u/LasRieRem1724

The Pirates just don't have the organizational depth to compete especially in the upper minors and at the MLB level. The failure to draft and develop in the Ben Cherington era continues to bite this team in the butt. The Pirates made moves this past off season in acquiring Lowe, Mangum, and Montgomery. They signed O'hearn, Soto, and Ozuna. Most of which have been very good moves, but when you don't have the depth, or the core to build around, all of these moves are just to bandaid over the failure to draft and develop over the last 7 years.

In 2013, the Pirates added Liriano and Rusell Martin, they traded for Mark Melancon. In 2012, they traded for A.J. Burnett. However, they had a core in place. They had Andrew McCutchen, Neil Walker, Pedro Alvarez, and Starling Marte to build around. Those moves they made in the 2013 off season were to just supplement the core. Who are the core players on this team? Skenes is one, Griffin is probably another. After that who else? Reynolds? He doesn't appear to be the same player like was earlier in his career. Cruz? He has yet to fully put it all together.

It's very hard to win in baseball when you struggle to draft and develop. Yes, the Yankees, Dodgers, and Phillies have done it, but they are also signing elite super star players who can turn an organization around. While O'hearn and Lowe are very good players, they aren't those elite super star players. Even then, the Dodgers have one of the best farm systems in the MLB. Ideally the Lowe and O'hearn moves should have been additions to a core, instead they have to basically turn the organization around.

Personally, I think it's going to take time for the Pirates to win fans back. I think if the Pirates are still in it come July, we will see the stadium packed like we saw from 2013-2015. I've been to the 2010 AFC divisional game against the Ravens, Game 7 of the ECF against the Senators, and Game 3 of the NLDS against the Cardinals. By far, the best Pittsburgh sports atmosphere was PNC Park in the playoffs.