The World Series matchup between the Arizona Diamondbacks and Texas Rangers should provide a glimmer of hope for the Pittsburgh Pirates, and not only because a pair of wild-card teams are four wins away from winning the world championship.

The inspiration goes beyond Arizona and Texas winning Games 6 and 7 on the road against the two teams that played in the 2022 World Series in the Philadelphia Phillies and defending champion Houston Astros.

It has more to do with where the Pirates, Diamondbacks and Rangers were only 15 months ago. Consider: In 2021, all three teams lost at least 100 games to earn top-four picks in the 2022 MLB Draft. The Pirates (61-101) actually had the most wins of the trio, compared to Texas (60-102) and Arizona (52-110).

While the Pirates have endured a slow rebuild with the youngest team in baseball, following back-to-back 100-loss seasons with a 76-win season for a 14-game improvement, the Diamondbacks and Rangers made tremendous turnarounds in a short span.

Texas improved to 68 wins last year, then won 90 games this season before losing the AL West title to Houston by tiebreaker. Arizona followed a 22-game jump last year with another 10-game improvement this season, joining Miami as 84-win wild-card teams.

The Pirates would have needed eight more wins to qualify for a playoff berth. The Pirates (37-44) actually had a better record than Arizona (35-44) over the final three months of the season. The Pirates’ miserable months in the middle of the season — they were 27-49 from May through July — cost them a chance to make the postseason.

Just don’t expect them to follow the Rangers’ blueprint.

The spending showed the disparity in the respective approaches. Where Arizona signed five free agents to one-year deals worth a total of $20.25 million — about $10 million less than the Pirates spent on six players — the Rangers signed four pitchers who alone accounted for $78.65 million in salary this season.

That’s more than the Pirates’ Opening Day payroll (nearly $73.3 million), which ranked as the fourth-lowest in MLB. Texas splurged, with a payroll of about $195.9 million that ranked ninth.

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Arizona started the season at almost $116.2 million (21st), a total bloated by the $21.9 million owed to left-hander Madison Bumgarner and $10.375 million to shortstop Nick Ahmed. The Diamondbacks released Bumgarner in April and Ahmed in September.

Where the Pirates dumped salary at the trade deadline, dealing first baseman Carlos Santana to Milwaukee, pitcher Rich Hill and first baseman Ji-Man Choi to San Diego and catcher Austin Hedges to Texas, the Diamondbacks and Rangers made important acquisitions.

After signing veteran starting pitchers Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi, Andrew Heaney and Martin Perez as free agents, the Rangers acquired Jordan Montgomery and Max Scherzer along with relievers Aroldis Chapman and Chris Stratton at the trade deadline to bolster their staff.

The Diamondbacks’ most notable free-agent signing was veteran third baseman Evan Longoria, who had plenty of postseason experience with Tampa Bay and San Francisco, but they added closer Paul Sewald and outfielder Tommy Pham at the trade deadline.

Where Ke’Bryan Hayes was the only Pirates player to earn $10 million this past season, the Rangers had eight players on their payroll making $12 million or more. Aside from Bumgarner and Ahmed, the Diamondbacks had only NLCS MVP Ketel Marte ($11.6 million) making that much.

The Pirates return the majority of their roster, have a solid core led by All-Stars Mitch Keller and David Bednar, a Gold Glove finalist in third baseman Hayes and a former All-Star outfielder in Bryan Reynolds. They should be boosted by the healthy return of shortstop Oneil Cruz, so a playoff push next season is not out of the question. Their 20-9 start and 15-13 finish showed that the Pirates aren’t far off, if they can add to their starting rotation and their young position players play to their potential. Those are big ifs.

Here’s another: If the Pirates are going to make it to the World Series in the near future, it’s a run that more likely will resemble Arizona’s path to the postseason.

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