Gregory Polanco is the Pirates #1 prospect in a loaded minor league system. He will make his debut at some point this season in right field as he seems to be major league ready. The Pirates have been rumored as of today to be shopping around Jose Tabata so that would seem to fast track Polanco even more. My guess is Polanco will be staring in right field by early June. He is good enough to break camp, but the Pirates have a strong precedent of slowing the service time clock by holding their prospects a couple of months. Gerrit Cole was handled the same way last year.
The above card is from 2013 Leaf Trinity. If you like prospects cards this set was for you. While Leaf does not have a license I feel this was one of the best prospect sets of the year. The cards had nice on card signatures and the patches were large and unique. The checklist was strong as well. I cherry picked most of the Pirates from the set for pretty reasonable amounts. If you are a Pirates fan this set was for you. To go along with Polanco the set featured Austin Meadows, Reese Mcguire, Tyler Glasnow and Alen Hanson.
I grabbed a Glasnow patch/auto for less than $20 around the holidays and a McGuire inscriptions for around $15. Prices have become much more expensive since it was initially introduced. Great set though.
ReplyDeleteAs for Polanco, I'd rather the Bucs keep Tabata as a 4th outfielder. He seems to be a clutch hitter going opposite field when the Bucs need a pinch hit single in late innings.
I think we are best suited keeping Tabata as a 4th outfielder as well, but he does make a pretty attractive trade candidate for a team that still thinks of him as a starter. His contract pays him something like 11 mil over the next 3 years. That is really cheap for a starting outfielder.
DeleteI've noticed the price of the Trinity autos go up as well. The Meadows are getting really expensive.
Unless we improve the 1B platoon situation, I see no reason to trade Tabata this year. Walker does a lot of things well, but nothing great. Mercer is looking to be a cheap above average SS with pop. Petey carries a big stick. Our OF is likely the fastest in baseball. Catcher is rock solid with Russ and Tony. Bullpen is filthy. Rotation looks good except #5 starter. I just see no reason to unload Jose until Polanco is ready.
Delete