Format = Position Player | Age on 4/1/2026 | Highest Level Played | Estimated Time of Arrival
1. SS Konnor Griffin | 19 | AA | 2026
Straight from the Department of This Is What They Look Like, Griffin checks in 6’4” 225 pounds with double-plus speed and power. In his senior year of high school, he was the Gatorade National High School Player of the Year after winning his third straight title for Jackson Prep in Mississippi. It’s no exaggeration to say he might steal 100 bases in a minor league season considering he stole 87 in 88 attempts in his final high school season. Somewhat shockingly for a player his size and age, he’s a promising defensive shortstop already and has the arm and speed to become an elite defender if his hands keep coming along. On talent alone, I think he’s the best prospect in baseball. In the context of his organization and ballpark, I have concerns: concerns that can look pretty silly in the light of his real-world outcomes: a slash line of .333/.415/.527 with 21 home runs and 65 stolen bases in 122 games across three levels in his pro debut season.
2. RHP Bubba Chandler | 23 | MLB | 2025
After enjoying a breakout season in 2024, the 6’3” 218 pound Chandler lost some control of his four-pitch arsenal (fastball, changeup, curveball, slider) this year: a hiccup that makes sense considering he recently switched to pitching full-time after getting drafted and developed as a two-way threat out of high school in 2021. He still made his major league debut despite waiting on the vine for 100 Triple-A innings and collected 31 strikeouts in 31.1 innings, but 2025 wasn’t the season the true believers dreamed about. Could call it a buying opportunity for 2026, but Wins remains a category in most fantasy leagues, and Pittsburgh can be a little allergic to those.
3. OF Edward Florentino | 19 | A | 2029
In dynasty baseball, we tend to hunt for upside, and Florentino shows up to the upside convention carrying flowers at 6’4” 200 pounds with an intimidating cut from the left side. In 83 games across two levels in 2025, he slashed .290/.400/.248 with 16 home runs and 35 stolen bases. He played mostly centerfield this season and would be something like a top-20 prospect entering 2027 if he stays up the middle and produces in full-season ball this season.
4. RHP Seth Hernandez | 19 | NA | 2029
Here’s what I wrote in Prospect News: 2025 First-Year-Player Draft Rankings:
“I might wind up low on Seth Hernandez despite loving the player. How could you not? He throws a hundred miles an hour with an adult change-up and solid command. Comes down to timeline stuff. Pittsburgh can develop pitching, but they won’t be in any kind of hurry with Hernandez. They have Oneil Cruz and Paul Skenes today. Jared Jones is on the way back and Bubba Chandler is on the way up. Why take a player who’s five years away? It’s certainly defensible because Hernandez is awesome, but it also feels like old thinking in that a front office shouldn’t draft for short-term impact. We have all seen the opposite over the last several years. Amateur baseball has come a long way. Then I think of Jackson Jobe and Andrew Painter, who’ve both been great in the minors at times but have battled injuries throughout their careers. Can’t predict that, of course, but it’s just hard to point to a high school right-hander who has returned a ton of dynasty value. There’s Hunter Greene, but he’s been hurt, too.”
So that’s me being all over the plate about a high-velocity high school pitcher. Super helpful, I know, but I hope it’s clear I won’t have him on any teams. And nothing’s changed since then. On the other hand, if you’re super patient, or if you’re good at making timely trades, Hernandez could be a nice value in dynasty drafts this winter.
5. LHP Hunter Barco | 25 | MLB | 2025
A funky lefty at 6’4” 235 pounds, Barco can be dominant when he’s in rhythm and repeating a work-in-progress delivery that creates a difficult approach angle with a slider-change combo that pairs well with his fastball. He lost a lot of reps in college due to covid and a Tommy John surgery but still wound up a second-round pick (44th overall) in 2022 and has ascended Pittsburgh’s system with relative ease, compiling plus outcomes at every step of the way and recording a 2.81 ERA in 99.1 innings across the top two minor league levels in 2025.
6. 2B Termarr Johnson | 21 | AA | 2026
Listed at 5’8” 190 pounds, Johnson employs a crouch from the left side and gets the most out of his tiny strike zone via extreme patience. In 119 games with Double-A Altoona, he slashed .272/.363/.382 with nine home runs and 20 stolen bases. That would be probably just enough to make him rosterable in his early years for our game, but the error bar is small, and the Pirates have not earned a lot of trust across time when it comes to developing young hitters.
7. OF Esmerlyn Valdez | 22 | AA | 2027
A quick glance at Valdez’s outcomes tells you this guy has always produced, generating above-average weighted-runs-created at every level and 76 percent better in 72 games at High-A this season. At 6’2” 181 pounds, Valdez has all-field power that allows him to wait an extra tick to fire. I like that he mostly uses that advantage to punish pitches for now but can see a future where he uses it to amp up the pitch selection to eleven. Fun prospect who lost the last bit of the season to a shoulder injury but who is back in action already in the Arizona Fall League.
8. 1B C Rafael Flores | 25 | MLB | 2025
Here’s something I wrote on August 31 in Prospect News: Floras For Flores or Crawford Fishing:
“Pirates C Rafael Flores (24, AAA) has played well with Triple-A Indianapolis since he came over from the Yankees in the David Bednar trade, slashing .291/.383/.468 with three home runs in 21 games. He might not open the 2026 season with Pittsburgh, but he’ll almost certainly get a look at some point. A right-handed hitter at 6’4” 232 lbs, he’s got the power to pop some bombs even in a difficult home park.”
This blurb remains descriptive 17 plate appearances into his major league career. Even though he landed in a park with a cavern in left-center, he’s better off among the rivers in Pittsburgh than he would’ve been with New York, at least for our purposes. We just want him to offer some upside and power in deep leagues, and in that light, he can probably bloom.
9. SS Wyatt Sanford | 20 | A | 2029
The 47th overall pick out of high school in the 2024 draft, Sanford is a left-handed hitting middle infielder with double-plus speed listed at 6’1” 175 pounds. As I often say in this space, he probably weighs a little more than that today. In 64 games across two levels, he slashed .243/.384/.376 with five home runs, 34 stolen bases and a 19.8 percent strikeout rate. I’m not sure I’d trade for this guy because the Pirates are yarrr, but I’d want him late in a start up or for free of the waiver wire. I think he’s way more interesting than his draft price and outcomes so far suggest.
10. SS Sammy Stafura | 21 | A+ | 2028
Acquired in the Ke’Bryan Hayes trade, Stafura struggled with the transition, partly because Pittsburgh promoted him to High-A just four games after trading for him. He had produced a 130 wRC+ through 89 Low-A games with Cincinnati, so I can understand why they’d send him to High-A after making the move to get him. I can’t understand why a 35.3 percent strikeout rate through four games with Pittsburgh’s Low-A squad meant it was time to wave him along to the next level. Or more directly, I can’t understand why they’d trade for him, make him move for a week, and then make him move again. Do they not know moving sucks? They have to know moving sucks, right?
Thanks for reading!
