ESPN's April Pirates grade will make fans feel even worse (if that's possible)

The season has been full of critical think pieces regarding the Pittsburgh Pirates performance and direction going forward.

From sitting at the bottom of the power rankings each and every week, to articles about whether or not the Pirates will be able to afford to pay their stars, ESPN and MLB media in general have been all over Pittsburgh early in 2025.

The worst part is, Pirates fans can't even be mad about the takes, because these writers are correct. The Pirates have been horrible in 2025, and a rebuild that started seven years ago looks like an utter failure.

Pirates receive an 'F' in latest MLB grades from ESPN

David Schoenfield, one of the best baseball writers at ESPN, wrote an article this week giving each team a grade based on its performance throughout April.

Just two teams in the majors earned 'F' grades — the Orioles and the Pirates — while the 6-28 Rockies received an 'F-'. The Orioles are mainly there due to the fact that they were supposed to be one of the best teams in baseball this year, but the Pirates' presence is strictly performance-based.

Schoenfield also talked about his concerns with the Pirates' future going forward:

"I'm not really sure how the Pirates dig themselves out of this either. They're not even a young team, with five of their nine regular position players 30 or older."

Schoenfield's concerns are absolutely valid. The only truly young position player who has potential to be a future star is Oneil Cruz. Bryan Reynolds and Mitch Keller, the two Pirates who have received extensions, have had horrible starts to the year.

Reynolds is slashing a horrid .224/.288/.361, while Keller has a 4.38 ERA in seven starts. These are two of the guys who Pirates fans expected to be cornerstones when this franchise finally turned it around, and they have been net negatives thus far.

Pirates fans have known where this rebuild was heading for some time now, but it seems like the national media is catching on, making this even more embarrassing.

"The Pirates were 61-101 in 2021. Despite five years of rebuilding, they might be headed for that same record," said Schoenfield.

Though the Pirates have the opportunity to have a phenomenal starting rotation in the near future with Paul Skenes, Jared Jones, and Bubba Chandler, the may never have the offensive help around them.

The Pirates' refusal to sign multi-year free agents remains the core issue for this team. The Pirates have not signed a multi-year free agent deal since December 2016, nearly nine years ago. If this is your strategy, you have to be nearly perfect in development and the draft, which the Pirates are not.

The way this is going, the Pirates are going to be in line for plenty more 'F' grades this season. Their manager has been bad for six seasons, ticket sales are down, and the national media criticism increases by the day. The light should be visible at the end of the tunnel by now, but it isn't close.