The Pittsburgh Pirates have spent years stuck in a vicious cycle of mediocrity, showing flashes of promise only to fall short due to a lack of external investment in talent.

The Pittsburgh Pirates made arguably their biggest free agency signing of the offseason, signing Andrew Heaney to a one-year, $5 million deal. Heaney earning $5 million from the Pirates ties him with Andrew McCutchen for the team's richest free agent signing of the offseason, as sad as that is to say.

Former Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Scott Sauerbeck has died at the age of 53. Sauerbeck pitched for the Pirates for five seasons and still holds the team record for the most games pitched in a season by a left hander.

The left-handed pitcher set the Pittsburgh Pirates record for most games pitched in a single season when he made 78 appearances in 2002.

The Pirates confirmed that the Cincinnati native, who appeared in parts of seven major league seasons, died of a heart attack in a social media post Thursday.