With eight teams still in the World Series race, the Pittsburgh Pirates have shifted their focus to the offseason.

Before officially putting the 2026 season to rest, though, here are three final takeaways from Pittsburgh’s last 162 games.

The stats are clear: the Pirates had a much-improved lineup in 2026 compared to where it ended in 2025.

A calendar year ago at this time, the Pirates had a .655 OPS (30th), scored 583 runs (30th), and hit 117 home runs, ranking 30th in baseball in all three categories. Following the 2026 season, Pittsburgh improved in all three categories, with a .734 OPS (6th), 767 runs scored (6th), and 186 home runs (13th).

The lineup wasn’t perfect, and the bats going cold in August ( .217/.298/.334 slash line) just might have cost the team a spot in the playoffs. That said, the team's overall improvements at the plate were undeniably impressive.

Missing the playoffs for a 12th straight year obviously wasn’t the way the Pirates wanted the 2026 season to come to an end. That said, something Pittsburgh can say now that wasn’t always possible over the last decade is that the team has a legitimate core in place to compete in the future.

On the position player side of things, Konnor Griffin, Rafael Flores Jr., Esmerlyn Valdez, and Spencer Horwitz are the real deal. Then, there’s the veteran presence of Oneil Cruz, Ryan O’Hearn, and hopefully Brandon Lowe if the Pirates can find a way to re-sign him.

Pittsburgh has a handful of elite young pitchers, too, headlined by Paul Skenes and Jared Jones, who are still under 25 years old. Braxton Ashcraft was phenomenal in his first full season as a starter, logging a 3.65 ERA. Mason Montgomery emerged as one of the best closers in baseball during the second half of the season.

Is this enough to get back to playing baseball in October? Well, it wasn’t this year.

However, the point is that the Pirates have the pieces to contend for a postseason spot again in 2027. If the young core can take another leap and the veterans can fill in the cracks, Pittsburgh will have a chance to snap its postseason drought next season.

Since the start of the 2025 offseason, the Pirates have added Brandon Lowe, Mason Montgomery, Jake Mangum, Ryan O’Hearn, Marcell Ozuna, Camilo Doval, Luke Weaver, and Kirby Yates through free agency or trade.

Some of these moves worked out as planned, like Lowe. Some of the trades were a pleasant surprise, for example, Montgomery’s addition, and others simply didn’t pan out, like the Ozuna signing.

Still, the front office objectively did more in a six-month span than it had done over the six-year stretch. In the end, though, it’s hard to build a playoff team in one year, and the front office learned that the hard way.

Even with all of these moves, the Pirates still ended up on the outside looking in during October.

General Manager Ben Cherington said his discussions with ownership lead him to believe he’ll be back in the same role in 2027. However, his seat will only grow hotter the longer Pittsburgh’s postseason drought continues.

For the Pirates to be a playoff team once again, the front office will need to make even more moves this winter.