Notes: Prospect Props; Off Season Stuff; JHK; Ex-Bucs & Media

Lotta love for Pirate prospects this week...

• Jim Duquette of MLB.com believes the Walker-for-Neise deal was one of those rare win-win swaps.
• Anthony Castrovince of Sports on Earth identifies a key question going into the spring for every team. For the Pirates, he hones in on the recovery of Jung Ho Kang.
• Cliff Corcoran of Sports Illustrated doesn't think very highly of the Pirates off-season. While giving the FO the benefit of the doubt because of past moves, he wrote that "...given how competitive their division is, how successful the Cubs’ off-season was and how much talent was available this winter, Pittsburgh had to do more this winter to keep pace." 
• The Sporting News says the Vegas line for 2016 in the Central has the Cubs with 89 wins, the Cards with 87.5 and the Pirates with 87. 
• Scout.com ranks seven Pirate prospects among their Top 100:  Tyler Glasnow #6, Austin Meadows #26, Josh Bell #46, Jameson Taillon #53, Ke'Bryan Hayes #57, Alen Hansen #80 and Reese McGuire #93.

Ke'Bryan Hayes (image from MLB.com)

• USA Today selected 100 young players primed to make impacts during the major league season, and the Bucs had four on the list - Tyler Glasnow, Josh Bell, Jamison Taillon and Austin Meadows.  
• Keith Law of ESPN rated the Pirate minor league system as #8 (Insider behind a subscription wall). He also ranks four Pirate pups in his Top 100: Tyler Glasnow #6, Austin Meadows #16, Kevin Newman #23, and Josh Bell #56, also behind a subscriber wall. Yes to Newman and no to Jameson Taillon are the biggest outliers.
• In a Q&A piece, Jim Callis of MLB.com picks  his "All Leap" team - ten currently unranked minor leaguers who could became Top 50 prospects in 2017. The Bucs had a pair - 3b Ke'Bryan Hayes & OF Harold Ramirez.
• Po' Bobby LaFromboise was DFA'ed by the Phils; it's the third time during the off season he's lost a 40-man roster spot. He cleared waivers and was assigned to AAA by Philly, with an invite to camp.
• The White Sox crossed off one more name that had been at least tossed about for the Buccos (altho it's doubtful the FO had any serious interest in him, judging by the offer he accepted) when they signed RHP Mat Latos to 1-year/$3M contract. They also inked 1B Travis Ishikawa to a MilB deal with an invite to camp.
• Sad baseball tale: Met reliever Jenrry Mejia, 26, has been banned from the game. Mejia got his third strike when he was permanently suspended (with loss of salary) following a third positive test for PED use. Mejia is the first major or minor league player to receive a permanent suspension under MLB’s drug-testing program. Amazingly, he collected all three strikes within a span of 10 months. A lifetime ban is a misnomer, though - he can apply for reinstatement after a year, and if successful, he'd have to serve another year suspension. So he's out for a minimum of two years.
• MLB.com writer Tom Singer, who covered the Pirates for the past three years, passed away suddenly in his Arizona home.We'll miss his quirky and light touch.
• Root Sports will broadcast 12 Pirate spring training games, beginning Friday, March 4th against the Twins at McKechnie Field. The matches will also feature a 30 minute pre-and-post game segment.