For years, Pittsburgh sports has been a familiar story: the Steelers and Penguins chasing big moments, while the Pirates found new ways to frustrate everyone else. Now the script is starting to wobble a little.
The city’s longtime standard-bearers are both staring at awkward transitions. The Steelers sit at 4-2 after Sunday’s overtime win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but the long view is murkier than the record suggests.
Aaron Rodgers is 42, and while he can still help Pittsburgh win right now, he is not a long-term answer at quarterback. The Steelers have been hunting for a successor to Ben Roethlisberger for years, and that search still hasn’t produced a clear solution.
The Penguins are in a similar spot, only older. Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang are both 39, and Evgeni Malkin is 40.
That trio delivered three Stanley Cups to Pittsburgh, and the Penguins did reach the playoffs last season, but the franchise can’t avoid the next phase forever. At some point, the old core gives way to whatever comes next.
That’s where the Pirates enter the picture, and for once, they might be the team with the cleanest path forward. They finished 82-80 in 2026, an 11-win jump from the previous year and their first winning season since 2018. They still missed the playoffs and finished six games back, but the bigger story is that several of their most important pieces are still nowhere near finished products.
Paul Skenes, Jared Jones, Bubba Chandler and Braxton Ashcraft give the Pirates the makings of a rotation that could be dangerous for a long time. Konnor Griffin and Oneil Cruz bring the kind of talent that can change a lineup’s ceiling.
Esmerlyn Valdez and Rafael Flores Jr. have also shown real offensive upside. And there’s more in the pipeline, with Derek Curiel, Murf Gray and Seth Hernandez among the prospects who could matter down the road.
That’s a pretty unusual place for the Pirates to be: young, promising, and still ascending while the rest of the city’s major franchises are wondering what comes after their stars. The contrast is obvious, and it puts pressure on Bob Nutting and Ben Cherington not to waste it.
The challenge is that promise doesn’t win anything by itself. The Steelers and Penguins have banked enough success over the years to buy some patience.
The Pirates don’t have that luxury. Their last postseason appearance came in 2015, and even with the step forward in 2026, the roster still needs work.
They have already made one major commitment, signing Griffin to a nine-year extension worth $140 million. But one extension doesn’t fix an entire organization.
Brandon Lowe’s impending free agency is an immediate test of whether ownership is willing to keep proven talent. Pittsburgh also needs more starting pitching depth, help in the bullpen and better offensive consistency.
That’s why this moment feels so important. The Pirates can’t keep treating every offseason like a hope-and-pray exercise built entirely around internal growth. Their competitive window, if they really have one, won’t stay open forever.
Pittsburgh fans have spent years waiting for something different from this franchise. Now the city’s two traditional powers are facing uncertainty, and the Pirates suddenly have a chance to step into the spotlight with the best long-term outlook in town. Whether they actually become Pittsburgh’s next great team will depend on what happens next.
In Other News...
Pirates Trade Idea Solves A Real Need At A Dangerous Price
The Pirates are still hunting for right-handed power, and Hunter Goodman has the kind of profile that makes sense on paper. The Colorado catcher brings offensive juice from a spot that is often light at the plate, and his availability in trade chatter naturally gets Pittsburghs attention as the club looks for more impact without sacrificing the long view.
The catch is that premium catchers come at a premium price, and Goodman would be no exception. The cost to pry him loose would test the Pirates prospect depth in a way that goes well beyond a simple one-for-one deal, which is why the discussion quickly shifts from fit to risk and from immediate help to what it would do to the organizations flexibility down the road. [Read more 🡒]
Pirates Could Have Their Eye On A Versatile Rays Pitching Upgrade
The Pirates are again being linked to a possible pitching upgrade, this time with Tampa Bay right-hander Griffin Jax drawing attention because of the flexibility he could bring to a staff that can always use more options. Jax has worked both as a starter and out of the bullpen, which makes him an appealing fit for a club that values depth and adaptability, and Pittsburghs existing trade relationship with the Rays only adds to the intrigue.
What makes the idea more interesting is the way Jax handled his move into Tampa Bays rotation, showing enough production there to suggest he can do more than just fill a middle-inning role. For the Pirates, any move involving a pitcher with that kind of range would naturally come with some real consideration, but for now it remains only a possibility rather than anything confirmed. [Read more 🡒]
Pirates Just Spotlighted Four Farmhands Fans Need To Know
The Pirates used their annual farm system awards on Oct. 21 to put a spotlight on four players who mattered across the minor league ladder in 2026. Murf Gray took home the Willie Stargell Slugger of the Year honor, Yordanny De Los Santos was recognized as the Omar Moreno Baserunner of the Year, Jesus Castillo earned the Bill Mazeroski Defender of the Year award and Derek Diamond was named the Kent Tekulve Reliever of the Year.
For an organization trying to keep its pipeline moving, those awards are more than a ceremony note. Gray and Castillo, in particular, stood out enough to get singled out for power and defense, while the Pirates also showed they are tracking speed and bullpen depth as closely as anything else in the system. The real question now is how much of that minor league promise starts surfacing in Pittsburgh next season. [Read more 🡒]