Battling Bucs : Minors Review - Middle Infield

Top 5 Prospects
1. Alen Hanson: Hanson is easily the Pirates top middle infield prospect. Sign in 2009 as an International free agent Hanson had his big breakthrough during the 2012 season when he put up eye popping numbers as a 19 year old in A ball. Expectations were high for Hanson coming into the 2013 season and while it would be unfair to call his season a disappointment he definitely didn’t do what most were hoping he would. Almost all the questions surrounding Hanson are about his fielding as many scouts question his ability to stick at shortstop. Hanson has the speed and range needed to be a solid defensive shortstop but his arm and consistency remain in question. If Hanson sticks at shortstop he has the bat to make himself one of the better ones in the league and even if he doesn’t manage to stick at the position his bat should allow him to become a solid regular at 2B or 3B. Hanson ended 2013 at the AA level and it is likely he will begin back there to start the 2014 season.
2. Max Moroff: Admittedly I’m a bit higher on Moroff than most others. Moroff was drafted in the 16^th round of the 2012 draft and only signed with the Pirates after their deal with Appel fell through and they were able to give Moroff 300K to sign. Upon signing Moroff went to rookie ball and posted very good numbers showing excellent plate discipline and good line drive power. For the 2013 season the Pirates pushed Moroff up to full season ball and he ended up with mixed results. Still there was Moroff’s great plate discipline but he didn’t really hit the ball with any consistency all year. Overall Moroff’s makeup at the plate reminds a lot of former Pirate’s prospect Robbie Grossman as he is an extremely disciplined hitter who can do everything else well but not great. Defensively Moroff still has some issues to work out but the general consensus seems to be that he has a good chance of sticking at the shortstop position. Moroff is at an interesting place in his development as it would make sense for the Pirates to once again push him to A+ or hold him back in A ball. I’m guessing they hold him back to start the year.
3. Adam Frazier: The Pirates drafted Frazier in the 6^th round of this past draft. He was widely considered the best college shortstop in the draft which is more an indictment of just how poor the crop was than it is an endorsement of his skills. I make the statement not to say Frazier is a bad player as he seems to be a perfectly sound one but Frazier comes without any true standout physical tools and instead relies heavily on his baseball smarts. Offensively Frazier has little to no power but he does a good job controlling the strike zone and making contact. On the bases he has average speed but is considered a heads up base runner. Defensively he profiles best as a utility player with average range and average glove though he might be able to stick at shortstop. Frazier played short season ball this past year after signing and was advertised he displayed no power (.041 ISO) but did a great job controlling the strike zone (25 BB to 31 K) and hit for a high average (.321). The Pirates in 2014 will likely place Frazier at which ever level they don’t place Moroff meaning I’m guessing he’ll go to A+.
4. Trae Arbet: The Pirates drafted Arbet in the 5^th round of this past draft and signed him to an overslot deal. Arbet was rated by Baseball America as the 114^th best prospect in the draft meaning he was considered one of the better available high school shortstops. Scouts seem to question Arbet’s defense as his range and arm are just considered decent and some believe he’ll eventually need moved to second base. On the positive side scouts seem to like his bat a good bit though he does have a tendency to chase too many pitches. Like most high school player Arbet is a long ways off and needs a lot of finishing before we get any true idea of his upside. His pro debut didn’t go well and he looked simply over-matched at the plate striking out 43 times compared to walking only 4 times. Arbet will surely repeat a short season level but it could really be any of the three.
5. Ulises Montilla: Montilla is the one and only second baseman in the top 5 and it might be a stretch to even call him that considering he has split his time fairly evenly between the outfield corners, third and second however this past year he was primarily a second baseman so we’ll keep him here for now. The Pirates signed Montilla in 2010 and sent him to there now non-existent VSL affiliate. Montilla had a solid debut in the VSL and then followed that up with an excellent 2011 campaign. Still the Pirates opted not to bring him to the states but to send him to the DSL the following season. There he continued to hit well. The Pirates finally brought him to the states last year where he played down in rookie ball and yet again posted a very good season. It is a bit of a red flag the Pirates have been so hesitant to promote Montilla but at every stop he has shown good speed, great plate discipline and a little bit of power so it would be unwise to write him off completely. Montilla just spent his age 21 season in rookie ball which is rather old for the level so if the Pirates see any upside with him they are going to have to start pushing him more aggressively which would likely mean him starting 2014 in full season ball at the A level.
Upper Level Depth
Jarek Cunningham: The Pirates drafted Cunningham in the 18^th round of the 2008 draft as a shortstop. Even at that time it was a near certainty that Cunningham wouldn’t stay at shortstop but that wasn’t such a big deal as he possessed good power. Cunningham had a strong pro debut but suffered a major knee injury which caused him to miss all of 2009 and marked the end of his shortstop days. Following his knee injury Cunningham posted similar season in 2010 and 2011 at the A and A+ levels respectively. Both years he showed plus power but poor plate discipline and while his overall numbers ended up looking solid enough just even a tad bit more discipline could have made them great. In 2012 Cunningham got his first crack at AA and showed great strides defensively at second base but never really hit at all. This past season Cunningham repeated the level and refound his power belting 19 home runs but other than that had a very similar season to 2012. Cunningham has plus power for a second baseman, can play the position well and seems to have put his injuries behind him but he just really hasn’t grown as a hitter and still has the same plate discipline problems that have plagues him his entire career. Cunningham will likely once again repeat AA.
Dan Gamache: Gamache was drafted by the Pirates in the 6^th round of the 2011 draft. He played primarily third base in college but the Pirates announced him as a second baseman a position which better fit his skill set considering his limited power. Gamache got only 85 AB in his pro debut season split between rookie ball and short season ball. He played the 2012 season in A ball and had a very solid year getting himself on the prospect radar. This past season he posted a respectable season in A+ but considering his profile as a college player it wasn’t really enough to firmly establish himself as a prospect. Gamache is a solid defensive player and with the bat he strikes out a bit too much but is willing to take a walk and makes solid contact despite a lack of power. Heading into 2014 Gamache should start the season at AA which should make for an interesting decision as to whether him or Cunningham sees the lion’s share of the playing time.
Gift Ngoepe: I’m not going to spend long on Gift as I believe most people know about his back story of being the first black South African to sign a pro baseball contract with a US team. He has a terrific back story and you can’t help but root for the guy. Ngoepe possess plus speed and possibly the best shortstop glove in the Pirates system but quite flatly he cannot hit. Ngoepe has surprisingly showed some power so far in his professional career but other than that he has been pretty bad offensively. Due to the presence of Alen Hanson in A+ the Pirates pushed Ngoepe to AA this past season and he was simply over-matched striking out over 37% of the time. After taking some time off from baseball to care of his deathly ill mother back in South Africa Ngoepe returned and was swapped with Alen Hanson moving back to A+. There he posted much stronger offensive numbers but still struck out a ton. If Ngoepe can just manage to start hitting a little bit he has a chance to make it to the major league on the back of his glove and legs and could make a decent backup middle infielder but the bat must start to come along. Ngoepe should start 2014 in AA but the backlog might keep him in A+ to begin the year.
Low Level Projects
Enyel Vallejo: I could go a lot of different ways with the low level middle infield projects but I have chosen to highlight Vallejo because of his strong 2013 season. Vallejo is an interesting case as he was signed by the Pirates in 2011 but missed all of 2012 due to a contract issue. Seeing as he signed at an older age and missed a year the Pirates brought him straight to the states in 2013 and had him start his pro career in rookie ball. He didn’t end up getting much playing time in the middle infielder due to the presence of Trae Arbet and the guy I’ll talk about next but he played some left field and had a very solid season at the plate. Considering his odd background it is tough to figure out just how the Pirates view him but if they believe he has some upside he could be pushed up to A ball where he would likely share time with Montilla and Moroff/Frazier.
Carlos Ozuna: Ozuna was signed by the Pirates in 2011 as an international free agent. The Pirates had him play at the DSL level in 2012 and kept him at shortstop exclusively which is a possible indication they view him as someone with upside. Ozuna had a good debut posting good numbers but striking out a bit much for someone with his lack of power. The Pirates evidently like what they saw as they brought him to the states after just one year in the DSL. Due to the presence of Arbet, Ozuna played primarily second base and his year wasn’t too good as he continued to struggle with strike outs. Ozuna will surely repeat short season ball again and assuming the Pirates don’t draft a shortstop early I’m guessing than either him or Arbet will go to the new Bristol affiliate while the other repeats rookie ball.
Adrian Valerio: Valerio was signed this past international signing period by the Pirates for 400K. He was signed so recently that he has yet to make his pro debut which likely won’t occur until the start of the 2014 DSL season. As with most international signees we don’t know much about Valerio but we know he is a shortstop and for the Pirates to give him such a sizable bonus means they must see something in him. One thing we do know about him is that he seems to be a much different player than what Rene Gayo usually pursues. Gayo usually focuses on bat first players who are extremely athletic but while Valerio is athletic he is more noted for his glove work than his bat. Some scouts believe this raw 16 year old kid has the defensive skill set necessary to play shortstop in the MLB right now which is a rather impressive assessment. The bat is what will make or break Valerio though. If it develops he could have a career as an MLB regular but if it doesn’t he will wind up as just another great defensive player who just can’t hit enough to be useful in the major leagues. He is a switch hitter who is said to have a smooth swing and the ability to hit to all fields.