Sports Magazine

Minor League Rosters

By Kipper @pghsportsforum
Every offseason I like to take a shot in the dark at figuring out just what minor league players will be assigned where. I do this in stages and try to connect the whole puzzle. Usually I don't do very well at all but hey I like to give it a try. I only do the four full seasons and I'm not really ready to finalize anything but I have my first guess at the position players for AA and AAA. By the way for AAA I'm going with the assumption Lambo makes the MLB team.
AAA
C: Tony Sanchez (easiest one on the whole team)
1B: Chris McGuiness (will share 1B/DH duties)
2B: Adalberto Santos (I'm hoping he sees AAA this year if so could also play 3B/LF/RF)
3B: Matt Hague (probably will also play some 1B)
SS: Chase d'Arnaud (as top MI depth option, probably will move back and forth between 2B and SS)
LF: Chris Dickerson (Takes Felix Pie's role from last year)
CF: Gregory Polanco (Will obviously play some RF as well)
RF: Jaff Decker (Takes Alex Presley's role from last year)
DH: Travis Ishikawa (will share 1B/DH duties)
C: Nevin Ashley (could also be Omir Santos)
IF: Robert Andino (will play SS when d'Arnaud doesn't also will likely play 2B/3B)
OF: Mel Rojas (would like to see him start but no room for him, still will probably get 2-3 starts per week)
U: Michael Martinez (terrible hitter but very versatile)
AA
C: Carlos Paulino (could probably handle AAA but no spot, needs bat to develop)
1B: Matt Curry (Lost 2013 season has put him behind, similar make or break spot as Lambo last year)
2B: Gift Ngoepe (Pirates love his defense at SS but position not available, bat needs to progress)
3B: Jarek Cunningham (no good options so Cunningham slides over from 2B to accommodate the 2 SS)
SS: Alen Hanson (once again easiest on the team)
LF: Willy Garcia (probably best non-Hanson position player prospect)
CF: Drew Maggi (no real options, Maggi is a speedy utility player who should be able to handle the position)
RF: Quincy Latimore (traded for Gomez but resigned, impressive power; no plate discipline)
DH: Justin Howard (case for AAA but no room will likely play some 1B/LF/RF as well)
C: Jacob Stallings (could be any number of guys Stallings or Elias Diaz seem most likely though)
IF: Dan Gamache (probably will play some 2B and 3B)
OF: Carlos Mesa (more of a DH than a OF but not a lot of options here)
U: Andy Vasquez (can play essentially anywhere likely to get most of his time at 3B or OF)
Again these are just my wild guesses but I like doing them as an exercise to help keep me up on the Pirates minors. I'll post the other two leagues and all the pitchers as I create them. I'm not quite convinced that Santos and Rojas will start the year in AAA but they probably should. The Pirates need to give fringe prospects a shot at the level over the Blake Davises (likely alternative to Santos) of the world.

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