Pittsburgh Pirates outfield considered best in MLB by ESPN.
Coming off of a year in which ESPN’s Buster Olney predicted the Pittsburgh Pirates would be World Series champions (I guess he couldn’t see the emergence of Jake Arrieta), it should come as no surprise that the writer is still really high on the team’s potential.
Earlier this week, ESPN released their rankings for starting rotations and bullpens. You can find PBD co-editor Jason Rollison’s coverage of those rankings here. The Pirates were ranked seventh in the starting rotation rotation rankings, near the top of the National League. They were put at eighth in the bullpen rankings. Clearly Olney isn’t too keen about Neftali Feliz, Juan Nicasio, Trey Haley, and company replacing Joakim Soria, Antonio Bastardo, and Joe Blanton.
Today, ESPN released their outfield rankings (subscription required). 2013 NL MVP Andrew McCutchen, budding superstar Gregory Polanco, and 2015 Gold Glove winner Starling Marte helped the Pirates top the list. The ranking comes as no surprise, and it is well justified given that the Pirates have formidable depth options in Sean Rodriguez, Josh Harrison, Josh Bell, and Austin Meadows that have or could perform very well in the outfield in support of the star-studded starting cast.
The Pirates have McCutchen under contract through 2018. Marte is locked up through 2021, and so is Gregory Polanco, although that could change in the near future according to reports today from Rob Biertempfel of the Tribune Review.
Source tells me Polanco, #Pirates came very close to contract last year. No active talks between them now, but expect that to change.
— RobBiertempfel (@RobBiertempfel) January 14, 2016
Gregory Polanco says "I'm open" to contract extension with #Pirates.
— RobBiertempfel (@RobBiertempfel) January 14, 2016
Fans should withhold excitement as negotiations to extend the young right fielder’s contract into his early free agency years fell apart last offseason. This offseason, a deal would have to be agreed up on or, at the very least, have negotiations end in an amicable fashion in order to avoid a situation like Neil Walker experienced in the years leading up to his trade this off-season to the New York Mets in exchange for Jon Niese. The Pirates will need all the help they can get from their elite outfield to help protect Niese, Ryan Vogelsong, and Jeff Locke in 2016.
Don’t expect Olney’s outfield ranking of the Pirates to change in the years to come; this dynamic outfield is here to stay.
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