Heading into the 2020 pandemic-laden season, we expected the Pittsburgh Pirates to be, well, not very good. We just didn’t expect them to be as bad as they were — nobody did. Now, heading into the 2021 season, we have a much better idea for what to expect. This iteration of the Pirates won’t be competing for a playoff spot, much less a World Series — an annoying and constant occurrence in Pirates fandom.
When general manager Ben Cherington arrived in Pittsburgh prior to the start of the 2020 season, he promptly made a move that sent Starling Marte to the Arizona Diamondbacks, signaling to us that this new regime was about to begin a teardown.