BRADENTON, Fla. -- David Freese thinks the Pittsburgh Pirates are not trying hard enough to win.
"The last two years, we didn't do as well as we could have because of our environment. That's what I think," the third baseman said Friday after reporting to spring training. "I walk in every day, and the demand to win just hasn't been in the air. That's what you need."
Deciding to rebuild, the Pirates traded center fielder Andrew McCutchen, the 2013 NL MVP, to San Francisco and dealt right-hander Gerrit Cole, a 19-game winner in 2015, to Houston.