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Originally Posted by Lathum
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On the bright side, at least it seems like we have a direction with a full teardown and rebuild. The strategy of trying to crack 85ish wins and be in contention for a playoff spot by the end of the year was frustrating. Pirates have gotten 11 players back for Taillon, Musgrove, and Josh Bell and probably only 3 of them (all marginal pitchers that are 26 and under) will be up this or next year.
To be fair, the Pirates have had a combination of horrible luck to go along with (what I think was a poor decision) not choosing to go all in and acquire a missing piece or two in the years they were competitive. Jung Ho Kang looked like he was going to be a star after his first two years and then got his leg blown up and in legal trouble, essentially having two full years off of baseball and his athleticism destroyed. Jameson Taillon (taken #2 overall in 2010, between Bryce Harper and Manny Machado) was off to a tremendous start to his career, had to have Tommy John surgery right before being called up, got cancer right after being called up, put up a 4.9 WAR in his only full season at age 26, then had to have Tommy John again 7 starts in to the next season (and missed all of that and last season). And then Felipe Vazquez, who had turned into a three pitch, left handed, shutdown closer between ages 25-27 AND signed a super team friendly, long term deal, gets caught raping a minor, ending his career. Vazquez was very nearly traded to the Dodgers for what would have likely been a nice package, right before that, too. And then there is the whole Chris Archer debacle, which is a combination of bad decision making and bad luck (two major injuries).
Next 2 years are going to be rough, but at least there is some hope. We have the #1 overall pick (although, it seems like every time that happens there is not a clear cut, consensus generational #1 overall - even with Gerrit Cole, there was some debate as to whether he, a handful of other college pitchers like Bauer, or Rendon should be the pick) and should be in 'contention' for it the next two years, as well.