I follow the Pirates minor league system as closely as I follow the major league roster. With the way the Pirates used to do things before Neal Huntington took over, you could get maybe 3 years out of a player before you had to say goodbye to them. They were in fan's eyes what the Oakland A's are doing now (but the Pirates had about 20 more losses each season).
Now the Pirates have a competitive team on the field for 162 games a year and also have a very interesting farm system rich with right handed pitchers drafted out of high school. At the head of the class is Tyler Glasnow, but right behind him are Jameson Taillon and Nick Kingham.
Kingham is repeating in AAA to start the year, but will most likely be the first guy called upon to make his MLB debut this year. Jameson Taillon, the 2nd overall pick in 2010, is still recovering from Tommy John Surgery last year. It's likely that he will make his minor league season debut around June/July with the potential for a September callup.
Both the cards above feature Taillon and Kingham with the Pirates AA affiliate, the Altoona Curve. I won both cards nearly 4 months ago for around $10 each. The Taillon is numbered out of 75 and hails from 2013 Topps Pro Debut. The Kingham is not numbered and is from 2014 Topps Heritage Minors.
