I was fortunate enough to start a web site centered around the prospects in the Pittsburgh Pirates’ system in 2009, back when not even the local newspapers bothered to write about the minor leaguers in baseball.
Today, an all-prospect game will be aired during Spring Training on MLB Network for the second year in a row, featuring those Young Bucs.
When Pirates Prospects began, there was little hope of the Pirates being a relevant franchise. One hope was loading up on prospects through the draft, but that attempt had been tried and failed repeatedly in Pittsburgh.
By the time the 2013 NL Wild Card Game took place, free agent Russell Martin and trade deadline acquisition Marlon Byrd were the players who led to an unreal atmosphere at PNC Park.
As the 100% owner of a prospect web site, it’s probably not in my best interest to tell you that prospects are only a partial factor toward winning. That’s the case in every baseball market size, including Pittsburgh, where prospects are relied upon more than in the larger markets.
The Pirates benefitted from their prospects the last time around, but they weren’t led by that group as contenders.
In 2025, the Pittsburgh Pirates are actually being led by the prospects they hoped would help make them contenders.
Paul Skenes is the best young pitcher in the game today, coming off a Rookie of the Year season where he received Cy Young and MVP votes.
No hitter in baseball hits the ball harder or further than Oneil Cruz, who seems like he’s going to do very well in center field.
The potential of these two players alone makes the Pirates worth watching.
The 2025 season is one of the remaining years to see Andrew McCutchen playing the game of baseball, and he’s still one of the better players on the team.
Bryan Reynolds, Mitch Keller, and Ke’Bryan Hayes all came up through the minor league system, and have all put up multiple above-average seasons in their careers. The Pirates have invested in all three for the long-term.
It takes 26 players to win a game, but it only takes a few players to make a team interesting to follow.
One downside with the Pirates is that there’s not much interesting about the 2025 season which didn’t exist in 2024.
The 2024 season had the debut of Skenes, along with the arrival of Jared Jones and a Gold Glove performance from Jared Triolo.
If you’re a casual fan, then you’re probably only focusing on Skenes, Cruz, McCutchen, and maybe one or two more players. These aren’t players you want to ignore during any season that they’re playing in Pittsburgh.
The hardcore fans will want new, exciting names to pair with these former prospects turned success stories, in order to validate the organization’s intent on the ultimate success of a World Series. No team can win that with prospects alone.
No disrespect to Andrew Heaney, Tommy Pham, Adam Frazier, Spencer Horwitz, or the other Pirates additions during this past offseason. All of these outside additions were attempts to fill holes on the roster, rather than upgrading the roster of a contender.
Last year, I wrote about how the Pirates were failing, from their owner Bob Nutting to the Dominican Academy. They made changes at the Dominican Academy, up to the level of the Major League coaching staff. Operations appear to be the same from the manager on the field to the owner of the team.
One might become frustrated at this lack of effort from the Pirates, which I interpret as a lack of the risk tolerance needed to win on the field, inside the business of Major League Baseball.
Regardless of the lackadaisical approach — which trickles from the Bob Nutting’s budget to the marketing hands of Travis Williams to the limited payroll of Ben Cherington to the roster restraints on Derek Shelton to the… — regardless of all of that, I’m still subscribing to the 2025 Pittsburgh Pirates.
My approach this year is not to come to you as an insider. I’m not going to pose as a hardcore fan following the team around the country, concert roadie style, in an attempt to gain clout for a social media venture.
This year, my goal is to see the Pirates as a spectator would, which is a view I once had.
It’s also to ignore the outside noise, and just give you my honest opinion each day.
My honest opinion is that the Pittsburgh Pirates are going to be an exciting team to watch in 2025. Especially if you like underdog stories.
This doesn’t change my honest opinion that the ownership and front office are failing to capitalize on such a rare moment in history for such a historic franchise.
I’ve just learned to compartmentalize the Business of Baseball from the game played on the field and in the standings. Even if they are undeniably linked.
I welcome you to join me on this journey this season.
