You know it’s really the offseason when prospect lists and projections start coming out. Since lots of people start with the worst teams first, we’ve already got some interesting Pirate reading material to start the winter with.
Kevin Goldstein’s started his Top 11 lists with the Pirates, and while there might not be much surprising there I do want to point out that this year our 10th and 11th best prospects are Zach Von Rosenberg and Colton Cain. In 2008, they were Shelby Ford and Andrew Walker. The Pirates might have a lot riding on talented high school arms, but at least they have those talented high school arms now.
Meanwhile Dan Szymborski’s ZiPS projections are out and as is the annual tradition, I looked at them and said, “Man, things look ugly for us.” The offense doesn’t look half bad, especially if a few young guys can exceed projections, but the pitching looks unsurprisingly ugly. James McDonald and Ross Ohlendorf fare OK (that is, slightly below average), but everything else is brutal-looking. Not that that’s surprising, of course, but yeah, that’s where we’re starting the offseason.
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