The Pirates really do make too much sense. They haven't finished in 1st in their division since 1992 and aside from last year they hadn't finished over 500 since 1992. But last year they made the wild card and this year they are just 1 game back of Milwaukee with St. Louis breathing down their neck, but St. Louis has injuries to deal with. Because of their success last year they had a significant jump in attendance and they are tracking for another significant bump, meaning they are finally becoming relevant in a city that has been focused on the Steelers and Penguins for two decades. Getting a pitcher with Lester's history and post season experience could be the difference between missing the playoffs and slipping down in the relevancy poles in the small market city or making a run in the playoffs and if all goes well in the roll of the dice coming home with a world series.
That, in addition to the fact that they have a surplus of outfielder propsects, which by all accounts, is what Boston wants in order to trade Lester