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The Pittsburgh Pirates have launched Rowdy Tellez as he was on the verge of receiving a $200,000 bonus for reaching 425 plate appearances this season.
The staff introduced previous to Tuesday’s sport towards the Milwaukee Brewers that Tellez had been designated for project.
Pittsburgh’s choice got here with six video games remaining within the common season. Tellez had 421 plate appearances, 4 shy of triggering the $200,000 bonus in his contract.
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As we speak, with simply six video games left, the Pirates DFA’d Rowdy Tellez, who has been an above-average hitter by wRC+ over the previous month.
Coincidentally, Tellez’s contract reportedly entitled him to a $200,000 bonus at 425 plate appearances.
His time with the Pirates ends at 421.
In the same move, Michael A. Taylor was designated for assignment. The team called up Liover Peguero and Joshua Palacios from Triple-A to fill out their roster.
The decision to part ways with Tellez raised some eyebrows, but general manager Ben Cherington told reporters it was not a financially-motivated transfer:
“No issue in any respect, zero. And, no, I am not involved. Contracts are negotiated in good religion. Then they reside out. We really feel like we gave Rowdy a lot of alternative right here this 12 months. To his credit score, he fought by way of some tough instances earlier within the 12 months. Had intervals of success and frustration. That is simply the place we received to within the season. Had nothing to do with the place the plate appearances had been lining up.”
Tellez signed a one-year, $3.2 million contract with the Pirates as a free agent in December 2023. He has been within the lineup for many of the season because the beginning first baseman or designated hitter.
There was a performance-based justification for the Pirates to launch Tellez. He hit .243/.299/.392 with 13 homers and 56 RBI in 131 video games.
Amongst 19 first baseman with at the least 400 plate appearances this season, Tellez’s minus-0.6 FanGraphs’ wins above alternative is tied for final with Ty France.
However the choice to attend till the ultimate week of the common season to make this transfer is questionable, particularly since Pirates proprietor Bob Nutting has been scrutinized for his lack of funding within the MLB roster over time.
In a February report from The Athletic’s Stephen J. Nesbitt and Ken Rosenthal in regards to the state of the franchise below Nutting’s possession, one former teacher for the staff stated they needed to wait a day to execute a commerce to save lots of $30,000.
The Pirates have not run a payroll of at the least $90 million since 2017. They’ve missed the playoffs in 9 consecutive seasons courting again to 2016, with only one profitable season throughout that span (82-79 in 2018).