The post-draft charts are here! Unlike last year, I don’t think our 2nd round choice will be anyone who the team can immediately count on to make an impact.  Not many changes, but with 1/3rd of the season under our belts, injuries, and the draft, it seemed like a good time to throw in an update.  I would note that – for future arguments and discussions – these charts are very accurate as to contract status and options, as I use http://www.piratesprospects.com and http://www.baseball-reference.com to vet the info.  (I did not re-calculate service time from the start of the season – sorry to upset any purists.)  So the next time there’s a question about which players the Pirates have to replace someone, or what our lineup will look like when the pitching arrives, or where we have depth to trade with, may I humbly suggest that someone link to these d**** things?  Or pimp the various Pirates blogs to find them a home. And now some additional notes on the batters....

     With Doumit’s injury, I was tempted to project that the Pirates would trade Snyder and han on to Doumit at catcher until Tony Sanchez arrives.  However, Pirates Prospects notes that the Pirates must exercise BOTH the 2012 and 2013 options on Doumit’s contract after the 2011 season, or neither.  Tying up over $15 million in payroll in Ryan Doumit when (hopefully) the team is trying to sign young stars to long contracts does not seem like a good idea.

    When I made the last chart, the Pirates did not have a bona fide 1B prospect – this was a factor in expecting Alvarez to move to 1B.  Since the team did not draft Anthony Rendon, I believe the Pirates will leave Pedro at 3B and use Steve Pearce, perhaps in a platoon, as a bridge to the future.  Now, the Matt Curry surge gives fans hope for the future.  The Pirates have primarily AAAA 1B on the Indians roster, so there is nothing blocking Curry’s promotion to AAA next year but Matt Curry.  Not to get carried away, but President Curry, 2038!!

            To quote me on the last chart, “The future middle infielder picture is difficult to project.”  Everywhere I looked, Chase D’Arnaud was viewed as likely to transition to 2B or being identified as the middle infielder with the least range and weakest arm.  He was also expected to start in Altoona to try and recover from a disappointing 2010.  So what happens?  He gets promoted to Indy, where he has been the starting SS for most of the season.  And I’d take his current stats on the MLB team at short.  It would seem logical for the Pirates to exercise Ronny Cedeno’s modest club option for 2012 and bring D’Arnaud early in the 2012 season to transition to being the team’s ML shortstop.  Neil Walker, happily, does not seem to be going anywhere soon.  We may actually have an excess of middle infielders at this point.

            Being an outfielder in the Pirates’ organization must be frustrating for now, as McCutchen and Tabata would seem to be our LF-CF tandem for the next four years.  As often noted here, PNC’s left field requires a player with some speed, not the traditional corner outfielder. If Alex Presley can hit at the majors like he is currently hitting in Indianapolis, he could play left field.