BRADENTON, Fla. -- Once the Pirates sign a player, he becomes the project of Brian Graham, director of player development since late 2001.

Graham's job might be the most difficult to judge on the staff. If he is handed non-performers such as first-rounders Chad Hermansen or J.J. Davis, there is little he -- or any other system, apparently -- can do. If he gets an excellent prospect such as Zach Duke, the credit invariably goes to the athlete or the scouts.

BASEBALL 2006

Online graphic Top players at each position

By one measure, Graham has fared quite well.

Of the 17 players the Pirates drafted in the first five rounds in 2000-03, those that might reasonably have been expected to progress under Graham, eight reached the majors or are on a firm track to do so. That 47 percent success rate is better than the historical norm of 41 percent, as researched by Baseball America.

More impressive, perhaps, seven of the 37 players taken in the 20th round or later have made it or still could. That is 19 percent, double the historical norm.

At a team level, five of the Pirates' six affiliates had winning records last season. Four reached the playoffs, a claim only three other major-league organizations -- the New York Yankees, Oakland Athletics and Detroit Tigers -- could make.

All of which might explain why Graham's work generally is praised in the baseball community.

"You just have to look at their roster to see how well they're doing in player development," one National League scout said. "You see a lot of young guys, especially a lot of young arms, a lot of left-handed arms that are the envy of a lot of other organizations. That speaks volumes. They've done a nice job."

Not all assessments are upbeat: Baseball America ranked the Pirates' system 19th, a drop from 18th last year and 11th the previous year. Baseball Prospectus grades the system as average. Those and other experts point, in part, to many of the top prospects already arriving in Pittsburgh. They also note the gap in talent in Class A and AA and blame that on drafting.

Never-ending story

This much is certain about Graham: He has a plan.

Borrowing an idea from his nine years as a minor-league manager with Cleveland, he keeps for all 130-plus players under his watch -- prospects and suspects alike -- a book the Pirates call the Player Plan.

Inside, the player's coaches at his assigned level track every nuance of his development, from physical to mental. Strengths are underscored, weaknesses detailed, solutions offered.

"One thing I tell all my coaches is that I never want to hear, 'That kid can't hit a curveball,' " Graham said. "I want to hear how we can teach him to do it."

The coaches and player are required to meet once a month to discuss the plan, usually with one of the Pirates' roving minor-league instructors present. And the book follows the player all through the system, so those elements can be addressed consistently despite a change in teachers and competition level.

"We preach accountability," minor-league field coordinator Jeff Banister said. "A player has to understand what he's doing and why. And we have to be responsible for improving them."

Case in point is Tom Gorzelanny, the system's top pitching prospect.

The Pirates detected early in Gorzelanny's career he would become flustered when he threw back-to-back fastballs up and away to a right-handed hitter. Instead of trying something different with the third pitch, he would try the same one and miss even more.

As a result, a "rule" was inserted into Gorzelanny's Player Plan, Graham said, that stipulates the catcher must step out anytime he sees two pitches of that sort.

"Tom can be emotional," Graham said. "This reminds him of how to handle this situation."

Graham introduced a new element to his minor-leaguers March 14 when he and the organization's sports psychologist, Jeff Miller, administered a 28-question baseball quiz for all to answer in essay form.

One question: If you are batting with the infield drawn in and a runner on third, how is the pitcher going to attack you?

Answer: Down in the strike zone and hard, the better to keep you from lifting a ball over the infield.

"You just have to know something like that to have a good at-bat in that situation," Graham said. "Our purpose in doing this is to see where they are and adjust our teachings accordingly."

Learning curve

The system of development involves more precise data collection, too. Coaches with each affiliate are required, immediately upon the conclusion of each game, to phone detailed accounts of individual performances into a message bank. That information is processed in Pittsburgh into a computer and distributed to higher-ups.

There are four roving instructors, too, such as Banister. Their primary purpose is to teach their specialties -- pitching, hitting, baserunning, defense -- but they also report back to management.

The foundation of Graham's approach, he regularly says, is patience. In almost every case, he will push -- hard, in some cases -- for a player to remain at his assigned level until he clearly displays he has nothing further to learn there.

"My job is to get our kids to the majors as complete players," he said. "That doesn't happen if you rush them."

There are exceptions, of course: Jose Castillo bypassed Class AAA on his way to Pittsburgh. Zach Duke and Paul Maholm barely spent half a season there.

There are negative examples of players being rushed, too: Brad Eldred was promoted last summer after a short stint in Class AAA, despite what some describe as spirited debate in the Pirates' hierarchy about his readiness. He clearly illustrated he could not read major-league pitching, and he will start this year in Indianapolis.