Pirates Quarter-Century Team: McCutchen, Skenes and Other Stars

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette recently unveiled its Pirates Quarter-Century Team, a snapshot of the franchise from 2001 through 2025.

It’s a fascinating exercise, really—one that captures both the brief highs and the long, meandering stretches of frustration that have defined Pittsburgh baseball over the past 25 years.

With only three playoff appearances and four winning seasons in that span, the list leans heavily on the core that finally ended the club’s two-decade postseason drought in 2013.

A Snapshot of 25 Turbulent Years in Pittsburgh

Putting together an all-quarter-century team for the Pirates means weighing context as much as pure talent.

This era covers rebuilds, false starts, and those fleeting stretches when the club actually looked like a National League contender.

Ten of the 26 players picked came straight from the 2013 roster, which just goes to show how much that group meant to modern Pirates history.

Five players from the 2025 team also made the cut, but mostly because of what they did earlier in their careers, not so much recent stats.

That kind of says a lot about how thin some positions have been, and how a few great years often meant more than sticking around for a decade.

An Outfield Defined by Star Power

The outfield is where this quarter-century team really pops.

Andrew McCutchen holds down center field with a franchise-defining 42.6 bWAR, and he brought leadership, consistency, and MVP-caliber play every year.

On the corners, Starling Marte in left and Brian Giles in right both delivered elite production during their Pittsburgh primes.

The depth here is no joke either.

Bryan Reynolds and Jason Bay back them up, and honestly, this outfield group might be the strongest on the whole roster.

An Infield Marked by Grit, Not Glamour

The infield tells a different kind of story—one about the Pirates’ struggle to develop and keep elite infield talent.

Josh Harrison gets the nod at third base, more for his versatility and effort than for putting up wild numbers.

Jack Wilson is still the standard at shortstop, pairing steady defense with some sneaky-good offensive years.

Neil Walker holds down second base, and Josh Bell starts at first—a spot that’s been a real weak link for the franchise over the last 25 years.

First Base and the DH Dilemma

First base sticks out as the thinnest position, which is surprising for a spot usually loaded with offense.

Only Bell and 2025’s Spencer Horwitz managed seasons above 1.5 bWAR in all that time—kind of wild when you think about it.

At designated hitter, Pedro Alvarez gets the nod, mostly for his enormous power, especially when he led the National League with 36 home runs in 2013.

Catching and Pitching: Leadership and Peak Performance

Behind the plate, Russell Martin starts.

His 9.8 bWAR only tells part of the story; his impact on the 2013–14 playoff teams and his leadership in the clubhouse made him a lock.

Jason Kendall backs him up—a steady presence during the lean years.

The starting rotation mixes modern firepower with guys who just got the job done.

Paul Skenes and Gerrit Cole headline the staff, then you’ve got Jameson Taillon, Francisco Liriano, and A.J. Burnett rounding things out.

Long-tenured arms like Paul Maholm and Zach Duke got consideration, but pitchers with higher peaks edged them out.

A Deep but Debated Bullpen

The bullpen has an array of reliable arms. Some names really stand out:

But here’s the thing—who actually closes games? That question lingers and kind of sums up the headache of building a true Pirates bullpen from an era that didn’t exactly overflow with long-term stars.

 
Here is the source article for this story: Post-Gazette’s Pirates quarter-century team: We have seen stars amid the team’s struggles