ESPN Insider Future Power Rankings

[WVUinVegas]

I don't have Insider, but a list was made ranking how well each franchise is set up for success in the future. Don't have the Pirates' exact position but it was in bottom tier (21-30).

MLB - Future Power Rankings 2012 (Nos. 30-21) - ESPN

"The Bucs? Well, even their lack of bucks can't change the fact that they have only one superstar to show for all of those years drafting in the top five."

 

[Illinest]

I got this much from hfboards.

If you're a fan of the Chicago Cubs, you're familiar with the phrase "Wait 'til next year!" But what about the year after, and the year after that? That's where ESPN Insider comes in.

CATEGORIES
MAJORS (full weight): Quality of current big league roster
MINORS (full weight): Quality and quantity of prospects in their farm system
FINANCE (2/3 weight): How much money do they have to spend?
MANAGEMENT (2/3 weight): Value and stability of ownership, front office and coaching staff
MOBILITY (1/3 weight): Do they have a lot of young, cheap players, or old immovable guys?
For a full breakdown of the MLB Future Power Rankings methodology, click here.

While the baseball world gears up for spring training, we've decided to take the long view and asked our three top baseball analysts -- Jim Bowden, Keith Law and Buster Olney -- to rank all 30 teams in five different categories (see table) in attempt to measure how well each team is set up for the future.

The better your rank in a given category, the more points you get, and the average point scores from the three voters are available in the bar graphs accompanying each team's section, rounded to the nearest integer. We weighted the categories and then gave each team a score on scale of 1 to 100, with the score representing a team's percentage of total possible points. (For a detailed breakdown of the methodology used for the Future Power Rankings, click here.)

We will unveil the rankings 10 at a time, from Tuesday through Thursday, starting with the bottom 10 teams. The lower tier is filled with teams you might expect, such as the Houston Astros, Pittsburgh Pirates and Baltimore Orioles. The Astros might be in the worst shape at the major league level, but at least they've shed some big contracts in recent years. The O's have a bit more money, but they can't seem to develop any pitching. The Bucs? Well, even their lack of bucks can't change the fact that they have only one superstar to show for all of those years drafting in the top five.

So who's No. 30? It's time to find out.

24 Pittsburgh Pirates
LAST SEASON: 72-90 (fourth place NL Central)

The bar graphs reflect the average points given by the voters for each category. [The graph won't copy, but the point range is 1-30 with 1 being really bad and 30 being very good]

Majors - 5
Minors - 21
Finances - 4
Management - 9
Mobility - 16

The lowdown

While the Bucs hovered around .500 into August of 2011, their collapse down the stretch showed there is still much work to be done. The team has not been shy about spending lots of money in the draft, but thus far has not produced any impact players other than Andrew McCutchen.

Between Gerrit Cole and Jameson Taillon, the Pirates could have two top-of-the-rotation starters arriving in the next couple of years, but it's unclear where the runs are going to come from. And so far, Pittsburgh has been unsuccessful in signing McCutchen to a long-term deal, leading to speculation in rival front offices that the Pirates may have to consider moving the All-Star center fielder sometime in the next calendar year. Pittsburgh is headed in the right direction, but the turnaround is taking longer than anticipated. -- Buster Olney

The next step

It seems like only yesterday that McCutchen was seen as a top prospect. Now the Bucs must decide if they will sign him to a Jay Bruce-like extension (six years, $51 million) or trade him for prospects. If they keep drafting like they have in recent years, their improvement can continue. -- Jim Bowden

 

[magnumo]

Many thanks, Illinest..... interesting stuff there. (Wish I could add more detail, WVUinVegas, but I don't have Insider either.)

The experts involved obviously like the Pirates' farm system more than they have in the past, but they remain relatively unimpressed with "management." Seems to be a bit of contradiction there, since it's the current front office who have been working diligently to try to improve the farm system.

(I'm assuming that they define "management" primarily as the front office, since they don't talk about Hurdle or his influence.)

Perhaps an explanation (of the possible contradiction) lies in the phrase, "the turnaround is taking longer than anticipated," as well as NH's inability to sign McCutchen long term. I can't fault Huntington for the latter (at least without more info), since McCutchen himself might be the issue. But the phrase in quotes is accurate, IMO.

 

[Illinest]

Oh well about mcc - i forget which one reported it but one of the local guys reportedly heard from mccs agent that the pirates offer was - and i quote - "insulting".

 

[Etrius24]

Oh well about mcc - i forget which one reported it but one of the local guys reportedly heard from mccs agent that the pirates offer was - and i quote - "insulting".

I commend NH for making MCC a super two! Not calling him up until a specific date and time when he was a rookie... Brilliant move...This gives the Pirates an extra year where they can avoid going through arbitration.

But the window is very small for the Pirates to lock MCC up... He knows he will be getting a HUGE pay raise after this season. The closer he gets to that guaranteed HUGE PAY RAISE... The harder it will be for the Pirates to get him to give up being a free agent as soon as humanly possible... IMHO

I would love to see them lock him up for an additional 2 years beyond the time when he would be a free agent...But to get this done the Pirates would have to make a heck of an offer... MCC will likely make 4 million next season... and 7-8 the season after that...He could be making 10 million the season he becomes a free agent... Where he would be able to sign new contract for multiple years for more than 10 million per season and play for a contending team.

MCC has an agent that is going to look at the numbers and they know that MCC will make roughly 6-7 million per season for the next three years as a Pirate..

So why would Mcc accept a 5 year extension that was worth less than 40 million dollars?...He is likely to make 20-22 million or better as a Pirate 2013-2015...And then he could make even more on the open market. He would be 28 when he became a free agent I think... plenty of teams would want him. He would not have trouble getting a 4 year 50 million dollar contract if healthy...

So unless the Pirates make him an offer that makes more sense... Why would he accept it?

I would love to know what the offer was that Mcc and his agent found insulting!!!

Sometimes I hate our cheap owner.

 

[magnumo]

ETRIUS ALERT

ETRIUS ALERT: So typical as to be laughable.

I commend NH for making MCC a super two! Not calling him up until a specific date and time when he was a rookie... Brilliant move...This gives the Pirates an extra year where they can avoid going through arbitration. (bold added by me)

<snip>

I SUSPECT that what Etrius MEANT to post is that he wanted to commend NH for making sure that McCutchen did NOT become a super two..... just the opposite of what he actually posted. (How difficult can it be to get the key first sentence right?)

As far as characterizing this move by Huntington as "brilliant".....

- Since delaying McCutchen's arrival, for the specific purpose of preventing him from becoming a super two, was discussed WIDELY in the media AND on discussion boards BEFORE McCutchen's rookie season, and.....

- Since the same thing has been done often by other GM's with other players.....

.....Should all those pundits, discussion board denizens, and other GM's be described as "brilliant?" I think not. The same move likely would have been made by most other GM's (as well as by most local sportswriters and most Pirate fans, if they were running the team).