Pittsburgh Pirates

From two decades without a winning record to two straight postseason berths: The Pittsburgh Pirates' ascent to relevancy is here to stay.

The 2014 regular season is far from over for the Pittsburgh Pirates, as they are on the cusp of another playoff spot.    

Still, it may not be too early to start thinking about what this team could look like next season.  

With less than a month left to play in the 2014 Major League Baseball regular season, the Pittsburgh Pirates are on the outside of a playoff race looking in.  

While it is still manageable for Pittsburgh to reach the playoffs for the second straight year, it is not too soon to start thinking about what this team will look like in 2015.  

Let's take a look at 10 free agents the Pirates organization should target during this offseason.

The road to the majors is often a long and difficult travel.    

For much of the first half of the 2014 regular season, the Pittsburgh Pirates looked lost as a team, falling as far out as nine games behind the Milwaukee Brewers on June 28.  

With only 29 games remaining in the regular season, the Pittsburgh Pirates trail the San Francisco Giants by just 2.0 games for the second wild-card spot.  

Currently, the organization cannot be thinking about the future, as it has a chance to win right now.  

It’s not a stretch to say the Pittsburgh Pirates’ weak September schedule could propel them into the playoffs if the team takes care of business against a trio of last-place teams.

We’re almost at the point in the season where rosters expand to 40 players and teams call up all sorts of minor league prospects to supplement their rosters.

Some of these September call-ups go a long way in helping their teams qualify for the playoffs. Others flame out and ride the bench until the end of the season. Either way, these prospects have the chance to make their mark while also giving a much-needed boost to weary rosters at the end of a long season.

The next three weeks will determine whether the Pittsburgh Pirates make the playoffs.

There is a moment when a star player winces, or staggers or crumples in pain, and an entire fanbase holds its collective breath. Sometimes it's nothing, sometimes it's everything.

Unfortunately for the Pittsburgh Pirates and their fans, the injury suffered by MVP center fielder Andrew McCutchen doesn't sound like nothing.