Jul 31, 2017 3 min read

The Dodgers got Yu Darvish.

The Cubs got Jose Quintana.

The Yankees got Sonny Gray.

The Pirates?

Well, the Nutting family waved the white flag at the Major League Baseball trade deadline Monday.

Nothing says, ‘We aren’t going to win the division,’ like having your most important trade being the disposing of reliever Tony Watson.

The fourth-place Pirates are three games under .500 at 51-54 and 5 ½ games out of first place in the National League Central Division.

Worse, they just went through a West Coast trip where they were beaten up by one good team – Colorado – and embarrassed by two bad teams – San Francisco and San Diego. The Giants and Padres are a combined 61 1/2 games behind the red-hot Dodgers.

There was no better indication of just how little faith Bob Nutting, principal owner, had in his team until you consider the organization knew it would be without third baseman Jung Ho Kang for possibly the entire season with visa problems and that outfielder Starling Marte was going to be suspended for 80 games for violating the league’s drug policy and still made no moves.

The Pirates didn’t mind banking the $4.1 million in salary saved from those two incidents. And they did nothing to resolve the problems in the outfield and at third base, hoping the Pirates would be competitive enough to be within striking distance heading into August.

They are, but no one other than the most ardent fan can believe this team can win the division or even a wild-card spot.

The trading of Watson to the Dodgers wasn’t a surprise. He was 10 of 17 in save opportunities, dealing a severe blow to the Pirates’ playoff chances. But he wasn’t the only one to blame.

Kang’s alcohol problems robbed the Pirates of a power-hitting third baseman. There hasn’t been an adequate replacement. Marte’s suspension was inexcusable, even though he has apologized numerous times. Since returning, he has hit .250 in 58 at-bats, looking nowhere near the player who hit .311 and stole 47 bases last season.

The Pirates had reliever Juan Nicasio on the trading block but he was not moved. Watson and Nicasio, who is having a good season with a 2.42 ERA and 1.14 WHIP, will be free agents at the end of the season.

While the Pirates avoided any major moves yesterday, decisions must come on outfielder Andrew McCutchen and starting pitcher Gerit Cole. McCutchen has one year and $14.5 million remaining on a club option next year. He’s 30 and got off to a slow start. But his recent surge seemed to make him a desirable commodity. Not desirable enough though to go in a trade before yesterday’s deadline.

Cole has righted the ship after a wobbly first couple months and will bring more in a deal. The Pirates still have two arbitration years with him but will probably make a move before that. Cole and his agent, Scott Boras, have given no indication the right-hander wants to stay in Pittsburgh and Nutting most likely won’t meet their salary demands anyway.

Nutting’s action before this trade deadline showed he doesn’t believe the Pirates can win the division. But his hesitation in breaking up the team shows he believes next year can be special.

If it’s not, then there should be a lot of activity at that deadline.

And it will be time to start over.

Assistant sports editor Joe Tuscano can be reached at jtuscano@observer-reporter.com.