Had the Pirates gone 26-26 after starting 63-47, they would have finished with 89 wins, one more than St. Louis, the second NL Wild Card team. Instead, Pittsburgh accomplished the near impossible, becoming the first team in major league history to finish with a losing record (79-83) on the heels of being 16 games over .500.
The team believes it has shored up a major weakness, signing free-agent catcher Russell Martin to replace Rod Barajas (who threw out 6-of-99 baserunners). Another year in the majors should help young players like Starling Marte and Pedro Alvarez. They help to form a nucleus along with veteran Neil Walker and All-Star Andrew McCutchen. It remains to be seen whether Jason Grilli can take over the closer role from Joel Hanrahan, who was traded to Boston, but the move makes sense financially and from a sabermetric perspective.
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