The Athletic ranks our farm system 4th in all of baseball
January 29, 2026
The Athletic ranks our farm system 4th in all of baseball
12 comments
They need to sign Griffin before he gets to the MLB. The only chance they have at keeping him long-term is by signing him now.
Great news for the rest of the league tbh
In typical cheap Pirates fashion, they haven’t done what every other successful small market franchises have done and that is to get a MLB contract to Griifin while he’s affordable. That’s how you build a core of young talent.
Too bad Skenes will be gone before most of these guys are making significant impact. Hope to see Griffin making his mark in MLB this year but I guess we’ll see how that plays out.
It feels like Cherington was judged too quickly.
I read it and disagree. I wouldn’t trade our system for any other. I think the Brewers, Dodgers, and Mariners would trade their entire system for our top 4.
The problem is that they are not striking while the iron is hot.
Skenes would probably consider staying here if they can get him to the playoffs a couple of times. But if they just fuck off and get 76 wins while failing to go to the postseason year after year, then the moment his contract is up he isn’t going to stay no matter how much money you want to offer him.
All Bob has to do is try, but even with this offseason thus far, it’s pretty clear he is still trying to slide by without spending any more than he absolutely has to.
Kiley McDaniel has us at 3. Says we’ll fall back to middle of the pack once Griffin and Chandler officially graduate.
Interested in this comment:
>plus a long list of position-player prospects who look like they’re going to hit
This isn’t my impression of the system, feel like the hitters are top heavy, but would be happy if it turns out to be true.
great, after 7 years of losing, this is where it should be lol
i’m glad that it’s finally taking shape but i dont think anyone should think this is some massive achievement. teams achieve this with much less losing than what we have been thru.
This list going to 53 indicates that they have a deep system, and they also have the best top 4/5 in baseball. Good seeing them high on Kelly and Valdez, those guys will never be top prospects for top 100 lists, but could be big league contributors. Florentino and Hernandez are the ones that could crack top 15-20 overall this year (as Chandler and Griffin graduate). The 40+ group is also where we could see some breakouts, there are some international hitters there that could maybe take step forward. Also to note, they got 2 prominent international signings that will be added and they have 4 out of the first 51 picks in the next draft (including #5 overall).
How does a “number 1 for the ages” not place them at number 1?
12 comments
They need to sign Griffin before he gets to the MLB. The only chance they have at keeping him long-term is by signing him now.
Great news for the rest of the league tbh
In typical cheap Pirates fashion, they haven’t done what every other successful small market franchises have done and that is to get a MLB contract to Griifin while he’s affordable. That’s how you build a core of young talent.
Too bad Skenes will be gone before most of these guys are making significant impact. Hope to see Griffin making his mark in MLB this year but I guess we’ll see how that plays out.
It feels like Cherington was judged too quickly.
I read it and disagree. I wouldn’t trade our system for any other. I think the Brewers, Dodgers, and Mariners would trade their entire system for our top 4.
The problem is that they are not striking while the iron is hot.
Skenes would probably consider staying here if they can get him to the playoffs a couple of times. But if they just fuck off and get 76 wins while failing to go to the postseason year after year, then the moment his contract is up he isn’t going to stay no matter how much money you want to offer him.
All Bob has to do is try, but even with this offseason thus far, it’s pretty clear he is still trying to slide by without spending any more than he absolutely has to.
Kiley McDaniel has us at 3. Says we’ll fall back to middle of the pack once Griffin and Chandler officially graduate.
Interested in this comment:
>plus a long list of position-player prospects who look like they’re going to hit
This isn’t my impression of the system, feel like the hitters are top heavy, but would be happy if it turns out to be true.
great, after 7 years of losing, this is where it should be lol
i’m glad that it’s finally taking shape but i dont think anyone should think this is some massive achievement. teams achieve this with much less losing than what we have been thru.
Fangraphs hasn’t published their 2026 list for the Pirate yet, but their system rankings will be close to this https://www.fangraphs.com/prospects/the-board/2025-in-season-prospect-list?org=pit.
This list going to 53 indicates that they have a deep system, and they also have the best top 4/5 in baseball. Good seeing them high on Kelly and Valdez, those guys will never be top prospects for top 100 lists, but could be big league contributors. Florentino and Hernandez are the ones that could crack top 15-20 overall this year (as Chandler and Griffin graduate). The 40+ group is also where we could see some breakouts, there are some international hitters there that could maybe take step forward. Also to note, they got 2 prominent international signings that will be added and they have 4 out of the first 51 picks in the next draft (including #5 overall).
How does a “number 1 for the ages” not place them at number 1?