The Pittsburgh Pirates were above .500 and in the playoff hunt approaching the 2024 trade deadline. The team's measly attempt to masquerade as deadline buyers (bulking up the lineup with Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Bryan De La Cruz and shoring up the bullpen with Jalen Beeks) marked the beginning of a second-half collapse that saw the Pirates match their 2023 win total. General manager Ben Cherington caught plenty of heat for how he handled that trade deadline.
This year's performance was much, much worse.
The Pirates have been obvious sellers for essentially the entire season. Once manager Derek Shelton was fired after a 12-26 start, there was clearly no turning the ship around, at least not quickly enough for the rest of the 2025 campaign to matter.