Baseball America is one of the most popular websites for finding information and rankings on Major League Baseball prospects. They often release rankings of the top overall prospects as well as each team’s top 10 prospects. Recently Baseball America updated all their lists and these are the top 10 prospects in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization according to them.

10. Jeff Locke, Left-handed Pitcher

When the Pittsburgh Pirates traded Nate McLouth the front office got a lot of heat from fans but in that trade the Pirates got Jeff Locke, who is now their 10^th best prospect, along with one of their current starters (Charlie Morton) and a prospect that Baseball America ranks as their best defensive outfielder (Gorkys Hernandez).

9. Stetson Allie, Right-handed Pitcher

Stetson Allie gave up 19 runs in just 26.0 innings pitched in his first season in the minors. Hopefully the 2010 2^nd round draft pick will get it together eventually but he has dropped to ninth on Baseball America’s list after being third last season.

8. Robbie Grossman, Outfielder

Robbie Grossman batted .294 with 13 home runs, 56 RBI and 24 stolen bases at Bradenton this past season. Grossman, drafted in the sixth round in 2008, is one of the few players on this list that was not drafted in the first three rounds of the draft. Baseball America ranks Grossman as the Pittsburgh propsect with the best strike-zone discipline.

7. Tony Sanchez, Catcher

Tony Sanchez was the 1^st round pick in the 2009 draft. Hopefully Sanchez will pan out because I believe the Pirates had about 87 different players field the catcher position last season. Last time Baseball America did a Top 100 overall prospects list Sanchez was the second Pirate on the list and was ranked #46.

6. Kyle McPherson, Right-handed Pitcher

Last season Kyle McPherson started in A+ where he went 4-1 with a 2.89 ERA with 60 strikeouts and just 6 walks. McPherson then moved up to AA where he went 8-5 with a 3.02 ERA, struck out 82 and walked only 21. Baseball America ranks this 14th-rounder as the Pirates’ pitcher with the best changeup and the best control.

5. Luis Heredia, Right-handed Pitcher

Luis Heredia was not drafted by the Pirates but was signed as a free agent out of Mexico for $2.6 million. Heredia went 1-2 with a 4.75 ERA in 12 games in the Gulf Coast League but he is still only 17-years old.

4. Starling Marte, Outfielder

Starling Marte was certainly the Pirates prospect with the best numbers last season. At AA Marte batted .332, hit 12 home runs with 50 RBI, scored 91 runs and stole 24 bases. Marte represented the Pirates in the Future’s Game and Baseball America ranks him as the Pirates’ best hitter for average.

3. Josh Bell, Outfielder

The Pirates made a risky pick when they drafted Josh Bell in the second round of the 2011 draft. Some teams wanted Bell in the 1^st round but passed on him, convinced he was going decline playing in the Minors to play at the University of Texas. The Pirates drafted him anyway and gave him a bonus too good to pass up, stealing a young first-round level draft pick in the second round.

2. Jameson Taillon, Right-handed Pitcher

Jameson Taillon was the 2^nd overall pick in the first round of the 2010 draft. On Baseball America’s last Top 100 prospect list they ranked Taillon as 11^th overall ahead of some high profile prospects such as Matt Moore, Michael Pineda, Freddie Freeman, Zach Britton and Kyle Drabek. Taillon pitched 92.2 innings in 2011 and allowed 41 earned runs (3.98 ERA), 97 strikeouts and 22 walks. Not bad numbers so far for a 19-year old.

1. Gerrit Cole, Right-handed Pitcher

Gerrit Cole was chosen first overall in the 2011 draft. On August 15^th Cole signed with the Pirates with a signing bonus of $8 million. Baseball America ranks Cole as the Pirates pitcher with the best fastball and the best slider.

Sources:

Pittsburgh Pirates Rankings at Baseball America

The last several generations of Lee Andrew Henderson’s family were Pittsburgh born and even though he was born in Alabama he has been a long time fan of the Pirates, Steelers and Panthers. Lee Andrew Henderson can be found on Twitter at @LeeAHenderson

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The Pittsburgh Pirates’ Winter Caravan is coming to Erie today.

The caravan is scheduled to include Pirates outfielder Jose Tabata, pitcher Jeff Karstens, first base coach Luis Silverio and broadcaster Greg Brown. All are scheduled to be at the Millcreek Mall from 6:30 to 8 p.m. to meet fans and sign autographs.

Tabata, 23, broke into the majors with the Pirates in 2010. This past season the 5-foot 11-inch, 220-pound left fielder batted .266 with 53 runs scored, four home runs and 21 RBIs in 334 at-bats. He also hit 18 doubles, walked 40 times, stole 16 bases and struck out 61 times.

Karstens, 29, started 26 games and appeared in 30 this past season, going 9-9 with a 3.38 earned-run average and 96 strikeouts in 1621/3 innings. He also was the Pirates’ nominee for Major League Baseball’s Roberto Clemente Award, recognizing the player who best exemplifies the game of baseball, sportsmanship, community involvement and the individual’s contribution to his team.

The 6-foot 3-inch, 185-pound right-hander is 21-26 with a 4.52 ERA in six seasons with the Pirates and New York Yankees.

Silverio joined the Pirates as first base coach for this past season after spending 35 years with the Kansas City Royals organization.

Brown is entering his 19th season with the Pirates as a radio and TV play-by-play announcer.

PITTSBURGH (93-7 THE FAN) — Pittsburgh Pirates’ General Manager Neal Huntington joined KDKA’s Bob Pompeani on 93-7 The Fan on Saturday to talk about a busy week in the MLB.

We being by talking about the acquisitions of Nate McLouth and Erik Bedard. Huntington thinks that the two were both upgrades at their positions. He says that the Pirates wanted to bring Paul Maholm back, but didn’t have that option based on the dollar signs that would be required to keep him.

As for first base, Derrek Lee has chosen to accept the Pirates offer for arbitration, but he is still available. Huntington says that Lee wants to explore options because he has made enough money, and will not play as well as he can if he is not motivated.

Many fans want to see Andrew McCutchen extended right now. Huntington looks at the Tampa Bay Rays, and says that they are taking a similar approach with the center fielder. Huntington says that the dollar figure is the reason a deal hasn’t been done, but to not be too pessimistic about it because they have four years to extend McCutchen’s contract.

For the entire interview on all-things ‘Buccos’ click below:

Pirates’ GM Neal Huntington

PITTSBURGH (93-7 The FAN) — The Pittsburgh Pirates traded with Kansas City for infielder Yamaico Navarro Wednesday evening.

In turn, the Pirates traded away minor league pitcher Brooks Pounders and infielder Diego Goris.

Navarro, 24, played in 36 major league games with the Boston Red Sox and six with the Royals last season. He hit .206 in the big leagues and .264 with seven home runs in the minors.

The Pirates are expected to make a move with their 40-man roster Thursday to compensate for the trade.

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Chris Gates | Bucs Blog
Twitter.com/Chris_Gates
Chris.Gates@cbsradio.com

PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates have agreed to terms with veteran left-handed pitcher Erik Bedard and outfielder Nate McLouth.

The 32-year-old Bedard was 5-9 with 3.62 ERA in 24 starts for Seattle and Boston last season after missing 2010 because of shoulder problems.

McLouth spent four-plus seasons with the Pirates before being traded to Atlanta in 2009. The 30-year-old struggled with the Braves, hitting .198 in 2010 and .228 in 2011.

Bedard could step in immediately at the top of Pittsburgh’s rotation while McLouth could provide depth in a crowded outfield.

The Pirates had earlier Wednesday signed free agent catcher Jose Morales to a minor league deal.

The switch-hitter hit .267 for Colorado last season before breaking his right thumb June 15 and not playing again.