The postseason has been unkind to the Pirates for quite some time, but this year, it has been flat out cruel. The Pirates may not have qualified for the playoffs, but there are plenty of familiar faces making an impact in October.
On Friday, Daniel Hudson and Mark Melancon picked up saves to even their teams' series. On Saturday, Gerrit Cole tied an American League postseason record with 15 strikeouts. On Sunday, David Freese and Russell Martin sparked a comeback victory for the Dodgers. On Monday, Charlie Morton helped the Rays stave off elimination, getting the win in the process. Former Pirates have grabbed headlines just about every day. It begs the question, how many ex-Pirates made the postseason?
Baseball America recently broke down which teams drafted or signed the 250 players who made their team's postseason roster (eight divisional round rosters and the wild card rosters of the Athletics and Brewers). Pittsburgh had four, a below average number. While that is one way to examine how many former Pirates made the postseason, it does not count anyone who may have come to the team as a major leaguer, were in the farm system at one point or were drafted by the club but did not sign.
Upon a more thorough combing over of those 250 names, I found all the players who passed through Pittsburgh, even if it was just for a cup of coffee. Basically, we are looking for anyone who at any point of their career could have said they were employed by the Pirates. Could we build a roster out of those players? There is one way to find out. Everyone listed played for the Pirates, unless otherwise noted.
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