Perrotto: Pirates’ Cheapness Has No Boundaries

Pittsburgh Pirates ownership and management bristle at the idea that they run one of the cheapest operations in the major leagues.

Owner Bob Nutting and general manager Ben Cherington will counter that they spend at the same level as other teams on scouting, player development and analytics.

Perhaps they do. I have no evidence to the contrary.

How well the Pirates use the money in scouting and player development can be questioned. They haven’t been very adept in either department during Cherington’s five years on the job.

However, there is no question the Pirates skimp on the most important investment of all – player payroll.

It has been well-documented that the Pirates have been near the bottom of the major leagues in payroll for many years. Repeating those salary figures yet again is redundant.

Yet even by their low standards, what the Pirates did to first baseman Rowdy Tellez on Tuesday was as cheap as it gets for a supposed “big-league organization.”

Tellez had 421 plate appearances this season. He would have reached a $200,000 performance if he came to bat 425 times.

Tellez needed to play in only one of the Pirates’ six final games of the season to trigger the bonus. Instead, he was designated for assignment before the Pirates’ 7-2 loss to the National League Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers at PNC Park.

Cherington and manager Derek Shelton insisted the bonus was not a factor in the decision. My intuition is that Nutting told them to say that.

The Pirates also DFA’d veteran center fielder Michael A. Taylor before the game against the Brewers and recalled infielder Liover Peguero and outfielder Joshua Palacios from Triple-A Indianapolis.

The Pirates’ rationale for the moves was wanting Peguero and Palacios to keep playing after the International League season ended on Sunday. Yet neither was in the starting lineup on Tuesday night.

“Zero factor in the decision,” Cherington said when asked if finances were involved. “Aware of it, certainly. I’m aware of the contracts that all players have. No factor at all, zero.”

It sure is a bad look to send somebody packing when they are close to making significant money, though. Yet Cherington insisted he is not bothered by the perceptions of people outside the organization about the move and if it might affect potential free agents’ interest in playing in Pittsburgh.

“If you’re asking about optics going forward and how it affects business and things like that, no,” Cherington said. “Contracts are negotiated in good faith. Then they live out. We feel like we gave Rowdy lots of opportunity here this year. To his credit, he fought through some difficult times earlier in the year and fought his way out of it. Had periods of success and periods of frustration. This is just where we got to in the season. Had nothing to do with where the plate appearances were lining up.”

What the Pirates did on Tuesday burnishes the Pirates’ reputation of being cheap. Most free agents only sign with the Pirates when they have few other options and it’s hard to imagine anyone begging to play in Pittsburgh after something like this happened.

The Pirates had a similar situation in 2003 with pitcher Jeff D’Amico. He needed to make 30 starts that season to trigger a bonus and the Pirates shut him down after 29.

D’Amico led the National League in losses with 16 that season, so the Pirates used the same excuse then that they did on Tuesday — they wanted to use the last few days of the season to look at younger players.

D’Amico filed a grievance against the Pirates through the Major League Baseball Players Association. An independent arbitrator ruled in D’Amico’s favor, and he got his money.

Tellez has made over $10 million in his career, so missing out on $200,000 isn’t likely going to bankrupt him. However, he should file a grievance just on principle.

It always seems that the Pirates’ guiding principle is to save a buck any way you can.