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Pittsburgh Pirates: Examining Current State of the NL Central
By Noah Wright
During the 2020 season the Pittsburgh Pirates finished last place in the National League Central. As the calendar prepares to flip over to 2021, what is the current state of their rivals and what is in their future?
The Major League roster that the Pittsburgh Pirates currently have is far from being the finished product that general manager Ben Cherington hopes to have one day. As a team, their position players finished with a combined fWAR of 1.1 while their pitchers finished with a 2.7 combined fWAR. With a 19-41 record, the Pittsburgh Pirates finished last in their division, 15 games out of first, and last in all of Major League Baseball.
The Pittsburgh Pirates may have been the only team in their division to not make the playoffs, but the battle they face in the National League Central is not as daunting as it may appear to be. After all, entering the offseason FanGraphs ranked the Pirate farm system as the fourth best in all of baseball.
Today, we will take a look at the current state of each of the divisional rivals of the Pittsburgh Pirates. We will also take a look at what the immediate and long term future could hold for each of these franchises.