter track and who is on the depth track. For now, the tiers at the top of the system are smaller to better group players by their overall risk/reward ratio. The final three tiers are a jumbled mess, with a sliding scale of ceiling and floor qualities that might lead to a few future starters.
If you squint really closely, and pay attention to the order of the names throughout these articles, you’ll find my individual top 50 rankings order. It changes daily within the tiers, so don’t take it as gospel. Future versions of this ranking system will have a way to display who has moved up within their tiers, and who has moved up to new tiers.
Check out the individual team articles linked at the end of this ranking for further information on the best players at each level this year.
Tier One
Paul Skenes
The Pirates have one player who grades as one of the very best in the game. Paul Skenes is regarded as the best pitching prospect in baseball, and will likely arrive within the first two months of the season. Based on his first start, two months might be too long. Skenes is Major League ready from a stuff standpoint, and just needs to adapt to pitching on the pro schedule. He’s throwing a new splinker, and doesn’t have much experience throwing all of his pitches against advanced hitters. He’s got the potential to lead a rotation one day, and be one of the best pitchers in the game. For now, he’s spending a short time leading the prospect rankings as he refines his game.
Tier Two
Jared Jones, Termarr Johnson, Bubba Chandler, Anthony Solometo
THIS WEEK ON PIRATES PROSPECTS
**2024 Pittsburgh Pirates Top 50 Tiered Rankings Version 1.0 – READING
The top 50 prospects in the Pittsburgh Pirates system, plus a few more, separated into tiered rankings to give you an idea of who could be starters and who could be depth.
**Indianapolis Will Provide Paul Skenes and Depth For the Pirates in 2024
Paul Skenes leads a group of prospects in Triple-A who will provide the Pirates with depth throughout the 2024 season.
**Altoona Features the Best Prospect Group in the Pirates System in 2024
The best prospect group, from the start of the year through the end of the year, will be found in Altoona.
**Greensboro is Loaded With Hitting Talent At the Start of the 2024 Season
The hitters at the top of the Greensboro prospect group will have fun hitting in that home park with zero outfield space.
**Bradenton Has One of The Best Upside Prospect Groups in Years
There’s a group of high upside players making their way to full-season ball, and it could be one of the best Single-A groups in years for the Pirates.
**Five Players in Rookie Ball Who You Should Watch in the Pirates System
Five players in rookie ball who stand out as some of the most promising options in the entire Pirates system.
