Pirates have 40-man roster decisions to make on these 7 prospects

For the Pirates to be successful, they’re always going to need a steady supply of talent from their farm system. Some top prospects were already added to the roster this past year, like Bubba Chandler, Hunter Barco, Rafael Flores and Thomas Harrington, but the Pirates still have a few more decisions to make by Tuesday.

The following seven prospects are eligible for the Rule 5 Draft if they aren’t added to the 40-man roster by next week.

OF/1B Esmerlyn Valdez (No. 15 Pirates prospect, per MLB Pipeline)
If you heard about any Pirates hitting prospect this year … it was probably No. 1 overall prospect Konnor Griffin. If you heard about a second hitting prospect, it was probably Valdez. The organization’s Willie Stargell Minor League Slugger of the Year hit 26 home runs between High-A Greensboro and Double-A Altoona before going on to lead the Arizona Fall League in long balls.

I recently examined Valdez’s case to be added to the roster, and it’s pretty compelling.

C Omar Alfonzo (No. 19)
Alfonzo hit the ball as hard as any Pirates prospect in 2024 and began elevating those line drives more with Greensboro this past year, launching 11 home runs in 67 games. He got the call to Altoona midseason, but didn’t fare as well (.218 batting average, .637 OPS, three home runs in 49 games). Alfonzo has received high praise from his pitchers and he threw out 32 would-be basestealers this year (26% caught stealing rate). There are tools here, but it doesn’t seem likely that he could help the 2026 Pirates.

SS/3B Jack Brannigan (No. 21)
Injuries have been an issue for Brannigan throughout his professional career. He was limited to just 164 games between 2023 and 2024, but he hit 37 home runs with 36 stolen bases in that stretch. He got off to another hot start with Altoona this year, but cooled off and then suffered a right shoulder injury in June. He underwent surgery to repair a torn labrum in July.

There’s also an elephant in the room that needs to be addressed: Griffin will probably reach the Majors before Brannigan (assuming Brannigan isn’t selected by another club). The Pirates need to add to the left side of their infield and the game’s top prospect could debut in 2026. Where does that leave a player like Brannigan?

LHP Anthony Solometo (No. 25)
Solometo was one of three large overslot picks the Pirates made in 2021, alongside Chandler and Lonnie White Jr. For the first few years, it looked like Solometo might have been the first of that trio to reach the Majors, making a dozen starts with Altoona in 2023.

The last two years haven’t been kind to him. He suffered a dip in velocity and productivity in 2024 and then was limited to just 10 2/3 innings this year because of a shoulder injury. He will turn 23 just before the Rule 5 Draft, but he doesn’t seem like a candidate to be selected until he builds back some stock.

RHP Wilber Dotel (No. 28)
The 23-year-old right-hander added a splitter and a cutter to his mid-90s fastball and diving slider, and he took a big step forward with Altoona. The catch is he was streaky. Of his 27 starts, six were outings where he went at least five innings and did not allow an earned run. He also had seven starts where he allowed at least four runs. That culminated in a 7-9 record with a 4.15 ERA over 125 2/3 innings, paired with 9.4 strikeouts per nine innings and 3.1 walks per nine.

Dotel would probably profile as a back-of-the-rotation arm for a good chunk of teams, but maybe not the pitching-deep Pirates. Depth is always a necessity, and his stuff would probably translate to the bullpen.

RHPs Antwone Kelly and Brandan Bidois (not ranked)
A two-for-one of pitchers not on the prospects list but that look like prime Rule 5 candidates. Kelly worked with American facilities for the first time last winter and saw a breakthrough, finally hitting triple digits while posting a 3.02 ERA with Greensboro and Altoona. Bidois was named the organization’s Kent Tekulve Minor League Reliever of the Year after recording a 0.74 ERA over 61 innings, and he rose to Triple-A Indianapolis to close the year.

The Pirates have already selected the contract of reliever Ryan Harbin this offseason, so it comes down to how many relievers (or potential relievers, since Kelly started this year) can the Pirates add to the roster?