2007 Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects

1. Andrew McCutchen, OF, Grade A- (Made huge progress last year, doing well in Double-A in his first full season)
   
2. Brad Lincoln, RHP, B+ (should progress quickly assuming good health)
   
3. Brent Lillibridge, SS, B (Watch this guy, he could be really good)
   
4. Neil Walker, C, B- (Starting to look overrated to me)
   
5. Brian Bixler, INF, C+ (utility guy? Might not hit quite enough to be a starter)
   
6. Mike Felix, LHP, C+ (interesting lefty from '06 draft)
   
7. Todd Redmond, RHP, C+ (very nice year in Sally League, strong K/BB ratios)
   
8. Josh Sharpless, RHP, C+ (I like him in the bullpen)
   
9. Yoslan Herrera, RHP, C+ (Cuban defector, could be good, who knows?)
   
10. Shelby Ford, 3B, C+ (good sleeper from '06 draft)
    
11. Wardell Starling, RHP, C+ (for some reason I continue to think he is a sleeper)
    
12. Stephen Pearce, 1B, C+ (hit 40 doubles, 26 homers, intriguing power)
    
13. Jim Negrych, 2B, C+ (intriguing bat from University of Pittsburgh in '06 draft)
    
14. Jonah Bayliss, RHP, C (I like him better than this grade)
    
15. Justin Vaclavik, RHP, C (relief prospect with good arm, could be C+ perhaps)
    
16. John VanBenschoten, RHP, C (all depends on health)
    
17. Juan Perez, LHP, C (LOOGY candidate)
    
18. Javier Guzman, SS, C (Age-Gate reduces his grade to C)
    
19. Jesse Chavez, RHP, C  (relief sleeper with good arm)
    
20. Rajai Davis, OF (speed demon reserve outfield type)

Others of Note: Adam Boeve, OF; Pat Bresnehan, RHP; Brad Corley, OF; David Davidson, LHP;
Jason Delaney, OF; Jared Hughes, RHP; Austin McClune, OF; Nyjer Morgan, OF; Franquelis Osoria, RHP;
Brian Rogers, RHP; Romulo Sanchez, RHP; Josh Shortslef, LHP; Shane Youman, LHP.

The Pirates System in One Sentence: A thin system that lacks impact talent as well as depth.

I like the top three guys but after that it thins out very, very quickly. There isn't much difference between the C+ and C guys, all of them have major questions or project as spare parts and not impact guys.

ALL GRADES ARE PRELIMINARY. If you hate a grade, feel free to make a case for me to change it, though remember that cases phrased respectfully using logic and facts are more likely to be viewed positively than those featuring insults and invective.

There is a lot of slack in the B-/C+/C range and players may move up and down depending on how my thinking progresses. Feel free to make comments, point out sleepers I may have missed, etc. Note that there is only a limited amount of space in the book, and the max I can do is 35-36 players per team.

And, as always, there is the helpful reminder to Buy My Book, which will lay out reports for all these guys (and more) in detail.