Another ranking suggests NL Central is up for grabs, but Pirates won't capitalize

With all due respect to the 2024 National League Central champion Milwaukee Brewers, winning the division title wasn't exactly a high bar to clear last season. All they had to do was want it – and, you know, try – which is more than can be said for the rest of the teams in the division.

The Pittsburgh Pirates were in second place in the NL Central behind Milwaukee at last season's trade deadline with a 55-52 record, sitting two games back of a Wild Card spot. A second-half meltdown, however, sent them plummeting to the bottom of the division standings, where they would finish the season with a 76-86 record. In fact, it took the Pirates less time to clinch another losing season and eliminate themselves from playoff contention than it did for the Brewers to clinch the division title.

Even in a season when the NL Central was more easily winnable than it had been in years, the Pirates couldn't capitalize. It was disappointing, but hardly surprising, given the lack of investment from ownership and the front office.

Another ranking suggests NL Central is up for grabs, but Pirates won't capitalize

The Pirates' poor on-field product is a direct reflection of the organization's ineptitude off the field, which brings us to a recent story from Bleacher Report's Zachary D. Rymer ranking all 30 MLB teams as free-agent destinations in the 2024-25 offseason. It should come as a surprise to absolutely no one that the Pirates ranked near the bottom of the list (No. 24, to be exact), but one other notable detail stands out.

In Rymer's rankings, which are based on criteria including team payroll situation, contention window and quality of life, the St. Louis Cardinals rank below the Pirates at No. 25. The Cincinnati Reds rank just ahead of them at No. 23. The Brewers are only a few spots better at No. 21. Of the five NL Central teams, only the Chicago Cubs (No. 7) rank outside the bottom-third of the league in terms of desirability as a free-agent destination.

"Talk is cheap, however, and so are the Pirates," Rymer writes in his rankings. "They've spent less in free agency than any other team since 1991, a span in which they've gone to eight figures for a free agent just eight times."

The disparity between the Pirates and the rest of their division rivals isn't as hopelessly vast as the club's front office would have us believe. The team has enough potential and the city is affordable enough to attract any desirable free agents, but the club is too cheap to even attempt a bidding war on the open market.

The Pirates had an $87 million team payroll in 2024, and Rymer projects it to be at $80 million in 2025. In a league where money talks, the Pirates aren't offering anything that will make free agents want to listen.

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