Jun 8, 2013 By John Perrotto for The 3 min read

Three thoughts on the Pirates:

The Pirates’ farm system has gradually gotten better ever since Neal Huntington took over as general manager in the final weeks of the 2007 season.

Though they’ve whiffed on some players, the Pirates have generally done a better job of drafting and signing players in the international market. It has also helped that Bob Nutting has been willing to give the Pirates more money to sign amateur players since pushing out Kevin McClatchy as the primary owner prior to the 2007 season.

Coming into this season, the consensus within the industry was that the talent in the Pirates’ farm system ranked among the top third in baseball. Following the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft, that talent level got even better, particularly after a first round that couldn’t have broken any better for the Pirates.

The Pirates not only drafted one of the players they had been focusing strongly on for weeks, but another talent unexpectedly fell into their laps.

The Pirates selected outfielder Austin Meadows from Grayson High School in Loganville, Ga., with the ninth overall pick. At No. 14, they chose a second left-handed hitter, catcher Reese McGuire from Kentworth High School in Covington, Wash.

Most draft pundits expected Meadows to be gone by the ninth pick. However, McGuire had been linked to the Pirates for weeks.

Meadows was rated as the fifth-best overall player in the draft and the third-base position player by Baseball America, who also ranked him as the best athlete and the second-closest player to the major leagues among high school players.

Baseball America rated McGuire as the fifth-best position players and 12th-best overall player in the draft as the well as the second-best defensive player among high school players.

Adding two players who should be at least solid major-league regular, and a potential star in Meadows’ case, is a boon for the Pirates.

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The Pirates have significant interest in signing third baseman Pedro Alvarez to a contract extension before he becomes eligible for salary arbitration at the end of this winter. That is a little baffling.

Though Alvarez led the team with 12 home runs and 31 RBI going into Friday’s game against the Cubs at Chicago, there wasn’t anything else to get excited about offensively. He had a .199 batting average, .263 on-base percentage and 67 strikeouts and 16 walks in 194 plate appearances.

Furthermore, it is hard to gauge how much interest Alvarez has in being with the Pirates on a long-term basis. His dealings with the media are brief and shed no insight, he has never professed a particular fondness for the organization or city and he rarely shows any emotion on or off the field.

The feeling he leaves me with is that he doesn’t want to be with the Pirates.

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Pirates president Frank Coonelly — who loves the spotlight — has gone deep into hiding ever since it began being speculated last winter that his job might be in jeopardy. Coonelly is so far underground that he has been reportedly seen hanging out with Punxsutawney Phil.