Here is the Pirates top 30 based loosely on their internal evaluations. Not included are Jeff Clement ("not a rookie", I guess) and recent signee Colton Cain.

Full Story: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09221/989653-63.stm

Excerpt:

Sunday, August 09, 2009 By Dejan Kovacevic, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette <!-- end story_image_box_size_1 -->

Each winter, Baseball America publishes a top-10 prospects list for every team, one universally read within the industry and dissected by the most diehard fans. There also are much less discussed top-30 lists that the magazine publishes in a book format.

For the better part of this decade, the Pirates could not place three legitimate prospects on either list.

But now, after all those trades brought all those minor leaguers?

"The top-30 list, really, is the one that's changed the most," general manager Neal Huntington said. "We like what we've done at the top end, but we also like the depth."

Baseball America's lists will not come out until January, but here is the Post-Gazette's current top 30, as compiled with significant input from four of the top people in baseball operations:

1. Pedro Alvarez, 3B, Altoona
2. Jose Tabata, CF, Indianapolis
3. Tim Alderson, RHP, Altoona
4. Brad Lincoln, RHP, Indianapolis
5. Gorkys Hernandez, CF, Altoona
6. Tony Sanchez, C, West Virginia
7. Starling Marte, CF, West Virginia
8. Robbie Grossman, LF, West Virginia
9. Bryan Morris, RHP, Lynchburg
10. Jeff Locke, LHP, Lynchburg
11. Chase D'Arnaud, SS, Lynchburg
12. Victor Black, RHP, State College
13. Daniel McCutchen, RHP, Indianapolis
14. Rudy Owens, LHP, Lynchburg
15. Neil Walker, 3B, Indianapolis
16. Brooks Pounders, RHP, Bradenton
17. Trent Stevenson, RHP, Bradenton
18. Argenis Diaz, SS, Indianapolis
19. Quincy Latimore, LF, West Virginia
20. Evan Chambers, CF, State College
21. Danny Moskos, LHP, Altoona
22. Jarek Cunningham, 3B, State College
23. Jordy Mercer, SS, Lynchburg
24. Quinton Miller, RHP, West Virginia
25. Shelby Ford, 2B, Altoona
26. Josh Harrison, 2B, Lynchburg
27. Nathan Adcock, LHP, Lynchburg
28. Diego Moreno, RHP, West Virginia
29. Eric Hacker, RHP, Indianapolis
30. Rogelio Noris, LF, Bradenton

All 30, plus Gulf Coast League shortstop Benji Gonzalez and catcher Ramon Cabrera, and a handful of others, are seen as having legitimate potential to make it to Pittsburgh, albeit with varying impacts. And this list does not count players in the minors who already have experience in the majors, such as first baseman Jeff Clement in Indianapolis. Also not counted are recent draft picks still unsigned -- including pitcher Zack von Rosenburg, projected to go immediately into the top 10 -- and others signed after the survey was taken earlier in the week.

As for elite players on the above list, the only prospects reasonably considered among the top 100 in the game, for now, are the top five, so the quantity is better than the quality.

Still ...

"Needless to say, it looks a little better than it did a year or two ago," director of player development Kyle Stark said. "There will be some talented players left off the top 30 list this year for Baseball America or any other list. Since not all prospects are going to pan out, this is a significant step for the organization, to have this kind of depth."

Of those in the top 10, the swiftest move up has belonged to Marte at No. 7. A chiseled 6-foot-2, 180-pound pure was the Dominican Summer League's MVP last summer, he has made a stunning North American debut at Class A West Virginia, batting .339 with two home runs, 19 RBIs and 16 steals in 31 games.

"Doesn't surprise me at all," said Latin American scouting director Rene Gayo, who signed Marte for $85,000 three years ago. "There's nothing that young man can't do."