It's time to turn the page for the franchise and begin trading players

Maybe it was seeing Giancarlo Stanton put on a Yankees jersey at his introductory press conference.

Maybe it was reading about possible landing spots for free agent Jake Arrieta. Maybe it was seeing Gerrit Cole’s name come up multiple times in trade rumors, with the Yankees again being involved.

Or maybe it was the usual round of noncommittal answers and hedging that accompanies PiratesFest every year.

The contributing factors might not be clear, but the conclusion is unavoidable. It’s time for the Pittsburgh Pirates to blow things up and start over.

Make everyone not named Jameson Taillon and Josh Bell available. Cole, Felipe Rivero, Starling Marte, Gregory Polanco and Josh Harrison? Shop them. Andrew McCutchen? Him too. It seems clear now that whatever window the Pirates had is most likely shut.

Do you believe that Marte is going to have some kind of bounce-back season after his role in destroying any hope the Pirates had in 2017? I don’t. There’s no reason to expect that he’ll suddenly develop the kind of plate discipline that would make him a truly elite hitter. Whatever power Marte had might be gone post-PED suspension.

Are you of the opinion that Gregory Polanco, the man who has never posted an OPS above .786 in any one of his three full seasons, is suddenly going to stay healthy and become a legitimate MVP-caliber contributor? I’m not.

Polanco is still young in baseball terms, but he’s been in the big leagues for plenty of time and appears to have found his level as a player. That level is “competent starter, at times above average,” not “franchise-changing force.”

Jung Ho Kang? Let’s not even bother. The organizational stance on him has changed from one of great optimism before the start of the 2017 campaign, to one that seems to be treating his major league career in the past tense.

The rotation consists of Cole and Taillon, and then what? Nothing to write home about. Ivan Nova? Tyler Glasnow? When Neal Huntington spoke of Glasnow, he also took time to mention several pitchers in the organization whose ceilings are either lower than Glasnow’s, or who have not yet broken into the majors. There are enormous questions about the starting pitching.

The bullpen has Rivero and little else to get excited about, for now. The everyday lineup, outside of those mentioned above, features (at least for now) McCutchen, a man still capable of greatness in bursts, but pretty clearly on the back nine of his career; Harrison, whose defense is a plus but whose bat is largely overrated, especially in the sport’s current offensive climate; Jordy Mercer, who is steady but unspectacular; and Francisco Cervelli, whose injuries may well derail his career here after a promising start.

In what universe does that look like a team that’s going to win even 80 games? The Cubs are who they are, the Cardinals will bounce back, Milwaukee is on the rise, and the Reds should at least be somewhat improved.

I possess neither the time nor the energy to sit and list the absurdities that were discussed at PiratesFest, from comparing percentage of team payroll committed to McCutchen versus what the Penguins pay Sidney Crosby, to the idea that an assistant pitching coach might be a crucial off-season addition, to somehow using the Royals — the 2015 World Series Champion Royals — as some sort of cautionary tale, and so on. The Pirates are an easy target for reasons that have been mentioned so much they need not be brought up again. Everyone knows the shopworn jokes, everyone knows that they come largely from a place of frustrating truth.

The bottom line is this: the Pittsburgh Pirates had a three-year run where they had a legitimate chance to win the World Series. In none of those years did they spend enough money or behave in truly aggressive enough fashion in terms of roster construction to give themselves the best chance. Each season ended without a championship, or even a division title. They have trended downward ever since.

Their roster is not that impressive, and Polanco, Marte and Kang have, through various avenues, turned into significant disappointments. The team’s future was largely tied to their play, and they have been failures, especially lately, in one way or another. The division around them looks strong, and some sort of aggressive push to acquire difference-making players will not happen. The only move that makes sense is a complete rebuild.

The McCutchen Era, at least the part where the Pirates were a contender, is over. It was fun while it lasted.

Chris Mueller is the co-host of the ‘Starkey & Mueller Show’ from 2-6 p.m. weekdays on 93.7 The Fan.