Reports have surfaced regarding the Pittsburgh Pirates and their interest in re-signing super utility man Sean Rodriguez. Based on what he did this past season, Rodriguez has warranted the interest.
The depth of the Pittsburgh Pirates bench was one of their strengths during the 2016 season. A big part of that was the play of Sean Rodriguez, who was re-signed to a one-year, $2.5 million deal prior to the 2016 campaign.
According to Chris Cotillo of MLBDailyDish.com, the Pirates are one of five suitors that are interested in Rodriguez’s services.
Pirates are one of five suitors pursuing free-agent INF Sean Rodriguez, source says. Pittsburgh has expressed public interest in re-signing.
— Chris Cotillo (@ChrisCotillo) November 15, 2016
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Rodriguez is coming off of by far his best season as a major leaguer. In 2016, he hit a career high .270 with 18 home runs and 56 RBIs in 140 games. Rodriguez ranked fourth on the team in home runs and fifth in RBIs.
The 31-year old also supplied the Bucs with another year of stellar defense, playing every position around the diamond aside from catcher and pitcher.
As part of our offseason coverage, we at Pirates Breakdown have worked on grading each member of the Pirates roster for their 2016 performance. Rodriguez was no different as our very own Jason Rollison pointed out his takeaways and throwaways, while giving him a letter grade for the year. Find out what grade Jason gave Rodriguez here.
Despite having some flaws, Rodriguez was more than a super utility player in 2016. Aside from his defensive versatility, Rodriguez showed impressive power and improved discipline at the dish. Plain and simple, he was a steal for what the Pirates paid for him.
As we can see by Cotillo’s report, there is quite a market of teams that want the services of Rodriguez this offseason. His play this past year warrants a larger deal and I think the Pirates should indeed try their best to outbid the other teams in the hunt. Rodriguez had a much larger impact than people may think and he could serve as a stellar bat for the Pirates bench once again.
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Photo Credit – Daniel Decker Photography
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