The content that people want to read is me arguing which 18-22 year old baseball prospects are better than the industry projects, or which hyped players are overrated.
Everyone wants an underdog to support, as well as a heartbreak to avoid.
I’m not going to take a holier-than-thou stance on prospect projections. This site was built on the growing industry of projecting minor league players into the public eye from the moment they show any ounce of potential. My entire career has been prognosticating about the futures of past prospects.
Most of the money in this section of the baseball industry is generated by the ranking of young human beings on prospect lists. This site has an outdated top 50 list. If I were to release an update, that article alone would fund an entire month of bills.
This prospect industry is filled with writers who want to be heard, and validated for their opinions, in order to gain confidence. I was once one of those writers who needed the validation. My long-running ethical stance has been to rank players by talent tiers, versus numerical rankings.
Yet, I realize this is not human nature. There’s something inside all of our brains which prefers order and prioritization.
If you were to ask me in the street for my top prospect in the Pirates’ system, my brain would default to Bubba Chandler. I could tell you in person about David Matoma’s velocity from the non-baseball country of Uganda, or mention the mechanical changes made by sleeper prospect Hunter Barco. If you asked me for a deep sleeper to watch who wasn’t in the Spring Breakout game, I’d gravitate toward right-handed pitcher Carlson Reed.
And that’s all there is meant to be with any of this. Baseball provides topics of conversation.
In my years of coverage on this site, I’ve met a lot of Pirates fans who want to talk prospects in person. Those conversations are never debates about which prospect is better. These fans have their own list of players in their mind, ready to discuss with someone who knows the niche subject.
That’s where I’m different these days.
I still want to hear everyone else’s opinions, but I’m not in a hurry to give my own.
On the other side of the line, each of these prospects is a person who is pursuing a dream career at a young age.
There’s a certain conditioning in today’s society where anyone who gets written about or broadcast to our screens becomes almost beyond human. Superheroes. Invincible to criticism. Self-doubt eliminated. Self-validation equipped as a stock option.
In my vast experience interviewing players from the moment they turn pro through their Major League careers, the majority of these young players who get churned through every system are not much different than the fans who want to discuss prospects when it comes to expression. Athletically, there’s an obvious difference. From a mindset standpoint, very few are confident, and most of the confident ones have just memorized a way of expression that they know will be generally accepted.
Prospects are ranked by their tools and skills, but the make or break is inside the mind.
It’s the endless drive to improve.
The ability to shut out criticism and comparisons.
Forgetting yesterday’s loss over and over and over and over again.
Clinging to a small percentage chance of success.
Knowing that there’s no way to fake authenticity during the game.
These prospects have families who follow their every move. Friends who claim to be there from day one. Every single player in the game faces the inevitable public humiliation of failure.
When that failure comes, and the media shine wears off, these prospects find out who their people really are, versus who was just waving at the crowd below as the hot air balloon launched.
Ethically, I wrestle with the concept of writing about prospects, or baseball players in general.
That ethical dilemma extends to the managers, coaches, scouts, front office members, and even the owner of the Pirates. However, at a certain point a line is drawn between those who are on the path to being their individual adult selves, and those who should have arrived.
The idea of a daily article across an entire baseball season leads to the idea of reacting to both the positive and negative. The idea of writing daily features that are positive only ignores that you can’t be objective if you ignore the obvious negatives.
I’m going to draw a line this year.
I might tell you a positive that perhaps only I can see about a player, but I’m not going to tell you a negative that no one else can see.
I will continue to write about the negatives at the development, front office, and ownership levels, even if only I can see them.
All of this is to say that I’m going to be giving my natural reactions to the Spring Breakout game in tomorrow’s article, and with every other article this season. The goal won’t be to ride the hype train of a prospect, or to be the first to spot heartbreak.
The goal will be truth, from perhaps the only objective and honest writer in the entire prospect industry.
A DAY IN THE LIFE
Jared Jones took the loss yesterday as the Pirates fell 15-3 to the Twins. Despite the loss, Jones pitched well, allowing just one run in 4.1 innings. That’s very encouraging for this upcoming season.
In the latest feature on the site, I wrote about why I’m subscribing to the 2025 Pittsburgh Pirates.
Williams: Why I’m Subscribing to the 2025 Pittsburgh Pirates
Today on the baseball reading list from around the industry:
- Jayson Stark wonders if the Dodgers are the new Evil Empire over the Yankees. It’s an entertaining back and forth, mostly centered around the idea that the Dodgers being able to spend more than the Yankees makes them the envy of the entire game. It also includes the Pirates catching a stray at the end of the article.
- Alex Stumpf writes about the expected mid-season return of Dauri Moreta, who is one of the relievers I’m most looking forward to on the Pirates in the long-term. Getting Moreta back for the second half will be like a trade addition.
SONG OF THE DAY
