Last year, I asked a simple question behind the scenes: Does Pirates Prospects need to exist?
We’ve reached a point in time on the internet that I predicted years ago. When I started this site in 2009, there was hardly any minor league coverage. That’s not just with the Pirates, but across the game of baseball. Today, there is more prospect coverage than ever. In regards to the Pirates, the beat writers actually report on the prospects now, and not just top ten, major league ready guys.
The best way to display the difference between now and then is to look at the 40-man roster and the Rule 5 draft. There used to be a time where the Pirates would protect a player from the Rule 5 draft who no one had heard about, until the moment they were added to the 40-man roster. If a player was taken by another team in the Rule 5 draft, you wondered what that team saw that the Pirates might have missed. There was very little information in the minors, other than a list of 30 players to watch provided by Baseball America.
There was a time where I lived for the extra insert that BA provided with their Prospect Handbook, giving one extra prospect to follow and read about. The magic of that number 31 prospect was like looking behind the scenes and getting an added glimpse at the mystery of player development. Because there are more than 31 minor league players. If I wrote six player features a week, it would take me over half a year to write about everyone in the entire minor league system at least once.
Today, it seems that anyone looking to start a baseball writing career gravitates toward the niche of writing about prospects. I understand that. I was once the young aspiring reporter, looking for a niche to break into the game. I was fortunate to own this niche for over a decade, to the point where my coverage and reporting started influencing what the MLB beat writers were doing. But this niche is too big for one person or one site.
This site doesn’t need to exist. There are plenty of other people attempting to cover the minors. I am the best at that, but this is not what I want to do for the rest of my life. I returned this year to run a solo Pirates Prospects because it’s something I’ve been thinking about doing since 2019-2020. I wanted to see how this site would look with just one actual reporter, rather than one reporter with divided time and several contributors. The challenge is finding a way to sell the work as prospect coverage becomes more prevalent.
An example of this came up yesterday. I saw that Alex Stumpf posted a story in Spring Training about Bubba Chandler. I didn’t see this story until yesterday, but it was published on March 2nd. The story contains a lot of the information that I had last August, when I spoke with Chandler for one of my final player features of 2023. I wrote a similar update for Baseball America in February. I followed up on that reporting with a look at Chandler in a recent premium article drop.
The information is largely the same across all four articles, because it’s true. Chandler is very accountable, and has shown advanced maturity in taking control of his career. His story is going to be the same for every reporter he talks with, who asks the right questions.
I bring this up only because Alex Stumpf is one of the best baseball writers in Pittsburgh. His job is to cover the MLB team, but he does a great job at covering the minors. That said, his job is covering the MLB team, while my job is covering the minors. That means I was in position to get this story last August, right after it happened. I also was focused on Chandler again this spring for the Baseball America story. Alex was covering Pittsburgh in August, and was covering MLB players early in camp when I spoke with Chandler a second time. Chandler eventually entered the orbit of Alex’s beat, but there were six months between my original report and Alex getting a chance to talk with Chandler for the same update.
I found the story from Alex to be enjoyable, even if I had talked to Chandler multiple times about the topic. It was valuable getting another perspective, even if only to confirm that Bubba Chandler is honest and accountable in every interview. The challenge for me is getting paid for my story when the one from Alex exists.
If you read my original report last year, I got paid in advertising money, as it was a free article during a time when I didn’t know the future of this site or my work.
You need a subscription to Baseball America to read my work there, and I get paid by the article.
Alex writes for MLB.com now, so his work is free to access. He also gets paid, regardless of performance. He writes an article and moves on. I write an article and have to sell it to people.
In order to get paid today, I need people to subscribe to the site’s Patreon to access articles like my recent one on Chandler.
The advantage I have is that I get information much earlier than anyone in the minors, due to my vast experience covering player development. There are stories on the site right now that probably won’t be on any other site for months. The question is whether enough people would pay for early access to minor league player reports. How many people are reading the new Chandler article when they can get Alex’s article for free?
PREMIUM ARTICLE DROPS
Every Tuesday, I release six articles that can only be accessed with a Patreon subscription. These are articles that I want to write. They’re topics or updates that no one else has covered, providing new information from the vast spectrum of player development. My theory is if I want to know, you want to know.
This past week, I wrote about Jack Brannigan. That story is based on a conversation I had with Brannigan and his manager Robby Hammock at the end of last year, plus a conversation I had with Pirates farm director John Baker this year. Despite the conversation with Brannigan being eight months old, it’s still relevant. The most relevant aspect today is what he has been doing to improve his swing and miss. I noticed the swing and miss while watching him in person for a week. He told me last year he had been working on some posture adjustments, but also a better approach where he focused on the top of the zone and adjusted his sights down. This approach allowed him to be on time for fastballs.
So far, Brannigan has a 13.5% strikeout rate this year, down from 33.5% last year in High-A. It’s a small sample size, and hasn’t come with the power he’s shown in the past. His current .459 OBP is a massive improvement. He also continues to display plus defensive skills at both positions on the left side of the infield.
That article on Brannigan was one of my favorites of this past week, because it represented why this site exists, as it currently exists. You might read the same information elsewhere in the future, but by then, I’ll be on to the next development to cover.
The downside is that one day after that article, I saw two people on Twitter asking questions about Brannigan that were answered in the article. In an ideal world, that article is read on Tuesday by enough people to become common knowledge on Wednesday. In reality, there will be people who read this update about Brannigan from other writers in the future. And I’ll grind it out, trying to sell enough subscriptions to continue producing prospect content that is ahead of everyone else.
I need at least 1,000 Patreon subscribers to make this operation full-time, allowing for reporting and updates every week. The goal, regardless of subscriber counts, is to provide information that no one else has reported. My hope in a time of so many minor league writers is that enough people will pay for my experience and reporting skills on a niche subject. That’s not to say that no one else should be supported or read. It’s simply to say that I think there is value in my work and contribution to this media landscape. My hope is that enough people agree, enough to contribute the financial equivalent of one cup of coffee per month.
At some point this year, I’ll get the answer to the question: Does Pirates Prospects need to exist?
Until then, I’ll be focusing on creating content I want to see that no one else has.
LAST WEEK ON PIRATES PROSPECTS
Two weeks ago, I looked at the top 50 prospects in the Pittsburgh Pirates system. This past week looks at five hitters who can grade inside the top 30, plus a look at the path from rookie ball to the majors.
**Williams: The Path From Rookie Ball to the Major Leagues
In this subscriber-exclusive column, I give my view of the journey from Rookie Ball to the Major Leagues, and the elements that every player deals with along the way.
**Jack Brannigan is the Next Gold Glove Quality Third Baseman in the Pirates System
The Pirates have Gold Glove third basemen in Ke’Bryan Hayes and Jared Triolo. They’ve got another candidate in the system in power hitter Jack Brannigan.
**Mitch Jebb Brings Elite Speed and Swing Decisions to Greensboro
With so many three-true-outcome approaches in pro ball, 2023 second round pick Mitch Jebb brings a refreshing style of contact, speed, and hustle.
**Jase Bowen Has a Power/Speed/Defense Combo to Dream Upon
Following a 20-20 season in Greensboro, and with the ability to play center field or first base, Jase Bowen is a prospect with a lot of upside to dream upon.
**Tres Gonzales Brings Advanced Hitting Approach to Altoona
One of the most advanced hitters I watched last year was Tres Gonzales. His approach isn’t flashy, but he gets the job done with contact, on-base skills, and a bit of power.
**Rodolfo Nolasco Has Huge Power and Huge Swing and Miss
Some of the best raw power in the system belongs to Rodolfo Nolasco. He showed that with 20 homers in Single-A in 2023. He’ll need to improve the swing and miss to repeat at the higher levels.
FREE Features
Aside from the premium articles released on Tuesday, Pirates Prospects has free features every day.
Monday – Pirates Prospect Watch: Paul Skenes, Pitching Depth, and Power Bats
Tuesday – Article Drop (See Above)
Wednesday – Statcast Heroes: Martin Perez, Joey Bart, Nick Gonzales, Javier Rivas, Tyler Kennedy
Thursday – Williams: Closing Time
Friday – Williams: The Improvements That Have Fueled This Encouraging Pirates Start
Saturday – Saturday Sleepers: Valentin Linarez Added Velocity and Improved Control in 2023
Sunday – First Pitch (Reading)
You can subscribe to Pirates Prospects Daily, which is a free email newsletter that recaps what is happening each day around the Pirates’ organization.
This week saw the return of daily Pirates Prospect Watch articles, led by performances from two of the top pitching prospects in the system.
THIS WEEK ON PIRATES PROSPECTS
This will be the first full week of three free articles per day. Pirates Prospects Daily recaps the daily events. The Pirates Prospect Watch covers the minor league results. I also have the free daily feature above.
These are made possible once again by subscriptions to the site, which gets you access to the premium articles every Tuesday. The article drop this Tuesday will feature players who have stood out to me in the early games. This week won’t have a reporting aspect, but will be more about initially scouting players I’ve highlighted for future reporting.
