As the 2018 MLB season winds down, it can also mean a rebuilding stage for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Pirates traded all-star outfielder Andrew McCutchen last year to San Francisco, and now have two more veterans on the hook: infielders and double-play partners Jordy Mercer and Josh Harrison.

They were both drafted in 2008 in the MLB June Amateur Draft. Mercer went to Pittsburgh and Harrison ventured to Chicago. However, Harrison came over as a trade deal while he was still in the minors.

They both have spent about 10 years with this organization, turning double-play balls into two outs nearly every time.

On Sunday, Sept. 23, the Pirates played their final game at home for the season against the Milwaukee Brewers. Mercer and Harrison started in that game, which hasn’t happened that frequently in the last couple months of the season. They had identical performances on Sunday. Both of them going 1 for 3 with 2 RBIs.

In the middle of the eighth inning, the manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates subbed in Adam Frazier and Kevin Newman.

This allowed Harrison and Mercer to jog off of the Pittsburgh field one more time in a Pirates uniform. Despite losing the game 13-6, it had to have been one of the best games for the two of them in their long careers.

Mercer said that he believes that he can still produce good numbers and play hard for whoever he is playing for next year. However, Harrison, hasn’t given it much thought that next year he may not be playing with a Pirates jersey on, but in an interview with the Trib Live he said, “I’m sure as we make the last little bus ride from here to the airport, I’ll probably be like, ‘Hey, this could be it. You never know.’ ”

Both of them are excited for the younger guys to get their opportunity and are making the most of the present.

We will just have to see what happens in 2019.