Now that the calendar has flipped to 2022, the upcoming baseball season seems to be a whole lot closer than it was just a week or two ago. Of course, that’s somewhat of an optical illusion; I’ve just always felt that once January rolls around, Spring Training isn’t all that far away. And even with a lockout in place, it’s fun to speculate on the makeup of not only the Pittsburgh Pirates’ big league roster, but the rosters of their Minor League affiliates as well.
Most would agree that general manager Ben Cherington and his staff have done a solid job of rebuilding the Bucs’ farm system, although we’ve really had just one year’s worth of actual results to view in that regard.