Free agent starting pitching is either absurdly expensive (Darvish, Arrieta, Tanaka) or negligibly an upgrade (or worse). The trade market for a clear upgrade will be pretty sparse, too. The Bucs have depth, youth, and relative talent in starting pitching. That may need to carry them in that area for the most part, barring another successful reclamation project (ie, Ubaldo Jimenez still has such awesome stuff!)

The bullpen could easily be fortified with an extended payroll. Rivero’s a beast, and I’m a huge Kontos fan. Schugel has shown a ton of grit–and I have faith that Neverauskas and Santana will be strong bullpen pieces in the very near future. The team certainly needs another strong late-inning guy. The rest should fall into place.

Now to the lineup. Ugh. So much talent. So much promise. So much disappointment. Here’s my opinion–Polanco, Freese, Rodriguez, Frazier, Osuna, and Mercer are all good players; however, as things stand, they’re all going to be slated to receive semi-full time playing time in 2018 amongst a musical theater production of positions (I play the Mad Hatter, the Ghost of Lewis Carroll, Queen of Hearts’ Guard #1, townsman #3, narrator #5, and sing tenor in the finale). I just don’t see this as a winning proposition, particularly since this season has been almost the same thing except ALSO with Jaso. In addition, except for CF (6th), out of all 30 teams, the Pirates rank around 20th or lower in OPS at each position on the field. Catcher and Left Field are the worst.

Sorting out all of these players–who stays, who goes, who starts, where, etc.–sounds like a headache, but this lineup could use a significant addition. Kang would be nice. *eye roll*