Pirates fans were probably feeling pretty optimistic after the team traded for Brandon Lowe and signed Ryan O’Hearn. Finally, the Bucs’ front office was making moves to address the offense!
The oddsmakers at FanDuel, though, weren’t so high on Pittsburgh, and that was before the Cubs signed Alex Bregman. The NL Central division may be slipping away from the Pirates already.
Until this week, the Pirates seemed like the most-improved division team this winter. They were making big splashes and squeezing into big-name signing discussions. Meanwhile, the Brewers had mostly stood pat and even seemed willing to deal Freddy Peralta, and the Reds hadn’t found a bat to be the difference-maker in their lineup.