The tear down phase of the Pittsburgh Pirates’ tear down and rebuild continues. They have traded Starling Marte to the Arizona Diamondbacks for a pair of prospects, neither of which hav been promoted past A ball yet. They finished in last place in the NL Central and appear to be nailing that slot down again.
Meanwhile, the only team that actually looks stronger for the coming season in that division is the Reds. They have actually spent $164M on free agents this winter, including $64M each on Mike Moustakas and Nick Castellanos, and more than they’ve spent in free agency over past 10 years combined. I’ve even heard one pundit call them the favorites in the NL Central. I grew up a Reds fan, but I don’t know about that. However, the Cardinals—having lost Ozuna and adding nobody of note—are weaker on paper. Ditto the Cubs, minus Castellanos and adding lesser players like Steven Souza. Ditto the Brewers, losing multiple key players including Moustakas and Yasmani Grandal and also adding lesser players. The division does appear up for grabs, except for the Pirates.
Fan Interference 
Can you imagine how much sympathy this Feesh fan has for any hypothetical Bucs fan watching this teardown? (After all, what’s more hypothetical than a Feesh fan?)
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Paper was very happy about the Red’s acquisition of Castellanos, since that’s a division rival. He’s hoping Nick never opts out.
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I’m assuming it’s Castellanos not playing for the Cubs that pleases Paper, Cards fan that he is. However, in his position I’d be at least equally upset that the Birds-on-a-Bat front office failed to resign Ozuna and have done basically nothing to replace him.
Right now I’m thinking the Nationals, Braves, Dodgers, and Diamondbacks are 4 of the 5 NL playoff teams. If so, it’s an all season dog fight to see who gets the Central division crown with everyone else spending October at home.
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Well, he’s obviously unhappy with the Cards management and failure to do anything, but glad that Nick will be a weak link for the Reds….hopefully for some time to come.
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