So ... just where did that 98-win season go?

The Pirates won that many games in 2015, but looking at the state of things now, it seems so hard to believe.

Since that time, the Pirates did not re-sign J.A. Happ, only to watch him win 20 games for Toronto this past season.

They traded Neil Walker, perhaps the team’s most popular player, to the Mets for pitcher Jonathan Niese, who was eventually dealt back to the Mets for relief pitcher Antonio Bastardo, who was here a year ago.

If that’s not confusing enough, the Pirates gave Toronto a couple of prospects as a favor for taking veteran starting pitcher Francisco Liriano off their hands — and now the team is looking for a veteran starting pitcher.

They dealt closer Mark Melancon to Washington for prospects and may soon send the face of the franchise, Andrew McCutchen, to the Nationals for more prospects. Tony Watson, the heir apparent to Melancon, is rumored to be on the trade block as well.

Their two top bench players from a year ago — Sean Rodriguez and Matt Joyce — who combined to produce 31 homers and a boatload of clutch hits — have been allowed to walk away this off-season.

The question is, what is going on?

Do the Pirates have an actual plan in place here?

If McCutchen is traded, move Starling Marte to center, Gregory Polanco to left, Josh Bell goes to right — yeah, we get that.

David Freese and John Jaso could platoon at first base again, unless Jung Ho Kang’s increasing legal issues off the field prevent him from getting on it in 2017. Then you have Freese at third and virtually no depth anywhere.

Ouch.

And we haven’t even talked about the starting rotation yet.

The Pirates need a couple of arms there and a number of pitchers are still floating about in free agency. Among them are Doug Fister, Kris Medlen, Jered Weaver, Gavin Floyd, Jorge de la Rosa, Jason Hammel, Jake Peavy and Mat Latos, just to name a few.

But consider this. Andrew Cashner, who was all of 5-11 with a 5.25 ERA last season, got $10 million to pitch for the Texas Rangers in 2017. Charlie Morton, who only started four games last year before tearing a hamstring, got $14 million over two years from Houston,

Edinson Volquez, 10-11 with an ERA around 5.50 last season, got $22 million for two years from Miami.

If the Pirates are signing a free agent pitcher, they will be overpaying to do so.

Don’t count on that.

It’s only early December and the Pirates have plenty of time to retool their team.

But their fans are skeptical, once again, despite the three-year playoff run from 2013-15.

Even more sadly, the Pirates’ front office and the state of baseball contracts today have given them reason to be.

John Enrietto is sports editor of the Butler Eagle