Ben Cherington's main mission since being named as the Pirates General Manager has been to load up the farm system.
MLB Pipeline named the Bucs the number 8 system at the beginning of the season, now ESPN says the Pirates have the 4th best in the league.
ESPN says the Pirates biggest strength is the talent they have in the lower minors.
When it comes to how Cherington drafts, ESPN says, "In two drafts under the Ben Cherington regime, the Pirates have learned toward position players – and hit-first ones at that – but mixed in players from all four major demographics (prep hitters, college hitters, prep pitchers and college hitter)."
It's the first time since 2017 the Pirates have been ranked in the top ten for farm systems.
When Cherington took over, the Pirates farm system was ranked either middle of the pack or closer to the bottom depending on which ranking you looked at. By the midpoint of the 2020 season, the system had jumped to 15th in the league. A modest increase, but an increase nonetheless.
The Pirates currently have five prospects in Baseball America's Top 100 list.
Curve infielder Oneil Cruz moves to #38 from #40, High-A Greensboro Grasshoppers infielder Nick Gonzales moves up from #41 to #39 along with fellow infielder Liover Peguero moves up from #89 to #87, right-handed pitcher Quinn Priester moves up to #58 from #60 and Roansy Contreras debuted on the list this week at #99.
