Pirates' latest post-trade deadline PR blunder was absurdly predictable

Death, taxes and the Pittsburgh Pirates being unable to stay out of their own way. 

After the Pirates failed to build any momentum with their disgruntled fanbase during the trade deadline, the franchise sent out letters thanking the team’s season ticket holders, which, at face value, is a pretty run of the mill thing to do. 

Sure, most of those fans would have rather seen the Pirates capitalize on the players on the roster with expiring contracts at the trade deadline, but letting the fans know you’re thinking of them is still a good gesture. 

There was only one problem; the thank you included a signature from David Bednar, who is no longer a Pirate. 

Pirates' latest post-trade deadline PR blunder was absurdly predictable

A month ago, including Bednar on any kind of note sent to the fanbase would have gone over well. He’s from Pittsburgh, is a two-time All-Star and is in the middle of a strong bounce-back season after a disastrous 2024 season. 

But Ben Cherington and Co. pulled the plug on Bednar’s time in Pittsburgh at the deadline by dealing him to the Yankees in exchange for two Single-A prospects. 

Yet the team somehow still decided to send out pre-planned notes with his signature on them. 

It’s just another blunder for a franchise that is quickly gaining a reputation for its dysfunction. It would be one thing to make this kind of mistake if the team was in the middle of the postseason hunt or had shown that it was dedicated to putting a winning product on the field.

And the front office may have earned some benefit of the doubt here if it had knocked the trade deadline out of the park, which they could have easily done. 

Instead, they, for whatever reason, decided to hold onto expiring veterans like Andrew Heaney, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, and Tommy Pham instead of trading them to contenders — the thing that seemingly every seller does at the trade deadline. 

It’s gotten so bad that MLB insiders are publicly speaking out about how poorly Pittsburgh handled the deadline. And the worst part of all of this is that they have the bones of a good team. Paul Skenes dazzles every time he takes the mound, and they have a solid nucleus of young players who seem comfortable playing with each other. 

But it’s tough to focus on those things when Cherington and Co. give fans so many other things to get upset about. At 50-66, the Pirates are circling the drain for yet another season, with this year marking the 10 year anniversary of their last postseason berth. It may as well be 100 years.