Weekly Report: Updated Top 100's, Spring Breakout Booked, PiratesFest, Alike Goes & Exes Move

Pretty quiet…

Pirates Stuff:

• The Bucs released IF Alika Williams. He spent 2025 in Indy after hitting .202 in 83 games for the 2023-24 Pirates.
• Baseball America issued their updated Top 100 prospects list that rank Pirates pups SS Konnor Griffin (#1), RHP Bubba Chandler (#15), OF Edward Florentino (#28) and RHP Seth Hernandez (#38).Two other Bucco babes received votes for the top 100, but fell short: C/1B Rafael Flores and OF Jhostynxon García.
• Not to be outdone, MLB Pipeline dropped their Top 100 Prospects a few days later. Griffin was again #1, Chandler #11, Hernandez #29, Florentino #50 and LHP Hunter Barco joined the club at #96.

Bubba impressed the scouts…2025 Pirates photo

• The Saturday PiratesFest at the Lawrence Convention Center featured over two dozen players from the active roster and another ten noted alumni from Vern Law to Neil Walker, but the event was missing the three stars who connected the dots – prospect-with-bullet Konnor Griffin was on his honeymoon, Paul Skenes was being awarded his Cy Young that night and Andrew McCutchen was unsigned (Cutch seemed a little salty that the team didn’t invite him to the party despite his status). Several other players missed the event as the snowstorm cancelled their travel plans, although the Pirates lucked out in that the flakes didn’t fall until a few hours after the event closed.
• The Pirates will play the Detroit Tigers at LECOM Park in Bradenton on March 20 with the first pitch set for 7:05 PM in the third annual Spring Breakout Game. The game is a MLB prospect showcase, with the rosters limited to guys who have rookie status or less service time, like Konnor Griffin, Bubba Chandler and a small herd of outfielders who are all pushing for a big league shot. 

MLB Stuff: 

• January musical chairs – Good glove, light bat prospect SS Tsung-Che Cheng was let go by the Bucs and claimed by the Rays on 1/7, then dropped and taken by the Mets on 1/16. On 1/21, New York DFA’ed him. 
• The Twins signed former All-Star closer Taylor Rogers, 35, to a one-year/$2M agreement. The Pirates got Rogers from the Reds as part of the Ke’Bryan Hayes deadline deal, but just for a nano-second as he was flipped quickly to the Cubs for 22-year-old-OF Ivan Brethowr, who finished the summer at High A Greensboro.
• Andruw Jones, a 10-time Gold Glover, and nine-time All Star Carlos Beltrán (20+ HR 12 times, 100+ RBI eight times, 100+ runs seven times) were elected to the Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers on Tuesday night. They’ll join Jeff Kent in the Class of 2026. The trio will be inducted at Cooperstown on July 26.