This might be a difficult concept for many Pittsburgh Pirates fans to embrace after yet another season of unmitigated failure.

Well, failure at the Major League level, anyway. I know that a large chunk of the fan base is chalking up what may become a 100-loss campaign as a raging success because scouting services think their drafts and trades have bolstered the farm system for years to come.

So, in Pittsburgh, we are now schooled to treat improving rosters in Altoona and Greensboro as major victories, even though the losses continue to mount at PNC Park.

On the big league level, though, there is a stunning reality. As dreadful as the 44-80 (.355) Pirates are, there are actually three teams worse than them.

The Texas Rangers are 43-80 (.350). The Arizona Diamondbacks sit at 42-83 (.336). And the Baltimore Orioles have lost 18 games in a row and have a ghastly 38-85 mark (.309).

Think about it. Even the downtrodden Miami Marlins are languishing in last place of the National League East at 51-74 (.408), 17½ games back of the first-place Atlanta Braves. Yet, they aren’t even sniffing that level of futility.

But as Mark Madden pointed out in this week’s “Madden Monday” podcast, MLB’s biggest concern shouldn’t be about the extent of how many truly rotten teams exist in their game.

It’s that there is so little outrage about it.

“Nobody cares that it’s like this,” Madden said. “They just don’t. Here in Pittsburgh, we don’t. The owners don’t. The fans who still go don’t. Not that many do. The stooge media doesn’t. Nobody cares that they are this bad.”

It’s true. Especially here in Pittsburgh. Where, as a fanbase, we still seem all too willing to lap up the promise of how good things are going to be five years from now, so we’ll ignore how lousy they are going to be for the next four.

If things don’t get better in that fifth year? Oh, well. Rinse, wash, repeat and start the prospect-hype cycle all over again.

In case you are a baseball fan that is holding out optimism that a shift in economics may change our reality, Madden says don’t hold your breath.

“They are talking about this salary floor in baseball. But the MLB Players Association has pretty much shot it down already behind the scenes. Nobody cares that it is like this,” Madden reiterated.

Do you want a first-hand look at how bad baseball can look? The Diamondbacks are coming to Pittsburgh for three games at PNC Park from Monday through Wednesday.

I almost want to go for the twisted negativity of it all.

Also in the podcast, Madden and I recap the Steelers’ third preseason game. We talk about the vaccination issue in the NFL. And we discuss the dicey future of big-time college football conference alignments.

All that plus wrestling talk, a KISS concert review and deep dive into Vegas versus Atlantic City.

Listen: Tim Benz and Mark Madden discuss the Steelers’ third preseason game and the Pirates’ futility and the fan base’s apathy toward it

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