The 1985 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the 104th season of the franchise; the 99th in the National League. The Pirates finished sixth and last in the National League East with a record of 57–104, 43½ games behind the NL Champion St. Louis Cardinals.
The team was beset during the offseason with the triple threat of its longtime owner taking bids for the debt laden franchise, rumors of a possible relocation to cities such as Tampa, Denver and New Orleans and the expanding Pittsburgh drug trials.
Off season transactions included:
December 12, 1984: Brian Harper and John Tudor were traded by the Pirates to the St. Louis Cardinals for George Hendrick and Steve Barnard (minors).
December 20, 1984: Jay Buhner, Dale Berra and Alfonso Pulido were traded by the Pirates to the New York Yankees for Steve Kemp, Tim Foli, and cash.
February 28, 1985: Rick Reuschel was signed as a free agent by the Pirates.
March 1, 1985: Scott Loucks was signed as a free agent by the Pirates.
Batting
Pitching
Awards and honors
Rick Rueschel, Hutch Award, National League Comeback Player of the Year
1985 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
Tony Peña, C, Reserve
October 15, 1984 – Dale Mohorcic granted Free Agency.
October 15, 1984 – Nelson Norman granted Free Agency.
October 15, 1984 – Kelly Paris granted Free Agency.
November 8, 1984 – Lee Lacy granted Free Agency.
November 8, 1984 – Milt May granted Free Agency.
December 3, 1984 – Drafted Junior Ortiz from the New York Mets in the 1984 rule 5 draft.
December 12, 1984 – Traded Brian Harper and John Tudor to the St. Louis Cardinals. Received Steve Barnard (minors) and George Hendrick.
December 20, 1984 – Traded Dale Berra, Jay Buhner and Alfonso Pulido to the New York Yankees. Received Tim Foli, Steve Kemp and cash.
January 3, 1985 – Drafted Greg Vaughn in the 1st round (19th pick) of the 1985 amateur draft (January Secondary), but did not sign the player.
January 3, 1985 – Drafted Derek Lee in the 9th round of the 1985 amateur draft (January), but did not sign the player.
January 15, 1985 – Signed Juan Eichelberger as a free agent.
January 22, 1985 – Signed Sixto Lezcano as a free agent.
February 22, 1985 – Signed Orlando Merced as an amateur free agent.
February 28, 1985 – Signed Rick Reuschel as a free agent.
March 1, 1985 – Signed Scott Loucks as a free agent.
April 7, 1985 – Released Juan Eichelberger.
April 8, 1985 – Signed Bill Almon as a free agent.
April 11, 1985 – Signed Jerry Dybzinski as a free agent.
April 11, 1985 – Signed John Henry Johnson as a free agent.
April 20, 1985 – Traded Kent Tekulve to the Philadelphia Phillies. Received Frankie Griffin (minors) and Al Holland.
April 21, 1985 - Signed Larry Carroll to Watertown as free agent. University of Michigan.
April 27, 1985 – Traded Steve Herz (minors) to the Philadelphia Phillies. Received Mike Diaz.
May 30, 1985 – Traded a player to be named later to the Cleveland Indians. Received Johnnie LeMaster. The Pittsburgh Pirates sent Scott Bailes (July 3, 1985) to the Cleveland Indians to complete the trade.
June 3, 1985 – Drafted Tommy Hinzo in the 1st round (4th pick) of the 1985 amateur draft (June Secondary), but did not sign the player.
June 3, 1985 – Drafted Barry Bonds in the 1st round (6th pick) of the 1985 amateur draft. Player signed June 5, 1985.
June 3, 1985 – Drafted Brett Gideon in the 6th round of the 1985 amateur draft.
June 3, 1985 – Drafted Tommy Gregg in the 7th round of the 1985 amateur draft. Player signed June 7, 1985.
June 3, 1985 – Drafted Bill Sampen in the 12th round of the 1985 amateur draft.
June 3, 1985 – Drafted Tommy Shields in the 36th round of the 1985 amateur draft, but did not sign the player.
June 17, 1985 – Released Tim Foli.
July 26, 1985 – Released John Henry Johnson.
August 2, 1985 – Traded John Candelaria, George Hendrick and Al Holland to the California Angels. Received a player to be named later, Mike Brown and Pat Clements. The California Angels sent Bob Kipper (August 16, 1985) to the Pittsburgh Pirates to complete the trade.
August 12, 1985 – Sold Doug Frobel to the Montreal Expos.
August 31, 1985 – Traded Bill Madlock to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Received players to be named later. The Los Angeles Dodgers sent R.J. Reynolds (September 3, 1985), Cecil Espy (September 9, 1985) and Sid Bream (September 9, 1985) to the Pittsburgh Pirates to complete the trade.
September 14, 1985 – Sold Rod Scurry to the New York Yankees.
October 4, 1985 – Released Jerry Dybzinski.
October 4, 1985 – Released Mitchell Page.
October 4, 1985 – Released Eddie Vargas.
October 15, 1985 – Dave Tomlin granted Free Agency.
