The Pittsburgh Pirates have the unfortunate distinction of having been the final team that José Bautista played for before he blossomed into one of the most dominant offensive players of his era.
In parts of five seasons spent in Pittsburgh, Bautista homered 43 times across 1,314 at-bats. When the Pirates traded Bautista to the Toronto Blue Jays in August of 2008, he was hardly someone that you thought would develop into a star.
Unfortunately for the Pirates, after some moderate improvement in 2009, Bautista exploded in 2010, hitting a league-leading 54 home runs. Between 2010 and 2015, Bautista slugged 227 home runs and made six consecutive All-Star teams.
You're left to wonder if things would have clicked the same way for Bautista if he had stayed in Pittsburgh. Perhaps he would have priced his way out of Pittsburgh if he had, though when you consider that the Pirates averaged over 93 wins between 2013 and 2015, it's scary to think about a peak Bautista hitting in lineups that included Andrew McCutchen, Starling Marte, Josh Harrison and Russel Martin.
While Bautista's time with the Pirates is memorable for the wrong reasons, these five stars had stints in Pittsburgh that you may have forgotten about:
Kenny Lofton
Kenny Lofton had a brief stint with the Pirates.(Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)Perhaps we should have called this series "teams you forgot that Kenny Lofton played for." The six-time All-Star spent a decade of his career with the Cleveland Indians, but even that came across three separate stints. In addition to memorable tenures in Cleveland, Lofton spent time with 10 other MLB franchises, including the Pirates. The four-time Gold Glove Award winner signed a one-year/$1 million deal to join the Pirates in free agency after the 2002 season, a campaign that he split with the Chicago White Sox and San Francisco Giants. In his age-36 season, Lofton hit .277, homered nine times and stole 18 bases in 84 games with the Pirates. Lofton was ultimately dealt to the Chicago Cubs ahead of the July 31 trade deadline, as the team attempted to snap a World Series drought that was approaching 100 years long.
Raúl Mondesí
Raúl Mondesí had a forgettable stint with the Pirates.(Rick Stewart/Getty Images)Mondesí was one of the more underappreciated players of the mid-to-late 1990s, as he won the 1995 National League Rookie of the Year Award, and later added an All-Star appearance and two Gold Glove Awards. For as impressive as the cannon-armed outfielder was during his time with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays, he fell off rather abruptly and bounced around in the final few years of his career. After splitting the 2003 season with the New York Yankees and Arizona Diamondbacks, Mondesí landed with the Pirates for the 2004 season, but lasted just 26 games with the team before being released.
Benito Santiago
Benito Santiago had a brief stint with the Pirates.(Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)Santiago was one of the better catchers of his era, winning the 1987 National League Rookie of the Year and making five All-Star appearances. However, while Santiago had very productive stints with the San Diego Padres, Florida Marlins, Cincinnati Reds, Philadelphia Phillies and San Francisco Giants, the Pirates didn't land him until what turned out to be the final week's worth of games in his MLB career. In 2005, a 40-year-old Santiago played in just six games for the Pirates before being released. Those were the final six games of a major league career that spanned two decades.
Derrek Lee
Derrek Lee had a very brief stint with the Pirates.(Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)Between 2000 and 2010, FanGraphs says that Lee was the seventh-most valuable first baseman in baseball, accumulating 33.7 fWAR during a period that he mostly spent with the Florida Marlins and Chicago Cubs. After a middling stint with the Baltimore Orioles in the first half of the 2011 season, the Pirates acquired Lee ahead of the trade deadline. Lee was actually extremely productive for the Pirates in 101 at-bats, hitting .337 with seven home runs and 18 RBIs. Strangely enough, his age-35 season proved to be his final big league campaign.
Justin Morneau
Justin Morneau briefly played with the Pirates.(Joe Sargent/Getty Images)The 2006 American League MVP was traded to the Pirates ahead of the Aug. 31 waiver trade deadline in 2013. In 70 at-bats for the Pirates in the regular season, Morneau hit .260 with zero home runs and three RBIs. Though the Pirates would win the National League Wild Card Game, they ultimately fell to the St. Louis Cardinals in the NLDS. Morneau would sign with the Colorado Rockies ahead of the 2014 season, and actually had a career resurgence playing at Coors Field, as he won the batting title that season.
Other Entries in This Series:
- 5 Players You Forgot Played for the Astros
- 5 Players You Forgot Played for the White Sox
- 5 Players You Forgot Played for the Rangers
- 5 Players You Forgot Played for the Tigers
- 5 Players You Forgot Played for the Braves
- 5 Players You Forgot Played for the Cardinals
- 5 Players You Forgot Played for the Phillies
- 5 Players You Forgot Played for the Yankees
- 5 Players You Forgot Played for the Cubs
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