From Jon Heyman's SI.com column yesterday: "Before making a couple of trades that brought in a handful of prospects, Astros ownership hired an independent scout to evaluate their entire minor league system. The scout identified fewer than five players who should even play in the major leagues." Not only do the Astros have virtually no MLB-caliber talent on their roster now, their minors look to be just as barren. It's information like this that makes me glad Neal Huntington has some semblance of a plan for building the Pirates, even if he isn't successful all the time.