Pittsburgh Pirates
E-mail
PrintBaseball America's Top 10 Prospects lists are based on projections of a player's long-term worth after discussions with scouting and player-development personnel. All players who haven't exceeded the major league rookie standards of 130 at-bats or 50 innings pitched (without regard to service time) are eligible. Ages are as of April 1, 2008.
Scouting reports for the Top 10 Prospects
 (How to subscribe) |
|
| Pirates Chat
John Perrotto |
Pre-Order the 2008 Prospect Handbook 30 scouting reports on every team |
| TOP TEN PROSPECTS |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| BEST TOOLS |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| PROJECTED 2011 LINEUP |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| TOP PROSPECTS OF THE DECADE |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| TOP DRAFT PICKS OF THE DECADE |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| LARGEST BONUSES IN CLUB HISTORY |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| PIRATES LINKS |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Pirates finally completely blew up their organization following the 2007 season, after years of poor drafts and the farm system's failure to produce star-quality players contributed to a continuing downward spiral for the franchise.
Team president Kevin McClatchy, who put together the group that bought the team in 1995, was nudged aside by majority owner Bob Nutting and replaced by Frank Coonelly, who had been a Major League Baseball vice president and chief labor counsel. Nutting, whose family had quietly taken over majority interest in the Pirates many years earlier, also became the public face of the franchise when he assumed the role of controlling owner.
General manager Dave Littlefield was fired after six unsuccessful years on the job, capped by a bizarre deal at the trade deadline. He acquired Matt Morris, who had $13.7 million left on his three-year, $27 million contract and was winless in his previous eight starts, from the Giants for a pair of marginal prospects in outfielder Rajai Davis and righthander Steven MacFarland.
Neal Huntingon, a special assistant to Indians GM Mark Shapiro, was hired to replace Littlefield. Huntington jettisoned manager Jim Tracy, who compiled a 135-189 record in two years, and hired John Russell, manager of Philadelphia's Triple-A farm club and a former Pirates third-base coach, to replace him.
Huntington also fired farm director Brian Graham and scouting director Ed Creech, who in six years together couldn't produce the talent necessary to end a string of 15 straight losing season, one short of the major league record set by the Phillies from 1933-48. After a long search, Huntington named Indians assistant farm director Kyle Stark to replace Graham and former Tigers scouting director Greg Smith to take over for Creech.
"We need to change the culture of the organization," Huntington said. "It's not always easy to make changes. I had to let go some very good baseball people and that was very difficult. However, it has become fairly obvious that we need a fresh start here, new people and some new ideas."
Huntington believes player development and scouting will be the lifeblood of the small-market franchise. He also plans to hire more area scouts in an effort to improve the flow of talent into a farm system that hasn't signed an impact hitter since third baseman Aramis Ramirez out of the Dominican Republic in 1995.
Pittsburgh has been somewhat better at producing pitchers in recent years. They drafted each of their top three starters in 2007—Ian Snell, Tom Gorzelanny and Paul Maholm—as well as closer Matt Capps.
"I feel we're building an organization that is going to be very cohesive, with the scouting and player development departments on the same page in their goal of finding talent, developing and sending it to the major leagues," Huntington said.
"I think these are good people with a lot of good ideas. It will be a cohesive group, everyone committed to making the Pittsburgh Pirates a winning organization again, but also a group that has people that will challenge each other and be willing to step outside their individual boxes."
| Scouting reports for the Top 10 Prospects
(How to subscribe) |
| Pre-Order the 2008 Prospect Handbook 30 scouting reports on every team |
indicates Premium Content | Copyright © 1999-2008 Baseball America Inc. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. All rights reserved. | Site Map | Frequently Asked Questions/Site Troubleshooting | Privacy Notice | Return/Refund Policy.
Baseball America, 4319 South Alston Avenue, Suite 103, Durham, NC 27713.