With playoff hopes all but gone, what's next for Pirates?

Except for a few notable exceptions earlier this decade, interest in baseball wanes among area sports fans the day the Pittsburgh Steelers report to training camp.

This year, it was remarkable how the two events coincided. The last-place Pirates fell to 2-11 since the All-Star break on Thursday while the Steelers were settling into Saint Vincent. They were nine games behind the first-place Chicago Cubs (before Friday), with 60 to play.

Publicly, the Pirates (46-56 before Friday) insist miracles do happen, but they are ignoring the math.

To win 85 games, which would not guarantee a playoff berth, they must finish 39-21. It took the Pirates three months (June 28) to win 39 games. Can they match that total in two months?

This would be the 24th season without a playoff berth for the Pirates since 1992, when Sid Bream slid across home plate in Atlanta.

Here’s what it means to this season and 2020, and how it happened:

1. The Pirates will be sellers heading toward Wednesday’s trading deadline.

Who didn’t know that? Joe Musgrove admitted as much after Thursday’s loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.

That’s OK, and left fielder Corey Dickerson appears to be prime trade bait because he’s unsigned for next season and heading toward back-to-back .300 seasons. But that’s OK, too.

Dickerson, who was slashing .308/.370/.508 before Friday’s game with the New York Mets, has only two home runs in 120 at-bats as a corner outfielder who missed two months with a shoulder injury. It’s understandable why the Pirates might not want to invest too heavily in him.

But he’s only 30, and he hit 27 homers as recently as 2017. Plus, he’s collecting extra-base hits at a rate of one every six at-bats this season.

A young pitcher could work as return for Dickerson. Maybe even a starter, if he’s no more than one good spring training from the majors.

2. In any case, they need two more starters.

Even if Jameson Taillon gets good news Monday and won’t need surgery, the Pirates need to bolster their starting rotation.

Jordan Lyles won’t be back, and there is no guarantee Dario Agrazal can maintain his success next season. There are too many question marks, injuries and inconsistent performances among Musgrove, Archer, Taillon, Trevor Williams, Steven Brault and Mitch Keller to rely on hope. Clint Hurdle said it himself: Hope is not a strategy.

3. How about merely avoiding last place?

Missing the playoffs is bad enough. Missing the playoffs and finishing last might be too much for long-suffering Pirates fans to endure.

That’s why the next nine games against the Mets (six) and Cincinnati Reds (three) offer a chance to make amends.

The Mets (47-55) are struggling and the Reds (46-54) are only a game ahead of the Pirates.

Fatalistic Pirates fans might have expected their team to fail over the past 26 games (10-16) against some of the best teams in baseball.

Just don’t let this opportunity slip away. The Brewers, Cardinals, Angels, Cubs and Nationals — all with winning records — are next.

4. Josh Bell needs to get hot again

Bell hit 12 home runs in May, but he took a 15-game homer-less streak into New York. He hasn’t hit one since July 5.

It’s not too simplistic to think re-igniting Bell’s bat would change things. He has only two RBIs in those 15 games, and the Pirates lost 11 of them.

5. Will the Pirates display Keone Kela to make him attractive in a trade?

Not a bad idea.

He comes with the baggage of the recent two-game suspension, but he has a strong arm, is healthy now and competes with an edge that’s important in a pennant race.

Pirates management isn’t saying much about him or his recent trouble, but they might not be adverse to moving on without him.

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