Pittsburgh Pirates All-Time Lineup From the 20 Consecutive Losing Seasons

Catcher – Jason Kendall

This one was an easy one. A strong argument can be made that Jason Kendall is the greatest catcher in team history. Not just during the 20 year stretch of losing.

The Pittsburgh Pirates drafted Kendall with the 23rd overall pick in the 1992 MLB Draft. Kendall made his MLB debut in 1996, and became the Pirates catcher, and one of the National League’s best, during his nine-year Pirate career.

Kendall played in 1,252 games for the Pirates and accumulated 5,283 plate appearances. He slashed .306/.387/.418 to go with a 113 wRC+, he was worth an average of 3.5 fWAR per season, and he was a three-time NL All-Star. Kendall is the franchise’s all-time leader in games caught, and he led all MLB catchers in games caught from 2002 – 2004.

During his time in Pittsburgh, the fiery and passionate Kendall quickly became a fan favorite. He also gave the fans something to cheer about during a stretch of time in which there was not much for Pirate fans to cheer about.

In November of 2000, the Pirates and Kendall agreed to a six-year $60 million contract extension. This made him the second highest paid catcher in baseball. However, he would not play out this entire contract in Pittsburgh.

Following the 2004 season, the Pirates made one of the worst trades in franchise history when they sent Kendall to the Oakland Athletics in exchange for pitchers Mark Redman and Arthur Rhodes. In his lone season with the Pirates, Redman posted a 4.90 ERA and a 4.18 FIP in 30 starts in 2005. Rhodes would never toe the rubber for the Bucs.

Third baseman – Aramis Ramirez

Ok, so, there will be an exception to a rule here. This team’s third baseman did play on a Pirate team that had a winning record and went to the postseason. Hell, that team won 98 games and was one of the best in franchise history. However, this came after a 12-year stretch of playing elsewhere.

So, who is manning the hot corner for this team? Aramis Ramirez.

The Dominican slugger made his MLB debut for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1998. He would be with the team until he was traded to their division rival Chicago Cubs in a salary dump at the 2003 trade deadline in what was arguably the worst trade in franchise history. Ramirez then returned to the Pirates at the 2015 trade deadline, before retiring at the end of the 2015 season.

After splitting time between the MLB level and Triple-A from 1998 – 2000, he started a terrific three season stretch in 2001.

From the start of the 2001 season until he was traded to the Cubs on July 23, 2003, Ramirez accumulated 1,644 plate appearances for the Pirates. Ramirez smashed 64 home runs to go with 91 doubles and a .189 ISO during this stretch.

Shortstop – Jack Wilson

For a lot of Pittsburgh Pirates fans my age (27), Jack Wilson was one of their favorite players growing up. From 2001 – 2009, Wilson locked down shortstop for the Pirates. During this time, as Noah delved into earlier this week, Wilson solidified himself as one of the best defensive shortstops in baseball history.

From 2001 – 2008 Wilson accumulated a 11.0 fWAR, which was the 7th highest in the National League during this eight-year stretch. As a Pirate, Wilson slashed .269/.311/.376 with a 78 wRC+ in 4,703 plate appearances.

While Wilson was never an offensive standout, he did take home the National League Silver Slugger Award for shortstops in 2004. That was the same year Wilson made his lone All-Star Game appearance. His 2004 season included him becoming the 9th shortstop in NL history to collect at least 200 hits in a season with 201, he also led the league with 12 triples. While he never won a Gold Glove Award, which was a damn shame, Wilson did take home the Fielding Bible Award as the best defensive shortstop in baseball during the 2009 season.

‘Jumping Jack Flash’ as he was affectionately known by Pirate fans, due to his walk up music being ‘Jumping Jack Flash’ by the Rolling Stones, Wilson is still a fan favorite in Pittsburgh. He should forever be remembered by fans as one of the best defensive shortstops in baseball history.

Second Baseman – Freddy Sanchez

Freddy Sanchez is an all-time great story in Pittsburgh Pirates history. The right-handed hitter was born with a clubbed foot that required surgery as a child. This was followed with years of physical therapy.

Despite this, Sanchez over came this to become a star athlete. In high school he was a three-year letter winner in football. He was also a summer league baseball teammate of the aforementioned Wilson.

Sanchez had an interesting career with the Pirates. Early in his career he battled injuries. Then in July of 2004, he was traded by the Boston Red Sox, along with Mike Gonzalez, to the Pittsburgh Pirates.

After slashing .291/.336/.400 in a reserve role in 2005, Sanchez broke out in 2006. Becoming the team’s every day third baseman due to an injury to Joe Randa, Sanchez played in 157 games slashing .344/.378/.473 with a 119 wRC+ and a league leading 53 doubles. His .344 batting average won him the NL batting crown, and led to him being named an All-Star for the first time in his career. Best of all, the 2006 All-Star Game was played at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.

Sanchez’s performance led to him winning a starting job. When Randa returned from injury, Sanchez replaced Jose Castillo as the starting second baseman. This was a role he would serve with the Pirates until he was traded to the San Francisco Giants at the 2009 trade deadline.

Sanchez was named an All-Star again in 2007 and 2009. On top of being one of the most consistent hitters in the NL, he was also a plus defender at second base accumulating a 23.2 dWAR at second base between 2006 and 2009.

Sanchez is not just one of the best stories in Pirate history, he is also one of the best pure hitters in franchise history. To this day, Pirate announcers Bob Walk and John Wehner still reference Sanchez whenever a batter flares a base hit into right field due to how often Sanchez would do this during his hay day with the Bucs.

First Baseman – Adam LaRoche

We’ll preface this by admitting that this is a player that is not remembered fondly by many Pittsburgh Pirates fans. That said, he was still an above league average player during his two and a half seasons in Pittsburgh. Who is this player? Adam LaRoche.

Now, a lot of fans may say the first baseman on this team should be Kevin Young. After all, Young spent 11 seasons with the Bucs and had some very strong seasons. However, in eight of his 11 seasons he was a below league average hitter. LaRoche was an above league average hitter each season he was in Pittsburgh.

The Pirates netted LaRoche from the Atlanta Braves in a trade prior to the start of the 2007 season. Many people viewed LaRoche as some savior for the Pirate lineup. While LaRoche was a quality hitter, he was never the lineup anchor fans expected, but that does not lessen what he did as a Pirate.

As a Pirate, LaRoche slashed .265/.340/.469 with a 109 wRC+ in 1,554 plate appearance. He slugged 58 home runs, collected 161 extra base hits, his 10.1% walk rate and .204 ISO were both above league average, and he drove in 213 runs.

LaRoche’s tenure in Pittsburgh ended in July 2009 when he was traded to Boston in exchange for reliever Hunter Strickland and utility man Argenis Diaz.

The Outfield – Brian Giles, Jason Bay, Nate McLouth

We will lump the entire outfield together instead of going position by position. Part of this is due to having two left fielders in the outfield. Although, one could always roam right field. The three outfielders on this list are Brian Giles in left field, Nate McLouth in center field, and Jason Bay in right field. Bay is being moved to right field due to Giles, who ironically enough was traded for Bay, is in left field.

We will start with Giles, who is one of the most underappreciated hitters of his era. The Pirates acquired Giles from the Cleveland Indians in exchange for pitcher Ricardo Rincon in November 1998.

With the Pirates, Giles was a machine. He slashed .308/.426/.591 with a 156 wRC+ in nearly five full seasons with the Pirates. He hit 39 home runs in 1999, 35 in 2000, 37 in 2001, and 38 in 2002. His fWAR was 6+ in three of his four full seasons with the Pirates, and the one season it was not was 2001 when it was 5.5.

Maybe most remarkable as Giles walk and strikeout rates. He owned a 16.7% walk rate with the Pirates, and just a 10.9% strikeout rate. That is an incredible ratio for any hitter, but especially for a left-handed power hitter.

On August 26, 2003, Giles was traded to the San Diego Padres for Bay and starting pitcher Oliver Perez. This led to Bay putting together one of the best five year stretches in franchise history. This included Bay becoming just the second player in franchise history to be named the National League Rookie of the Year when he took home the award in 2004.

With the Pirates Bay slashed .283/.375/.515 with a 130 wRC+. He slugged 143 home runs, collected 320 extra base hits, was a two-time All-Star, he participated in the 2005 Home Run Derby, and he started in left field for the National League in the 2006 All-Star Game at PNC Park.

Bay’s Pirate career ended when former general manager Neal Huntington made the last second decision to trade Bay just before the 4 PM trade deadline on July 31, 2008. In a three team trade with the Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers, the Pirates received outfield prospect Brandon Moss, third base prospect Andy LaRoche, and pitching prospects Craig Hansen and Bryan Morris for Bay. Other than Morris who had a good season out of the Pirate bullpen in 2013, none of these players would accomplish anything for the Pirates. Unfortunately, Huntington’s first major trade as Pirate GM went down as one of his worst.

Finally, in center field, there is Nate McLouth. The left-handed hitting McLouth started his career as a fourth outfielder, before easing into a more regular role starting in 2006. With the Pirates, McLouth was an All-Star in 2008. He also won a Gold Glove Award in 2008, and led the NL in doubles with 46. He posted a 3.8 fWAR in 2008 and this followed posting a 1.5 fWAR in 2007.

In June 2009, McLouth was traded to make room in center field for a guy named Andrew McCutchen. The Pirates received Charlie Morton and Jeff Locke from the Atlanta Braves, two starting pitchers who were key cogs in the Bucs making the postseason in three consecutive seasons from 2013 – 2015, they also received outfielder Gorkys Hernandez. Hernandez was traded to the Miami Marlins in 2012 in exchange for first baseman Gaby Sanchez who was a key player on the 2013 and 2014 teams, and Hernandez then returned to the Pirates as a fourth outfielder for 2015.

Even after McLouth was gone, he helped contribute to the Pirates. The McLouth trade was one of the best that Huntington made as Pirate GM.