Battling Bucs : Position Player Prospects

As most of you know following the Pirates minor leagues is a hobby of mine and I keep a running top prospect lists as well as grades for most of the players in the Pirates organization. I'm no expert in the field by any means but I like to think I have well formed opinions on a lot of the players in the system. A couple times a year I go through an overhaul of my process and basically attempt to reset everything. Well I just recently finished that process for the Pirates position players and while I will always be tweaking the list I am ready to present it here.
After grading all the Pirates position player prospects I came up with 34 with a grade of C or higher. A grade C prospect for me is someone who has surpassed the point where he is just a project and is someone who if in the upper levels could be an immediate contributor in the majors (even in a bench role) or if farther from the majors has what I consider an above average chance to develop into a solid player. Not all of these guys have huge upsides or are likely to contribute but they are the ones that have caught my eye. I have them ranked 1-34 so let's count backwards.
34. Edinson Lantigua, OF
33. Danny Arribas, C
32. Chris McGuiness, 1B
31. Eric Wood, 3B
30. Michael Suchy, OF
29. Jaff Decker, OF
28. Jose Osuna, 1B
McGuiness and Decker find themselves on this list primarily because of their high floor. Both players are already in AAA and look like competent depth options for the majors. Ideally neither player should be in the majors full time but as a temporary fill in teams could do worse. Wood and Osuna have both seen their value take a bit of a hit. Both are power hitting prospects in A+ who haven't shown much power the past 2 seasons. If things don't change by the end of the year they might find themselves off the list. Lantigua and Arribas are players far away from the majors who I see as on the rise. Lantigua was just signed last year for 275K and looks like a solid all around left handed hitting outfielder who projects to add power as he matures. He has been a standout thus far this year in the DSL. Arribas is a catcher in his fourth year in the Pirates organization but his first of really catching full time (he split his time between 1B/3B/C while in the DSL and was blocked by McGuire last year). He has hit consistently well each year thus far and his defense has been solid despite limited experience. Suchy was drafted by the Pirates in the 5th round of this year's draft and was rated by BA as the 217th best player in the draft. He is off to a slow start to his pro career but he is an athletic player with good raw power. He too is in jeopardy of falling out by the high BA ranking keeps him on the list for now.
27. Tito Polo, OF
26. Elvis Escobar, OF
25. Erich Weiss, 2B
24. Jeremias Portorreal, OF
23. Willy Garcia, OF
22. Adam Frazier, SS
21. Max Moroff, 2B
Polo, Escobar, Portorreal and Garcia are all internationally signed outfielders at various stages in their developments. Portorreal was one of the two international signings that caught my eye last year. He is a very young player as he is still 16 years old. His performance thus far hasn't been the best but reports tend to rave about him. Polo is in his first year in the states and has been a bit of a breakout performer showing good power down in rookie ball. His name is amazing and reason enough to root for him but he seems like a good all around player. Elvis Escobar was one of the two big signings in 2011. With all the injuries at the A level he got to try his hand at full season ball this year but it didn't go so well. After a good rookie season Escobar has been on a downward spiral. Willy Garcia is the farthest along of the 4 playing at the AA level this year. Garcia has impressive power but no command of the strike zone what so ever. The power is intriguing but if he can't cut down on his strikeouts and increase his walks it won't be playable. Erich Weiss or Mr. Houdini as I like to call him was drafted as a 3B but has found his way back to 2B this year. That's good because he doesn't really have the power to cut it as a 3B. Weiss is a good contact hitter and if he can stick at 2B will be an interesting one to watch going forward. Frazier and Moroff form the middle infield at the A+ level. Both are similar players who are just average defensively at SS and long term probably project better at 2B. Frazier is the more polished of the two while Moroff has the most room to grow.
20. Adrian Valerio, SS
19. Julio de la Cruz, 3B
18. Gift Ngoepe, 2B
17. Elias Diaz, C
16. Jin-De Jhang, C
Valerio was the other international signing that caught my eye last year and it did so more than all the others. Valerio goes against the Pirates philosophy of signing bat first prospects internationally as Valerio is a defense first prospect. His defense has drawn incredible reviews with some saying it is major league ready now. The bat remains a question but so far he has hit respectably well in the DSL. Julio de la Cruz was considered the Pirates top international signing in the 2012 class but he had a very rough debut and his stock fell a bit. The Pirates still brought him to the states and he is having a better year thus far. Ngoepe is a very talented defensive shortstop who is being forced to play 2B this year due to Alen Hanson. He has always been considered a plus defensive SS with good speed but the bat has always been in question. This year he has held his own in AA which is quite encouraging. Right now Ngoepe look like he could be a useful utility infielder and if the bat develops a little more maybe even a starter. Elias Diaz has probably taken the biggest jump up of anyone on this list. Coming into the season he looked like a defense first organizational catcher. However he was coming off a good offensive season in A+ as a backup catcher and this year due to injuries he got a chance to be the regular catcher at AA and has not disappointed putting up solid offensive numbers once again. At this point it is impossible to ignore what Diaz is doing and he needs to be taken seriously as a catching prospect. Due to the log jam of catchers ready for A ball Jhang received an aggressive push to A+ and he hasn't done well. He has looked overmatched and with quality catchers on their way behind him he may soon find himself buried on the depth chart.
15. Stetson Allie, 1B
14. Jordan Luplow, OF
13. Barrett Barnes, OF
12. Wyatt Mathisen, 3B
11. Taylor Gushue, C
Most of you know the story with Allie so I won't touch on that but he has tremendous power potential and considering this is only his second full year focusing on hitting he is doing quite well in AA. The strike out rate for Allie and his complete rawness as a hitter as a hitter are concerns but his plus power makes him very intriguing. Jordan Luplow was taken by the Pirates in the 3rd round of this past draft. He doesn't come with a lot of tools but he is a quality all around hitter and has thus far been tearing up the New York Penn League. He profiles as a corner outfielder and has the bat to stick there. Barrett Barnes was drafted by the Pirates in 2012 and has been a favorite of mine but the man just can't manage to stay on the field. The talent is there for Barnes to develop into an above average starting outfielder but the primary question is if he can overcome all the injury problems. Mathisen was transitioned from catcher to third base this year and appears to have handled the transition well. The bat isn't there yet but Mathisen is a very athletic player who should be able to handle 3B and has shown power potential in the bat. Taylor Gushue was taken in the 4th round by the Pirates this year and was one of my favorite selections. He is quite young for a college player and plays the catcher position well while also having a nice bat and power potential. Like Luplow he has been tearing up the New York Penn League.
10. Connor Joe, C/OF
9. Michael de la Cruz, OF
8. Andrew Lambo, 1B/OF
7. JaCoby Jones, SS
6. Harold Ramirez, OF
I wasn't initially a fan of the Connor Joe pick in this year's supplemental round and to be honest I'm still not. I originally had him below both Luplow and Gushue but the Pirates have recently announced they plan on giving him a shot to stick at catcher which was enough for him to leapfrog the two in my opinion. Joe is a nice looking bat that I think can move quick through the system but for a corner OF it doesn't really look special but for a catcher it certainly would be. Michael de la Cruz was a big international signing in 2012 and had a great season last year. He shot up prospect lists and looked primed for a breakout this year. That hasn't really happened as he has struggled to adjust in his first season in the states. The talent is there but right now the big gap he opened up between him and fellow top 2012 signee, Julio de la Cruz, is quickly narrowing. Lambo gets such a high rating from me because he appears ready to contribute now. He has power in his bat and by all appearances it seems like once healthy he should be able to help the Pirates out and may even represent an upgrade over Snider or Davis. JaCoby Jones has been this year's breakout prospect. Drafted in the third round of last year's draft he was considered more of an athlete than a baseball player and no one really knew where he was going to play. The Pirates have tried him at SS this year and though he has been rough defensively the bat has been great and he has shown great power for a middle infielder. Ramirez was one of last year's breakout stars but he has fought injuries this year. He has still performed well in A ball and at only 19 that is quite impressive.
5. Cole Tucker, SS
4. Reese McGuire, C
3. Alen Hanson, SS
2. Austin Meadows, OF
1. Josh Bell, OF
The Pirates surprisingly selected Tucker in the first round of this past draft. His selection drew a lot of criticism but it has turned out baseball insiders liked Tucker more than the draft junkies did. Tucker is a young high school player who was still 17 when he was selected who is tall for the shortstop position but projects to stay there long term. He doesn't project to hit for much power but looks like he has the talent to develop into a solid hitter. McGuire was drafted in the 1st round by the Pirates last year and comes with a great defensive reputation. He has lived up to that assessment this year drawing rave reviews from scout and has even shown flashes with the bat although that still remains a work in progress. Hanson is the Pirates top middle infield prospect. Currently at SS some scouts think he will eventually have to move off the position. His bat should play just about anywhere though. Hanson's main problems defensively appear to stem not from the lack of physical ability but rather are mental so there may still be some hope he can stick. Meadows appeared poised to take over the number one spot once Polanco was promoted but a hamstring injury prevented him from making his debut until just recently and due to this he has been passed. Meadows still projects as an all around solid outfielder who long term will probably move to the corner but he should hit for enough power where that really isn't an issue. My top position player prospect is enjoying a renaissance year. Drafted in 2011 Bell is the straw the broke the camel's back when it comes to the old draft system. An injured knee cost him most of 2012 and last year though he was fine in A ball he didn't look like the player who got all that hype when drafted. This year he has rebounded destroying the A+ level and yesterday getting the call to AA. Long term he appears to be a perfectly capable defensive RF but if the Pirates outfield trio pans out it is definitely possible he could move to 1B in the near future.