Andrew McCutchen cracks ESPN.com's Top 20 Prospects

Today, ESPN.com released their second annual list of the top 100 MLB prospects, though only the top 25 are available for free (I believe a subscription to ESPN Insider and ESPN the magazine are required for the complete list and I don't plan to fall for their scheme). The Pirate's own Andrew McCutchen came in at number 18. Not bad. They said he has been rushed through the Pirate's system, primarily in the Littlefield era. That may be the case, but it certainly doesn't feel like it. I guess when there are only so many halfway decent prospects in your team's system, the few good ones get so much of the attention that it seems like they've been around forever. But barring injury or some ridiculous backslide, McCutchen will certainly be on the major league team at some point this year. He might not make the team out of spring training, but at the absolute latest, we will see him in September.

ESPN was kind enough to list the top 5 Pirate's prospects for us. They did not provide where they ranked (or if they ranked) among the top 100, but here they are: 1. McCutchen, 2. Jose Tabata, 3. Pedro Alvarez, 4. Bryan Morris, 5. Brad Lincoln. In case you were wondering, 3 of the 5 were acquired by Neal Huntington last summer (2 in trades, 1 drafted). I know there wasn't much in the minor league system to start with, but I like that ratio.

Since I'm already subtly criticizing former GM Dave Littlefield, it might interest you to know who ESPN chose as their #1 prospect. That would, of course, be Matt Wieters, future star catcher for the Baltimore Orioles. Wieters is the can't-miss superstar-in-the-making that Littlefield chose not to draft in 2007. This decision probably factored in to his firing a few months after. The player he did select, Daniel Moskos, did not make the top 25, nor the Pirate's own top 5, and I'm assuming not any top anything list. Moskos might make it to the big leagues someday. It could happen. But he was certainly not worthy of a top draft pick.