A year ago, it would have been hard to imagine Pittsburgh in a division series in 2013. As if 20 losing seasons in a row were not bad enough, the Pirates had made a habit of raising fans’ hopes and then falling flat in the final few weeks of the season. The front office recognized the unrest.

“Were we trending up?” Frank Coonelly, the team president, said before a game late this season. “We believed we were. But it took a couple of days, a week, to take a deep breath and look at the season as a whole and honestly evaluate ourselves about what we needed to do to get where we want and not have disappointment at the end of the year.

“That was difficult because there was a lot of movement to say: ‘You know what? You’ve given these guys the chance, they’ve gotten close and tried hard, but it’s not working. Let’s tear it down and rebuild it. This isn’t going to work.’ There was a fair amount of push for that.”