February is here and spring training is just around the corner, which can mean only one thing around these parts: it’s time to rank minor-league prospects. Every team across the majors is selling hope to their fans: some are selling it in a more immediate fashion, in the form of active offseasons full of free-agent signings and trade acquisitions. Others, meanwhile, are selling it in the personage of prospects who could make the difference over the coming years.
CBS Sports continues examining the top three prospects in each organization. Our definition of “prospect” is simple: does that player have rookie eligibility remaining for the 2025 season? If so, they’re a prospect; if not, that’s probably why your favorite young player is absent from the proceedings.
As always, these lists are formed following conversations with scouts, analysts, player development specialists, and other talent evaluators around the industry. There’s a fair amount of firsthand evaluation, statistical analysis, and historical research mixed in, too. Plus a heaping of personal bias — we all have certain traits and profiles that we prefer over others, there’s no sense pretending otherwise.
Keep in mind that there’s no one right answer with these sorts of things. Besides, these are merely our opinions, meaning they have no actual bearing on the future. We already published our ranking of the top 25 prospects in all of the minors.
With all that out of the way, let’s get to ranking the top three prospects in the Pittsburgh Pirates system.
Top 25 rank: No. 23
The short hook: Athletic right-hander with promising arsenal
Just what the Pirates need: another talented young right-handed pitcher. Chandler was one of the overslot picks the Pirates splurged on in 2021, after they took Henry Davis at No. 1 and embraced the portfolio approach. He’s an excellent athlete who has continued to improve his control as a professional. Chandler’s arsenal includes a rising fastball that can touch 99 mph and two promising secondaries in his changeup and slider. He closed out the season in Triple-A and seems certain to debut in 2025. MLB ETA: Spring 2025
The short hook: Risk/reward personified
Griffin, the ninth pick in last summer’s draft, has All-Star upside. He’s an explosive athlete capable of manning a premium position for the long haul. (Most evaluators we polled identified center field as his likeliest landing spot.) Offensively, his perfect-world outcome could include several 30-30 seasons thanks to above-average power and speed tools. The catch, and you knew there had to be one for Griffin to slip to the end of the top 10, is that there’s serious concern about his hit tool. He whiffed more often than the typical elite prep player, raising questions about how he’ll fare against pro pitching. On the bright side, Griffin’s loud tools should enable him to withstand even a below-average hit tool — and, should that projection prove conservative, he could make good on that aforementioned All-Star ceiling. MLB ETA: Late summer 2028
The short hook: Another near-ready right-hander
Harrington split most of last season between Double- and Triple-A, demonstrating that he’s almost ready for The Show by compiling a 2.61 ERA and a 6.05 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 22 appearances. Harrington has a five-pitch arsenal that’s fronted by a low-90s fastball and that contains several quality breaking balls, in his sweeper and curve. He also throws a cutter that serves as a bridge pitch between the sweeper and the fastball. Overall, there’s enough stuff and pitchability here to envision him slotting into the middle of the Pirates rotation before Flag Day. MLB ETA: Spring 2025
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