It has been a long five years for Pittsburgh Pirates fans since the team last made the postseason.
From 2013 to 2015, the Pirates were a perennial Wild Card team.
They got as far as the National League Division Series in 2013 but failed to advance beyond that round.
In both 2014 and 2015, the Pirates were bounced in the single-elimination Wild Card Game.
Since then, the team has had four losing seasons in five years and hasn’t sniffed the postseason.
While rebuilds are something that almost every organization goes through at some point, not every rebuild takes five years.
That’s what Pittsburgh is dealing with right now, and frankly, the team has made very little progress.
It's hard to imagine that the #Pirates are even close in this rebuild, especially considering that the only SP on the MLB roster you would imagine is part of this team for the long run is turning out to be a bust. Brubaker could stick around, though, and be a solid option.
— pirates fan (@GigaMosher) June 10, 2021
Fans are growing increasingly frustrated, and it’s hard to blame them.
What are the two quickest ways the Pirates can break free of this seemingly endless rebuilding phase?
2. Be A Buyer, Not A Seller, In The Trade Market
Traditionally, rebuilding teams are in the business of trading away big-league talent in exchange for younger players and prospects.
That might not be the best course of action anymore for the Pirates, who have found little to no success building a foundation by approaching things that way.
Since 2017, the Pirates have traded away all of:
• Gerrit Cole
• Tyler Glasnow
• Austin Meadows
• Josh Bell
• Jameson Taillon
• Joe Musgrove
• Starling Marte
• Andrew McCutchen
• Corey Dickerson
• Francisco Liriano pic.twitter.com/AiLSbCAEAv— Danny Vietti (@DannyVietti) January 24, 2021
It’s unfathomable that the team has shipped away so much star power in recent years and has very little to show for it.
The Pirates do have the eighth-ranked farm system in baseball according to MLB.com.
While it would be foolish to blow up the farm right now (as the timeline isn’t quite right yet), trading prospects for established MLB talent is something the team should consider doing, say, next season or in the 2022 season.
That would be a major step toward getting back to the postseason, and it would send a message to fans that the organization is serious about playing winning baseball again.
1. Spend, Spend, Spend
The Pirates have become relatively stingy with their money in recent years.
From 2015 to 2017, the team’s Opening Day payroll was north of $90 million each year, according to Cot’s Baseball Contracts.
In 2018, that numbest dipped to $86 million, then to $75 million in 2019.
Then, there was a massive drop-off.
The team’s Opening Day payroll checked in at just $24 million in 2020 and $45 million in 2021.
It’s very hard to win when you’re not spending.
While Pittsburgh is undoubtedly a small-market team and therefore a tough free-agent draw, there’s really no excuse to be spending so little.
Here is how the team’s payroll corresponded with some of its best seasons since 2010:
- 2013: $67M, .580 win %
- 2014: $72M, .543 win %
- 2015: $90M, .605 win %
And here is how the team’s payroll has corresponded with some of its worst seasons since 2010:
- 2010: $39M, .352 win %
- 2019: $75M, .426 win %
- 2020: $24M, .317 win %
With the exception of the 2019 season, there’s a direct correlation between spending and winning.
The Pirates will absolutely have to be okay with spending some money if they want to get serious about putting a contending team on the field.
Wrap-Up
There is absolutely a path out of this paradox.
It might involve taking some risks and leaps of faith, but very few good things come out of playing it safe.
It will be interesting to see if the Pirates agree.
NEXT: 3 Steps For Pittsburgh Pirates To Compete In 2022