Pirates sending Austin Meadows, 6 others to Arizona Fall League

Seven Pirates minor leaguers will join the Glendale Desert Dogs in the Arizona Fall League this offseason.

As is often the case with the AFL, the position players the Pirates are sending are somewhat more interesting than the pitchers. The Bucs will send outfielder Austin Meadows, catcher Reese McGuire and infielder Adam Frazier. The competition level in the AFL is close to that of Double-A; Frazier has had a good season in Altoona and Meadows and McGuire are top prospects playing for Bradenton, so it makes sense that they'd play in the AFL this year.

The Pirates will also send pitchers Steven Brault, Cody Dickson, Tyler Eppler and Brett McKinney. Brault, one of the pitchers acquired this offseason in the Travis Snider deal, has excelled after being promoted to Altoona. Dickson, the Pirates' 2013 fourth-round pick, has had a decent, but not great, season in Bradenton. Eppler, the Bucs' sixth-round pick in 2014, missed a couple months this season with elbow injuries and only pitched 66.1 innings for Bradenton this season, so the Pirates are presumably sending him to the AFL to get some extra work. McKinney pitched in relief for Bradenton and Altoona this year.