I’ve spent a considerable amount of my offseason time researching our current player development system by talking to a significant number of people. 

The ‘big picture’ I walked away with is this..  

.. we have just as much confusion, discord, and lack of continuity and communication as we had two years ago under Dave Littlefield, if not more.  

Here is a sampling of my research findings:

 –  the players either love or hate the current system.. oddly, I found little middle ground;
 –  we have young pitchers who are so fed up they may prefer to walk away than remain in the system;
 –  we have position players who believe they aren’t getting the help they deserve;
 –  animosity remains a constant factor between many Littlefield and Huntington draftees; and
 –  we still have staff up in arms over the system’s processes who can’t wait for their contracts to expire.

Now don’t walk away thinking that everyone is unhappy or that the system is in chaos because that wouldn’t be accurate.  For instance, if you talk to any of the out-of-baseball working men who were hired back into the game to become a part of Stark’s new regime, they will probably tell you they have never seen such a well oiled machine.  Or if you talk to any of the young prospects or their families who were handed hundreds of thousands of dollars or more in the draft to come play baseball, they will probably also tell you they love what they have seen so far and they are very excited.  But when you dig into the core and get away from the fluff, you’re likely to find a completely different picture.

Realize too that my research is potentially biased because of who was willing to talk up.  After all, I’m better known for being an organizational watchdog of sorts so people who are dissatisfied in one way or another were more likely to come to the surface. 

But the fact remains, we still have numerous problems with the most glaring being continuity. 

One of the biggest system-wide disappointments comes in the area of player plans.  In two of the past three winters under Neal Huntington’s control, offseason pitching plans have been done for all the young minor league pitchers in the system either by a plan writer who had never even laid eyes on many of the players (Jeff Andrews in 2007) or the writer was raw and inexperienced (ex-Cleveland operations intern Kyle Stark in 2009 with help from a newly hired pitching coordinator).  In the third year the plans were written by ex-coordinator Troy Buckley who, as we know, walked away from his position with the Pirates in-season several months later.

If you are keeping track, that’s four different plan writers over the last four years. 

Obviously these plans aren’t the Holy Grail for young pitchers but they do go a long way in assisting the players and letting them know where they stand.  As a position player, Andrew McCutchen was one of the first to criticize the lack of communication and organization in Huntington’s player plans during the winter of 2007 and he has been joined since by a significant number of players.  As I mentioned above, some players have been left so much in the dark they are considering just walking away, the frustration level is that high.  And make no mistake about this, these aren’t the ‘problem childs’ of the system who are the only ones concerned – its widespread.

Another area that needs attention is staff credibility in our system.  A standing joke amongst some of the prospects is that two stops on the affiliate trail are ’dead ends’ because of the staff in place there.  And it’s not just players who feel that way – even fans have written or talked to me about the same problem. 

Lastly, it seems to me the exact same problem that plagues the organization in the major league arena also plagues the minor league player development system – lack of quality communication.  Some have said they felt that Neal Huntington is unapproachable and now I’m hearing the exact same thing about Kyle Stark.  It’s not that there isn’t communication because there is. Lots of it.  But it appears to be one-way communication.. management to their hires or charges and little receiving. 

No player development system is perfect or every organization would be a clone of it.  And unquestionably we still have some prospects in the system who are self-defeating and dragging the system down — it was easy for Huntington to purge problems from the major league clubhouse but it’s not that easy with young men as prospects. Kyle Stark has done a good job implementing layers of accountability but there appears to be too little follow through. Plus, these are young men we are training to become ballplayers, not soldiers going to war.  At some point Stark and Huntington need to ask themselves if their domination is because of the desire to turn around the system, or instead because they fear failure so badly? 

That being said, we’ve moved forward in a few areas and taken steps backwards in others which might be expected, but we’re on our last leg with credibility – we have to hire better quality baseball instructors, we have to halt the turnover, and we have to implement better processes in communication.  If we don’t, then every dollar we’ve spent on the draft the last few years will go up in smoke over the next three years. 

Now is the time and it starts with this:

One of the most important decisions the Pirates have to make this winter involves replacing pitching coordinator Troy Buckley because we are heavily relying on young pitching to move this organization forward and their professional development is essential to that goal.

When the season ended there were some outstanding names available who could have helped in this mission such as Rick Peterson, Jeff Jones, Bryan Price, Carl Willis, and even Leo Mazzone.  Obviously some of those men might not have considered a development role with the Pirates but who knows when you come calling with stupid money and/or a great PD plan?   The Pirates obviously are having some trouble closing a deal with one of their coordinators since they have twice postponed their hiring announcement, but when they do I’ll dig up what I can on the hires and we’ll see if they add or subtract from the above goal.

Here’s my Top Ten Prospects for the 2010 season:

1.  Pedro Alvarez.   How ironic is it that internally the Pirates executives talk excessively about competing by the 2011 season yet hinge that on a player who is 0wn3d by Frank ‘I want to be Commissioner in 2011″ Coonelly’s soul mate Scott Boras?  If that doesn’t spell disaster-a-brewin’ in the only city in America which imposes a payroll tax on non-resident baseball players, then also consider Alvarez’s immature holdout after being drafted which labeled him a softie.  Does he pull a ‘Benson’ in 2010 keeping him down-and-out for 2011, or doesn’t he?  Go look up the word ‘culture’ in your dictionary and stay tuned.

2.  Brad Lincoln.   The talent gap in the system between first-tier prospect Alvarez and second-tier start with Lincoln is pronounced but at the end of the day, I wonder if Lincoln doesn’t leave Pittsburgh with more playing time and better numbers?  Lincoln’s plus-heat, pinpoint control, knee-buckling 12-to-6 hook, and ability to throw under the chins of batters on both sides of the plate, is exactly what the Pirates need.  The Pirates need him to dominate in spring training and his first thirty-one days in 3A to earn a quick call up.

3.  Jose Tabata.   He’s probably the Bucs #2 prospect if you look at raw tools but he doesn’t have the power projection to play a corner and he doesn’t have the defensive wherewithal to play center rendering him useful as a solid fourth outfielder long-term. But since this is the Pirates whose owners care more about new ski lifts than Pirates wins, he’ll play left field regardless and the fans will continue to hear GM fish tales like ‘some of our players underperformed’ while the team struggles to score 700 runs every year as a result.  In most other systems he would be trade bait (oh wait, he was).

Pick the next six out of a hat.   This is where the system starts to crowd up with the average guys who either have projection or tools but need to stand out another year or two before anyone can really get excited about them.  The problem is, we’ve been saying this same thing about our player development system with this class of player every year for the last decade and that remains true in 2010. 

Edit 1/18/10:  3a.  Bryan Morris.  I just plain screwed up not having Morris in my intial list (my excuse: the dog ate his index card!). Last year I said he probably deserved to be listed as the best prospect in our entire system but this year he’s fallen a tier because of non-production and makeup concerns. His stuff is A++ — and always will be — but it’s starting to look more-and-more like he’s going to be another member of the Pirates self-serving culture brigade. I’m giving him one more year to man up.

4.  Tony Sanchez.  It’s hard to pass up Tim Alderson here but I’m not in the camp that puts much faith in him.  Sanchez has at least demonstrated some ability so far and since the Pirates are spending more time with him than any prospect perhaps in the last five years, he better show up or else we are in worse shape than anyone can possibly believe.  He’ll be rushed to Pittsburgh way too early which will derail what little bat he’ll bring and probably kill his defensive skill set too, but for 2010 he deserves to be right here and start in Altoona.

5.  Quinton Miller.  This kid ‘gits it’ and even the Pirates player development system can’t hold him back.  Well, unless they break his arm, that is.  2010 is a defining year in this young man’s growth and I think he’ll take a bit of a ‘maturity’ hit early but come roaring back strong. 

6.  Justin Wilson.  This is where I think the third-tier begins. Something about this southpaw gets me going – he’s as wild as Oliver Perez at times but from the little I saw of him on video last year, and some scouts opinions, I think he’s starting to harness it.  If he does, he could end up a solid middle of the rotation starter in a couple of years.  If he doesn’t, we’re likely to find out this year at Altoona.  For now I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt much like I did with Donnie Veal on this list last year.  Don’t be too surprised if Veal and Wilson open at Altoona together with Sanchez catching them. 

7.  Brooks Pounders.   This is one of my picks where I reached over other talent to dig out a young man I think will excel in 2010.  If he can continue to build on his 93 mph fastball, continue to develop his three other offerings, and keep his arm attached, I think he becomes the ’Rudy Owens breakout player of the year’ in 2010.   I should also add that this is one young man I am very concerned about his injury risk in 2010.

8.  Tim Alderson.  He has to be listed somewhere so I guess this is the right place.  I didn’t see any of his games in 2009, didn’t watch one frame of video on him, nor did I ask one scout this winter about him.  I just didn’t like his scouting reports during his junior year of high school, nor did I like his ’07 reports, so I guess I just don’t like him.  But here he is because those who have seen him believe in him.  Don’t be too surprised if you wonder where he went two years from now.

9.  Matt McSwain.  The guy nobody wants to believe in but me.  I think this will be the year his velocity finally comes back to the 94+ range since his TJ surgery and, coupled with his pitchability lessons learned the last two years, will finally be able to put it all together and take it to the next level.  I expect him to open in Altoona with Veal and Wilson but the problem is he’s a Dave Littlefield draftee which means he’s likely headed for a reduced role.  I think that would be a huge mistake and should be given at least 15 – 20 starts this year to see if he’s the real thing. 

10.  Sterling Marte.  Take your pick here – fourth outfielder types like Gorkys Hernandez and Marte, 2009 breakout candidate and another Littlefield draftee in Rudy Owens, one-inning Huntington draftee in Zach von Rosenberg, the overhyped like Chase D’Arnaud or Robby Grossman, projectable guys not on track yet like Wesley Freeman, or any number of the 2009 high school pitchers like Colton Cain or Zach Dodson.  They all run together. 

Notes:

I rank Shelby Ford as my 6th best prospect (7th if Clement was added) because I want to believe his limited production in 2009 was the result of sustained injuries.  I haven’t had the chance to talk with him and the Pirates won’t budge on the subject so until I find out more, I’m leaving him off since he tanked so hard.  I just hope he isn’t another casualty of the Littlefield vs. Huntington draftees war but I’m starting to wonder.

I left Neil Walker off this list but I’m still high on his bat and think the young man has a career ahead of him, perhaps as a backup catcher if the Pirates ever allow him that chance again.

I also left off Jeff Clement because I don’t consider him a prospect.  Anybody who has read my blog over the last three years knows I’ve always been in Clement’s corner and would have ranked him 4th on this list overall.  But he has some work to do in 2010.