Let's see if things change in the future.
There are a couple of different ways to look at how the Pittsburgh Pirates played this season, but a lot of it comes down to them missing the postseason.
At the end of the day, with Pirates ownership finally willing to spend a bit more money and try new things, there was no excuse not to at least finish in a playoff spot. Unfortunately, the Pirates were in a playoff spot for much of the season but couldn’t get the job done.
For whatever reasons, and we can look at a lot of them, the Pirates didn’t do enough on both sides of the baseball to ensure they had a chance to make the postseason come October. It’s unfortunate that things have gotten to this point once again, but there were some positive signs.
As we look at what the Pirates can be in the future, it’s all going to come down to whether they make the playoffs. Nobody is happy anymore with being average or below average, something fans are tired of.
At the end of the day, fans want the playoffs and a chance to win a World Series. With all of this young talent, there’s really no reason they can’t do that in the future.
While that remains to be seen, it’s important that the higher-ups in the organization at least admit it needs to happen.
“If you’re not playing games in October, then you haven’t met what you set out to do,” Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said Sunday, per Lancaster Online. “We look at this team as clearly taking a step forward and not a big enough one.”
“We are improved,” Cherington said. “I think there’s legitimate things to look at that lends evidence for that improvement. And we’ve got to find a way to get better because our fans, this organization deserves to be playing games in October. That’s our sole focus.”
I know some people have been upset with Cherington, and I can somewhat say that I feel similarly.
However, I also think we have to look at him in a somewhat different light. If he isn’t allocated the resources he needs to win games at a high level, then I’m not sure how much we can really blame him. It’s unfortunate that we even have to say that, but we know this ownership just isn’t going to spend the money it needs to.
