Sorry to burst your bubble, but...
The Pirates were 49-48 at ASB, 2nd in the division behind the Cubs (55-41) We were 1 GB of of the wildcard and 7-3 in last 10 games.
Aaaand then we dropped five straight.
Come July 30, we had gone 2-8 after the ASG, dropping us to 4.5 games out of the WC.
So I decided to sell. We didn’t have many viable pieces but I was happy with the two trades I completed.
I traded RP George Kontos (2.93 ERA) to Houston for a prospect package headlined by 2B Ryne Birk. Kontos had a 2.22 ERA in 16 games with Houston.
I also traded OF Corey Dickerson, who had 17 homers with us, to Seattle, who was in the thick of the WC race. Dickerson slumped with them, as he hit .221 with 7 HR with them. We got a promising RP prospect, Jamal Wade, in the trade though.
The rest of the season was about evaluating our talent for next year. We finished 72-90, last in the division. We were 14th in RS, which was the case most of the year. WE had the worst collective average in the NL and the 14th OBP. Our pitching didn’t fare much better (12th RA, 11th in both starters’ and BP ERA.) Our defense was the worst in the NL, which will be a point of emphasis this offseason.
After a brief climb, our fan interest dropped back to 58 but we still enjoyed overall increases in attendance and revenue per game.
After the season, Josh Harrison and Ivan Nova told me that they officially want out.
Batting Titles: Jose Ramirez (Cle) and Bryce Harper (Wash.)
ALE
Yankees 106-56
Boston 93-69 WC1
Blue Jays 80-82
Rays 74-88
Orioles 64-98
—ALC
Indians 104-58 3-7 in l10
Twins 90-72 WC2
White Sox 74-88
Tigers 61-101
Royals 59-103
Asrost 100-62 8-2 in l10 w3
Rangers and Mariners 83-79
Oakland 76-86
Angels 68-94——Ohtani hit .198 with 7 HR and pitched to a 4.46 ERA with a record of 11-11.
NLE
Nationals 89-73
Mets 88-74
Braves 78-84
Marlins 74-88
Phillies 70-92
—NLC
Cubs 93-69
Cardianls 78-84
Reds 77-85
Brewers 73-69
Pirates 72-90
—NLW
Dodgers 112-50
Arizona 89-73 WC1
Giants 82-80
Rockies 75-87
Padres 65-97
WC: Twins v Boston-
Yanks v that winner-
ALDS: Houston vs Cleveland
WC Mets v Arizona—
Dodgers vs that winner
Cubs v Nationals—
Mets over Zona 6-2. Conforto hit 2 homers
Boston over Twinss 2-0-Sale threw 5 shutout innings, JD Martinez homered with 1 on to provide the only runes in the game. Price threw 2 shutout innings out of the pen.
CHC sweeps Nationals-MVP Rizzo. CHC outscored Nats 19-5 including a 6-0 win
Dodgers over Mets in 5-MVP Bellinger
Boston over Yankees in 5 MVP Martinez
Cleveland over Astros in 5
CS Dodgers over Cubs in 7 MVP Seager. LA loses F orsythe rest of PO and they were already without Turner for the entire postseason. The Dodgers nearly choked away a 3-0 series lead as the Cubs won 3 straight to force game 7.
Boston over Indians in 6. MVP Martinez again. Cleveland won the first 2 but dropped the next 4 including 2 shutout losses. Cleveland was without Kluber and LIndor all postseason and lost Cody Allen in the ALDS. .
WS: Dodgers v Boston
Dodgers win g1 4-0
LA win g 2 3-2 with a Joc Peterson walk off homer in 14.
Boston win g3 7-2, but they lost Price (DTD sore arm, he never pitched again in the series.) Devers hit a grand slam in the bottom of the seventh. Boston won G4 6-2 to tie the series.
Dodgers won g5 4-3 and g6 3-1 to win the series. WSMVP: Yasiel Puig.