Did the Pittsburgh Pirates act too soon in re-signing Sean Rodriguez?
It’s said that hindsight is 20/20, meaning that events that previously happened can now be seen with perfect vision. Decisions that were made before maybe would not be made now given the information available. What am I getting at here? Perhaps the decision to re-sign Sean Rodriguez was unnecessary given the moves the Pittsburgh Pirates have made since then.
Rodriguez was resigned by the Pirates to a one year, $2.5 million deal on December 15th. This move was no doubt done in part because Rodriguez provides outstanding value at that price given and he can play all over the field. His hitting has never been his strongest attribute (except for maybe when he was pummeling the Gatorade cooler during the 2015 Wild Card game). But he was especially valuable as a defensive replacement late in games (particularly at first base) and for providing the starters with an occasional day off during the season.
Then, just two days later the Pirates trade Keon Broxton and Trey Supak to Milwaukee for Jason Rogers. Rogers has played in the outfield and corner infield spots, with the majority of his playing time coming at first base. Last season Rodriguez appeared in 102 games at first base, so the addition of Rogers and the already in-house option of Michael Morse gave the Pirates plenty of right handed options for manning first base.
On March 11th the Pirates added another corner infielder to the mix when they signed David Freese to a one year deal. Freese, a third baseman by trade, has played first base in the past and could see time there this season. Offensively, he is an upgrade over Rodriguez but does lack the ability to play the middle infield positions and in the outfield.
Adding yet another obstacle to Rodriguez seeing playing time at his primary position of first base is the impending call-up of highly touted prospect Josh Bell. Once Bell is called up, he’ll most likely assume the role of the starter at first base and given that he is a switch hitter, probably won’t be in a platoon situation.
As I mentioned above, hindsight is 20/20 and had the team known they were going to to trade for Rogers and sign Freese, there is a decent chance Rodriguez would not have been brought back since both of those players can play his primary positions. But management may not have had the Rogers trade in motion at that time and also probably didn’t think Freese would be available so late in the offseason. So they went with a familiar option, and they certainly cannot be blamed for that, especially considering how under the radar Rodriguez’s value was to the 2015 team.
In the end, I don’t think the presence of Rodriguez is a bad thing. He seems like a great teammate who always gives it his all and usually ends the game with a dirty uniform. He still provides Clint Hurdle with a lot of lineup versatility being on the roster. It just seems that now the Pirates have a glut of players who primarily play the corner infield spots, and there are only so many innings to go around. Having a problem like this is often considered a good one to have, but it also seems like it could have been avoided. But then again, I’m not the General Manager and I have no idea of the inner workings of a professional baseball team. I just provide opinions about this particular one.
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