In an interview with the Pittsburgh Post Gazette’s Colin Beazley, C/1B Rafael Flores, the Pirates #8 prospect and the headliner of the trade that sent David Bednar to the Yankees at this year’s trade deadline, made some interesting comments regarding his experiences thus far with the Pirates Triple-A affiliate, the Indianapolis Indians, in contrast to his experiences with the New York Yankees farm system.
“I’ve never been a part of baseball where I’m wanting to win games,” Flores said. “I think I’ve been in the Yankees and I’ve been developing most of the years I’ve been there, so I’m excited for the opportunity to go play baseball and play to win games and not care about my development anymore.”
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No one is saying that the Pirates’ Minor League teams shouldn’t be trying to win. Still, the fact that one of their top prospects thinks they can “not care” about development is certainly another red flag about the dysfunction of this organization, top to bottom. Even veteran Major Leaguers develop, adapt, and make adjustments over time. What Flores means by his “development” specifically could be a wide range of different things, so I’m not going to make assumptions, however.
But it’s certainly possible that Flores’ claim – that the Pirates’ value team success in the Minor Leagues over player development – may indeed correlate with the fact that so many players, especially hitters, come up to the big leagues and fail time after time. Small market teams like the Pirates have to develop young players to be competitive. And when the owner isn’t willing to move the needle at all in free agency, you’re stuck with three playoff appearances in 18 seasons (under Nutting), not to mention only four .500 seasons in 33 years.
But I’m sure Pirates fans are overjoyed that High-A Greensboro, Double-A Altoona, and Triple-A Indianapolis are near or at the top of their respective standings. Plan the parade on Federal Street!
From a defensive standpoint, catchers require a wealth of information. This can include, for example, scouting reports on each opposing hitter and an understanding of the correct pitch selection and location for all the pitchers they catch. According to Flores, the Yankees provide all available information, whereas the Pirates only share information requested by the catcher.
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The Yankees certainly aren’t elite at player development like they used to be. But even they look buttoned up compared to the Pirates organization (of course, they have the fortune of patching their problems in free agency). The best organizations in any sport show a sense of urgency and are detail-oriented. This is just another example that the Pirates don’t have either intangible in their DNA.