Interesting situation in the lower levels of the Pirates. The group that mostly played at A in 2024 and would be expected to be in A+ next year are not nearly as good as the kids who were in FCL for most of the 2024 season and only in A the last 2 or 3 weeks. Three of the guys mentioned above are in that latter group - 19 year olds Tony Blanco and Axial Plaz, and 20 year old Esmerlyn Valdez. Other position players joining Blanco, Plaz, and Valdez are Estuar Suero 19, Jhonny Severino 19, YDLS 19, Carlos Caro 19, Richard Ramirez 19, Keiner Delgado 20, and Cristian Jauregui 18.
Pitching of Michael Kennedy 19, Zander Mueth19, and then 5 18 year olds - Carlos Castillo, David Matoma, Carlos Mateo, Nicolas Carreno, and Dariel Francia. Not sure where they will place Antwone Kelly 20, or Clevari Tejada. I originally had Carlson Reed 21 in that group, but he will probably get to A+.
Plaz is the type of guy I was hoping would have a Samuel Basallo lite type breakout.
Daniel Cuvet and 1.4M left over in spending in the 2023 draft🥲
Sorry, 1.2M. Doesn’t matter though. No one is gonna convince me that 900K-1.1M wasn’t gonna get it done.
Verduga sure meets the criteria of a bounce back veteran free agent that we normally sign
playoff experience - recently lost his way with the bat - - willing to sign for a starting position
Interesting situation in the lower levels of the Pirates. The group that mostly played at A in 2024 and would be expected to be in A+ next year are not nearly as good as the kids who were in FCL for most of the 2024 season and only in A the last 2 or 3 weeks. Three of the guys mentioned above are in that latter group - 19 year olds Tony Blanco and Axial Plaz, and 20 year old Esmerlyn Valdez. Other position players joining Blanco, Plaz, and Valdez are Estuar Suero 19, Jhonny Severino 19, YDLS 19, Carlos Caro 19, Richard Ramirez 19, Keiner Delgado 20, and Cristian Jauregui 18.
Pitching of Michael Kennedy 19, Zander Mueth19, and then 5 18 year olds - Carlos Castillo, David Matoma, Carlos Mateo, Nicolas Carreno, and Dariel Francia. Not sure where they will place Antwone Kelly 20, or Clevari Tejada. I originally had Carlson Reed 21 in that group, but he will probably get to A+.
Carreno was traded to the Mets for Josh Walker