With the Pirates in the midst of a major reconstruction project, it’s only natural for fans to wonder how long it’s going to take until the club is ready to contend once again. Some who follow the team like to put actual dates on it, saying that while the upcoming 2021 campaign is likely to result in a woeful won-loss record – perhaps even 100 or more losses – brighter days could be arriving by 2023.
But is that realistic, given the tack that Ben Cherington is taking, and the fact that most prospects lost out on a complete season of competition due to COVID-19 in 2020?