The Pirates are facing two conundrums as they eye potential deals ahead of Major League Baseball’s trading deadline at month’s end.
The first is their 4.5-game deficit to the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Central race and relative lack of pressure in the wild-card race — they’re 4.5 games ahead of the San Francisco Giants for the second spot, even after getting swept out of Milwaukee over the weekend.
It’s a precarious position where both catching the Cardinals and falling out of a postseason spot altogether, while possible, appear unlikely, and general manager Neal Huntington would hate to be the guy who makes trades simply to finish the season right where he is now.