Top 30 Prospects Before the Trading Deadline

Written by: Michael Mawhinney

With the deadline approaching, I wanted to put together a top 30 prospects list to see what the Pirates are giving up in a potential trade.  Recently, the Pirates traded three prospects to the Astros for lefty pitcher Wandy Rodriguez.  Those prospects were: outfielder Robbie Grossman, and pitchers Rudy Owens and Colton Cain.  With that trade and the promotion of Starling Marte to the majors, that takes away four prospects from my previous top 30 list.
Finding the new top 30 prospects was not easy, and I discovered that the talent in the Pirates' system really drops off after the best 18-20 prospects.  The system will probably only get weaker in the coming days as the team hopefully adds an impact bat, a deal that would certainly cost a few prospects from this list.  The Pirates still have an above average farm system right now, but after some trades the system may fall back to league average, but that is completely fine if the organization puts a good product on the major league field.

Here is my list of the current top 30 prospects in the Pirates' system:

1.) Gerrit Cole--RHP--21--AA
2.) Jameson Taillon--RHP--20--A+
3.) Luis Heredia--RHP--17--A-
4.) Josh Bell--OF--19--A
5.) Alen Hanson--SS--19--A
6.) Gregory Polanco--OF--20--A
7.) Jeff Locke--LHP--24--AAA
8.) Kyle McPherson--RHP--24--AA
9.) Justin Wilson--LHP--24--AAA
10.) Alex Dickerson--1B--22--A+
11.) Matt Curry--1B--24--AA
12.) Tony Sanchez--C--24--AAA
13.) Bryan Morris--RHP--25--AAA
14.) Clay Holmes--RHP--19--A-
15.) Wyatt Mathisen--C--18--GCL
16.) Nick Kingham--RHP--20--A
17.) Barrett Barnes--OF--20--A-
18.) Jose Osuna--1B--19--A
19.) Brock Holt--SS--24--AA
20.) Mel Rojas Jr.--OF--22--A+
21.) Zack Von Rosenberg--RHP--21--A
22.) Harold Ramirez--OF--17--GCL
23.) Robby Rowland--RHP--20--A
24.) Willy Garcia--OF--19--A
25.) Jarek Cunningham--2B--22--AA
26.) Tim Alderson--RHP--23--AA
27.) Adalberto Santos--OF--24--AA
28.) Tyler Glasnow--RHP--18--GCL
29.) Brandon Cumpton--RHP--23--AA
30.) Victor Black--RHP--24--AA

Any questions or comments can be sent to me on twitter @mikemaw45, or in the comment button below