Monday news and notes

Pirates news and notes to start the week: Remember this from last winter? The Pirates said they were going to come up with a new logo to use in 2014. Haven’t heard anything about it since…I wonder when we’ll see it? Bucs pitching guru Jim Benedict reportedly impressed in his interview for the Phillies pitching coach job. MLB Trade Rumors ranked the top 50 free agents and predicted where they will end up. They have A.J. Burnett and Marlon Byrd both re-signing with the Bucs, and no other top-50 FA’s coming to the Burgh. That’s a reasonable scenario, although neither one is a guarantee to return and the Pirates will certainly express interest in some others on the list. MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo argues that the Pirates have the top farm system in baseball. The farm was overshadowed by the big club this year, which is obviously how it should be, but there were a lot of very encouraging developments for the Pirates in the minors this year. While it may not be the clear-cut system in baseball, it’s undoubtedly very good, and there were some doubts about that around this time last year. Speaking of the minors, Gregory Polanco is still on fire down in the Dominican League. Polanco is now the top position player prospect, while Jameson Taillon is the top pitching prospect. Both project to be in Pittsburgh at some point next season. Here’s a very good breakdown of how each team in NL Central will approach the winter. This is something I want to look in to more, but I don’t see much change on the horizon at the top: the Cardinals may lose a few pieces but are still stocked, the Pirates should be solid again, and the Reds might have a little work to do to keep up.