There is a chicken-or-the-egg game to be played with Sean Rodriguez and Jung Ho Kang right now that goes a little something like this:
Would the Pirates have traded a decentish prospect like Buddy Borden for a player that had been designated for assignment like Sean Rodriguez if they knew that they were only a few weeks away from winning the Jung Ho Kang bidding?
The answer, I think, is probably a little more complicated than a simple yes or no. Last year, for example, the Pirates rolled with both Clint Barmes and Josh Harrison on the bench to open the season, with the idea being that Barmes could provide them good defense in the spots that they needed it, while Harrison could be a pinch-hitter/Swiss Army knife for them in slightly different contexts.
Using that roster construction as a sort of rough guideline, I’d guess that the Pirates would have considered Rodriguez even with the foresight of knowing that Kang was going to pull on a Pirate jersey. Most reports on Kang seem to put his glove in a pretty questionable place for a shortstop, and that’s the only position he’s really got a ton of experience. Rodriguez has a positive career UZR/150 at every infield position except short, where he’s just barely below average. He’s not a great hitter, but he’s also not quite Clint Barmes, either, with a wRC+ of just about 100 over the last two seasons.
He’s also a known quantity. I can say that I have no idea what Kang will be this year and genuinely mean it. The Pirates have a better handle on him right now than I do, but I’m also relatively sure that they’re not sure of anything. Rodriguez is the opposite; obviously his ceiling isn’t quite the same as Kang’s since Kang has way more upside with his bat, but we can safely say that Rodriguez can ably play anywhere the Pirates need him to in the infield and hit a little bit, even if PNC Park might cost him some pop. There’s value in that certainty, even if Rodriguez isn’t a hugely exciting player.
<500 is an ongoing series previewing 2015 for each key Pirate in fewer than 500 words
Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images
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