Yesterday the Pittsburgh Pirates made a roster move a long time in the making when they designated Sean Rodriguez for assignment as Jordy Mercer was activated from the disabled list to take his roster spot.
And while it’s a move that should have happened a long time ago and many Pirates fans were overly excited about, on his way out the door, Rodriguez was as classy as the day he walked into the Pirates clubhouse for the first time.
Truth be told I wouldn’t have expected anything less.
So while many fingers are being pointed, don’t point them at Rodriguez, point them at Neal Huntington and Clint Hurdle as they should be taking the blunt of the blame for how the Rodriguez situation played out.
Rodriguez didn’t perform in his second stint in a Pirates uniform and there’s no denying that.
His 2018 line of .167/.277/.313 with 60 strike outs in 150 at bats was beyond pathetic and that’s a 34.7 percent strike out rate if you’re scoring at home.
Yet Hurdle felt the need to keep running a .160 hitter out there as much as he did. There’s no logical reasoning behind that.
For his Pirates career, Rodriguez hit .230/.304/.399/.703 with 30 home runs and 97 RBI. That’s right around his career numbers of .226/.300/.388.
But Rodriguez was never intended to be around for his bat.
I always said good teams needed a guy like Rodriguez in their clubhouse. He’s a guy that was willing to do anything necessary or play wherever needed to win a game.
He was always gracious and appreciative when talking to him and I have nothing but respect for Rodriguez as a man and a player and hope he catches on somewhere else next season.
But that doesn’t change the fact that he shouldn’t have been here at the end of August.
That brings me to Huntington.
What did he re-acquire Rodriguez for in the first place?
It’s a shame, but Rodriguez never really recovered from the horrific car accident almost two years ago.
Yet Huntington brought him back after 15 games with the Atlanta Braves in which Rodriguez didn’t perform well. While Connor Joe may never turn out to be a good major league player and given Huntington’s draft history he probably won’t, the move was a head scratcher at the time, especially for a team that wasn’t going anywhere.
The only thing I will buy is the fact that maybe they wanted to add his presence to the club house, but with a team filled with utility players there was no real need to add another one.
But a lot of people were glad that Rodriguez was back so maybe that was the goal.
That group of fans will always have this.
But when Rodriguez struggled this season, he should have been DFA’d by June, opening up a roster spot for someone that could contribute. That’s on Huntington not wanting to eat his $5.5 million salary.
Rodriguez was always known as a great glove guy, but once his defense tailed off, which it did this season, the writing should have been on the wall immediately.
That’s on Huntington and Hurdle for keeping him on the roster and running him out there as much as they did.
Rodriguez always gave everything he had and should be commended for that. You never saw him pulling a Starling Marte or Gregory Polanco and dogging it down the line.
He played the game hard and with passion, which was why a lot of fans liked him.
But we somehow got to the point where fans started chanting “DFA” when he came to bat.
Again, that’s on Huntington and Hurdle.
Rodriguez will always be one of my favorite players I’ve ever talked to and I wish him well in the future, but this move should have been done a long time ago.
Point the fingers at the right people, the usual suspects and not Rodriguez as he leaves town the same way he came in.
Classy.
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