Pittsburgh Pirates need to decide between contending and rebuilding

As the Pittsburgh Pirates continue to struggle, the question going into next season is whether it’s time to contend or time to rebuild.

The 2019 Pittsburgh Pirates are writing the same story that each Pirates team has written almost every season in the last decade. Sure, 2013-2015 were the brightest spots in the franchise’s history since 1979, but aside from that stretch, this decade has been nothing but average baseball.

The 90-100 loss seasons came to an end in 2012 and were replaced with second-place finishes in the division, along with playoff births, in 2013, 2014, and 2015. Since that time, the franchise has been incapable of choosing a path for the club.

78, 75, and 82 wins in 2016, 2017, and 2018 are not the mark of a bad baseball team, but it’s this consistently average play that should force the team to make a decision. Average baseball year in and year out may be the most frustrating brand of baseball because the team lacks any apparent plan.

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As the Pirates began to spiral out of control following the 2019 All-Star break, the organization seemingly had two choices at the trade deadline last month. Fix the obvious pitching issues and attempt to contend, or sell high-value players and begin to rebuild. So, naturally, the team did neither.

This should come as no surprise to anyone who follows the Pirates, though, because this “somewhere in the middle” strategy has been in place for a number of years now.

The moves the Pirates have made in the last three years are very confusing. All-Star closer Mark Melancon was traded from Pittsburgh during the 2016 season, which could have kicked off a rebuild. It did not.

It wasn’t until the conclusion of the 2017 season, that the Pirates said goodbye to former MVP Andrew McCutchen and ace pitcher Gerrit Cole. These moves certainly spelled rebuild, but then the team acquired All-Star outfielder Corey Dickerson in a move that contradicted the trend toward starting over.

During the 2018 season, the Pirates traded top prospect Austin Meadows for All-Star pitcher Chris Archer. That type of move screams contend now, but of course, the season ended with the Pirates being very average. After the season ended, Pittsburgh again bid farewell to long-tenured players, this time Josh Harrison and Jordy Mercer. With veteran players leaving Pittsburgh and young guys stepping up, it looked like a rebuild could ensue.

Now we get back to this year’s trade deadline, where a promising start and a horrific month of July put the Pirates, again, in an average position. The decisions to trade a solid player in Dickerson and a pitcher from an already depleted pitching rotation in Jordan Lyles for no immediate return again screamed rebuild, but the decision to keep All-Star Felipe Vazquez did not.

These moves, among others, have helped the Pirates remain in a state of mediocrity. Perhaps the teams of 2017 and 2018 were supposed to begin a rebuild but overachieved. Maybe they were supposed to be competitive and underachieved.

Whatever the case, it is time to make a decision in Pittsburgh: contend or rebuild. No more in between. Either make a serious push for the playoffs in 2020 or lose 100 games in route to the next era of Pirates baseball. Come up with a plan, execute the plan, and give the fans something to look forward to.

I believe that given the young talent on this team, the organization should go all-in this offseason to fix the pitching in an attempt to win before the front office refuses to pay the up and coming players.

If you have control of the Pirates, are you buying or selling? Contending or rebuilding? Feel free to leave your comments below!