Cherington Sticking to His Guns While Stockpiling Talent
Since taking over as General Manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates back in November of 2019, Ben Cherington has said that he plans to stockpile talent and then develop them into Major Leaguers. It is a little more than a year later and Cherington has stuck to his guns and completely flipped the Pirates farm system. Because of his work, the Pirates were named the third most improved farm system in Major League baseball and had four prospects appear as part of Baseball America's Top 100 prospects list. As a small-market team, the Pirates can't afford to go out and make a splash ok a huge free agent. The model they have to follow to be successful is to find and develop talent and then trade them when they are at their maximum value to keep the pipeline going.
For the Pirates, they ended the 2019 season ranked as one of the worst Minor League systems in Major League Baseball. A series of bad trades at the end of the Neil Huntington era left the Minor Leagues depleted and not much talent at the Major League level either. Looking at the current make-up of the roster, they still have some talent at the Major League level in the form of Ke'Bryan Hayes, Bryan Reynolds, and Mitch Keller and the farm system continues to grow. Since he started, Cherington has added 17 of the Pirate's top 30 prospects and 10 of those have come via the trade. Cherington has made moves to bring in talent, now the question becomes whether or not he can develop them into Major League caliber players.
Talent Acquired Through Trades and the Draft
One of the most notable parts of a General Manager's job is the work he does through trades and free agency. It can make or break his career and earn him love or hate from the fan base. So far, Cherington has made three trades this off-season and flipped that into 13 prospects for the Pirates, 10 of which are on the Pirate's Top 30 Prospect list according to MLB Pipeline. Most of those prospects acquired are between the ages of 19 and 21 years old and are all due up to the Major Leagues at around the 2023 or 2024 seasons. That is right in the window of when the Pirates are aiming to be competitive, and although not all the prospects will work out they are stockpiling to have the prospects to spare in case something goes wrong.
Just with the guys, Cherington has acquired so far, you could make a pretty nice looking team. By 2023, the Pirates rotation could be Brennan Malone (#9), Eddy Yean (#8), (#10) Carmen Mlodzinski, Omar Cruz (#20), and Roansy Contreras (#19). In the middle infield would be Nick Gonzales (#1) and Liover Peguero (#5), Endy Rodriguez (#14) would be behind the plate, and the outfield would feature Hudson Head (#7). Add in the prospects that the Pirates already had before Cherington and a few other of his acquisitions and it is looking like a solid team with an excess of talent.
This is a good problem to have moving forward for two reasons. First, it creates competition among players, and second it helps give the Pirates a way to fill holes from within. On any winning team, there is competition and a desire to get better every single day. With so many players being ready at the same time, it means that starters are going to have to be that much better in order to hold down their positions. Current young guys like Cole Tucker and Bryan Reynolds will have to work harder to hold their jobs, making them better. The other side of the coin is you are giving Cherington trade chips down the line. When the Pirates get competitive, they will have the prospects available to be able to land a big name guy to fill a hole much like the Padres did with Joe Musgrove. The Pirates are never going to spend a lot of money, so they can use their prospects to acquire more talent via trades to stay competitive once they are there.
Development, Development, Development
With the off-season almost over and Spring Training a couple of weeks away, most of the wheeling and dealing is coming to a close. Now the key is for Cherington and his staff to be able to develop the prospects they have brought in. With the Minor Leagues consisting of just four teams instead of sonic this season, it allows Cherington to have a more hands-on approach as the prospects come up through the Minor Leagues. The challenge becomes being able to spread the guys out enough where they are all getting enough reps week in and week out. It is clear where some guys will start the seasons but others are more questionable.
The team with the best pitching staff right now seems to be the Altoona Curve heading into 2021. As of now, their projected starting rotation could include Quinn Priester (#4), Brennan Malone (#9), Eddy Yean (#8), Roansy Contreras (#19), and Omar Cruz (#20). All five rank in the Pirate's top 30 prospects list putting a lot of talent in one group. As far as the offense goes, Altoona is looking strong on that side of the ball as well with Nick Gonzales (#1), Mason Martin (#25), and Canaan Smith (#26) all set to be in the middle of the Curve lineup. Another team to watch is going to be the Low-A Bradenton Marauders with Sammy Siani (#11), Endy Rodriguez (#14), Jared Jones (#16), and Michael Burrows (#30) all looking to premiere there this season.
All of these prospects still have development to go through, and there is no guarantee they are all going to work out. Some of the guys Cherington picked up will impact the team now, but most are going to make their impact this season in the Minor Leagues. Throughout the season, Cherington and his staff will continue to look for moves that will bring the Pirates prospects for the future. There are still several trade pieces on this team, including Adam Frazier, Richard Rodriguez, and Chris Stratton. I like the direction Cherington has gone so far and the moves that he has made. He is not settling for deals but making sure that he gets what he wants for his players. This is the start of a successful format for the Pirates as they now towards contention by 2023.
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