There are misses, and there are moments –– and this winter, the Pittsburgh Pirates let another moment slip straight through their fingers.
When Japanese free-agent slugger Munetaka Murakami landed with the Chicago White Sox on a surprise two-year, $34 million deal, it felt like the kind of gut punch Pirates fans know all too well. Not because Murakami was a lock to become a superstar — but because this was exactly the type of swing Pittsburgh keeps telling us it’s ready to take.
If ever there was a free-agent moment built for a team desperate for power — and desperate to prove it actually means it when it says it’s willing to spend — this was it.