Perrotto: Pirates’ Turn to Look at Imaginary Watch (+)

The Pittsburgh Pirates seemingly alleviated a logjam last weekend when they traded Kevin Newman to the Cincinnati Reds.

Newman appeared superfluous to the Pirates with shortstop Oneil Cruz and second baseman Rodolfo Castro emerging in the second half of last season as the starting middle infield combination.

There was nowhere for Newman to play. And the Pirates decided they weren’t going to pay Newman a projected $2.8 million next year – according to calculations by MLB Trade Rumors’ Matt Swartz, who knows these things – through the arbitration process to be a bench player.

Thus, the Pirates’ first-round draft pick from 2015 was sent packing.