10/05/24
September 25, 2024
Pirates Cut Player Four At-Bats Before $200,000 Bonus: The Pittsburgh Pirates, true to their miserly commitment to mediocrity, released first baseman Rowdy Tellez after he made 421 plate appearances this season. If he'd gotten four more, the team had to pay him a $200,000 performance bonus. The Pirates have had six straight losing seasons and only three playoff appearances the last 30 years.
I'm not really sure how I feel about this. With regard to cutting him sooner, would he still have made the full $3.2M if they did that? At first glance it sounds like a dick move, though if the Pirates aren't interested in keeping Tellez on, it makes sense to call up one of the young guys, even if only for a week. And I don't think they owe him the opportunity to reach the mark just because he's close. Admittedly, I'd generally prefer to be on the side of labor rather than management, though I don't believe he's been underpaid for his production this season.
To jags' point, this action probably looks worse than it is, however looks matter, too.
posted by bender at 10:49 PM on September 26, 2024
If they want to attract players and avoid depressing fans they have to be smarter about avoiding headlines like this. The voice of the Jaguars Frank Frangie is a Pirates fan and news of this got attention on his radio show in Jacksonville.
I bet the Pirates have enough executives to task somebody with figuring out when to release or demote somebody without looking like it was incentive related.
Now that Mark Cuban doesn't own the Mavericks maybe he'll get a second shot at buying the Pirates someday.
posted by rcade at 11:30 AM on September 27, 2024
Agreed. When many people don't read past the headline, they've already seen all they need to see, and that don't help the the Pirates going forward.
posted by bender at 03:03 PM on September 29, 2024
I get cutting Tellez, he's been awful. But...what horrible timing. If he was cut a month ago, this would be no big deal. Not a good look from an organization known for being "cheap". May make it even more difficult to get free agents to come to Pittsburgh (in particular, agree to incentive laden contracts).