Nice article from the mothership about Kyle Stark and the Bucs' minor-league system.

Regular readers know I'm a fan of what Neal Huntington and his crew have done with the minor league system, but can I just say that I think the Pirates' rules about shaving regularly and wearing high socks are a little weird? This is undoubtedly partly because these rules offend my personal sense of individuality, and I understand that individuality is not the point of baseball. But the Pirates don't seem to enforce these rules at the major league level--Donnie Veal had facial hair last year, and Luis Rivas had it in 2008. Lots of their major league players don't wear their socks high. And I'm not sure there's any meaningful connection between shaving, or dressing a particular way, and winning. Johnny Damon won a World Series with the Red Sox looking like a caveman; Jason Giambi was a consistent winner with the A's while looking like a crazy person. And remember how Pirates fans used to call Craig Wilson "Samson"?