One thing I’ve seen mentioned in a lot of online discourse is that the Pittsburgh Pirates didn’t plan on contending until 2025.
It’s one thing when this is mentioned by anonymous accounts on message boards. You don’t know if that’s an employee of the organization on a burner account with legitimate insight, or just a fan who can read between the lines and see the lack of effort this year.
It’s another thing when this comes from reporting. In his latest Insider column, Dejan Kovacevic reports that the Pirates have been targeting 2025-27 as their best chances to contend.