Today I'll be wrapping up our series on why each team in the Central will win the division. Unfortunately for you Pirates fans (and luckily for me), this will be by far my shortest analysis. When it comes down to it, the answer to why they will win it is simple: they won't.
OffenseAndrew McCutcheon. That's it. Last year, McCutcheon produced a WAR last year of 3.3 for the season. The entire team produced a 2.8 WAR. That's right folks, McCutcheon was more valuable in terms of WAR last year than the entire team combined. According to fangraphs, only 4 times has this happened in the past decade, two times on the Royals (Dejesus and Joe Randa). All in all, this lineup isn't anything without him and if history repeats itself, the front office will probably trade him soon for players that never really pan out (see: Bay, Jose Guillen, Aramis Ramirez, Brian Giles, etc).
Pitching
Paul Maholm and Ross Ohlendorf round out the front of this rotation. Ouch.
Final Verdict
This team should repeat the way they do every year. Poorly. Sorry Pirates, this year doesn't look good and the future isn't phenomenal.
Vegas Odds to Win It (bodog.com): 30/1
Thanks for reading. Go Cards.
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