If 2015 feels like a long time ago, it should feel like a lifetime for Pittsburgh Pirates fans. Pittsburgh won 98 games this season and reached the playoffs for the third time in a row, the Pirates were the organization of Baseball America of the Year, Travis Sawchik was writing a book called “Big Data Baseball” about how the Pirates led the analytical revolution and its estate system was quite solid, led by Tyler Glasnow, Austin Meadows and Josh Bell.
Glasnow and Meadows were traded to the Tampa Bay Rays in 2018 in a very wild transaction by Chris Archer, the Pirates collapsed to 93 losses in 2019 and then finished with the worst record in the majors in 2020. Now Bell is also gone , changed to the Nationals by pitchers Wil Crowe, who debuted in the majors in 2020, and Eddy Yean, a 19-year-old who pitched in the rookie league in 2018.