would be interested to see some sort of IFA retrospective. seems it’s been an underperforming pipeline in recent years.
who have been the biggest/best signings & international prospects since Gregory Polanco debuted? Luis Ortiz was a good find, Bido was decent org depth for a while, does Bae count?
I can’t even think of exciting prospects that ultimately fizzled ala Alen Hanson & Dilson Herrera. Could this be the year Rodolfo Nolasco finally breaks out? lol
I’ve wondered what’s the best way to approach these signings under the new rules? Do you try to spread your money around a few elite guys? Or is better to go quantity?
Most of the more successful teams identify one or two top 10 prospects and try to use most of their money signing strong talent. The Pirates have signed a few guys for big bucks, but mostly they try to sign as many kids as possible and play the odds that one or two will really pay off.
A good example is Luis Ortiz who has pitched for the Pirates in MLB the past two years - he was a $25K sign in the 2018 Period. That's a huge payoff, and he could be a strong possibility this year to make the opening day roster. Others are Carlos Jimenez who was the 17th Best Prospect for the Pirates in Feb 2023 by Fangraphs, Jun-Seok Shim #19, and Po-Yu Chen #26. Shim ($750K) and Chen ($1.25 mil) were both signed for good money.
And none of their drips and drabs approach has turned into a decent player. At least not yet. And with the last regime, the only decent player they produced was...Polanco. So yeah, I’d rather have them play in a deeper end of the pool.
Don't forget Starling Marte who signed for only $85K in 2007 and became a solid contributor to the Pirates during their Playoff years, and who was traded to the DBacks in exchange for Liover Peguero and Brennan Malone. Peguero could very easily become our starting 2B in 2024.
I think you should get a couple primo guys, then spread it around. The just "spread it around" quantity has not bore itself to being fruitful. That being said, nor has getting the big ticket kids so far either.
If John is on, are the Pirates still in on the Panamanian kids that we heard about in recent years? Iversen Allen (my favorite), Javier Acevedo and Angel Soriano. All of them seem to have upside.
would be interested to see some sort of IFA retrospective. seems it’s been an underperforming pipeline in recent years.
who have been the biggest/best signings & international prospects since Gregory Polanco debuted? Luis Ortiz was a good find, Bido was decent org depth for a while, does Bae count?
Does feel like since the marte polanco duo that we havent hit on much at all
I can’t even think of exciting prospects that ultimately fizzled ala Alen Hanson & Dilson Herrera. Could this be the year Rodolfo Nolasco finally breaks out? lol
I liked the idea that we are targeting countries in asia as a way to find an under-tapped pipeline, hopefully we continue that
I’ve wondered what’s the best way to approach these signings under the new rules? Do you try to spread your money around a few elite guys? Or is better to go quantity?
Most of the more successful teams identify one or two top 10 prospects and try to use most of their money signing strong talent. The Pirates have signed a few guys for big bucks, but mostly they try to sign as many kids as possible and play the odds that one or two will really pay off.
A good example is Luis Ortiz who has pitched for the Pirates in MLB the past two years - he was a $25K sign in the 2018 Period. That's a huge payoff, and he could be a strong possibility this year to make the opening day roster. Others are Carlos Jimenez who was the 17th Best Prospect for the Pirates in Feb 2023 by Fangraphs, Jun-Seok Shim #19, and Po-Yu Chen #26. Shim ($750K) and Chen ($1.25 mil) were both signed for good money.
And none of their drips and drabs approach has turned into a decent player. At least not yet. And with the last regime, the only decent player they produced was...Polanco. So yeah, I’d rather have them play in a deeper end of the pool.
Don't forget Starling Marte who signed for only $85K in 2007 and became a solid contributor to the Pirates during their Playoff years, and who was traded to the DBacks in exchange for Liover Peguero and Brennan Malone. Peguero could very easily become our starting 2B in 2024.
The fact that you used a player from two regimes and over 15 years ago illustrates their futility of the drips and drabs approach.
I’m well aware of who Starling freaking Marte is.
I think you should get a couple primo guys, then spread it around. The just "spread it around" quantity has not bore itself to being fruitful. That being said, nor has getting the big ticket kids so far either.
Appreciate the response!
John Dreker is to International happenings for Pirates what EF Hutton was to money matters back in the day. When he speaks, everyone listens.
If John is on, are the Pirates still in on the Panamanian kids that we heard about in recent years? Iversen Allen (my favorite), Javier Acevedo and Angel Soriano. All of them seem to have upside.