Off-Season Successes and Regrets Thus Far for the Pirates

Resigning Sean Rodriguez:  

When the Bucs brought back Sean Rodriguez many were unhappy.  Their last image of him was punching the water cooler in the dugout of the Wild Card loss.  However, it was a good idea.  Rodriguez was misused last year due to Pedro Alvarez’s shortcomings at first base, and due to this he became over exposed in the league playing in a career high 139 games in 2015.  

S-Rod is a career utility player and should remain that way.  He signed a one year 2.5 million dollar deal to return to Pittsburgh. 

Although he has seen a lot of playing time early he has been productive during it.  On the year he is batting .346 with three  home runs, 11 RBI, and a ridiculous 1.238 OPS in 17 games. Obviously his numbers will regress, but the fact is we have seen him player more positions than just first base this year already.  

The Pirate management team said that they did not want to strictly use him at first-base this year and with John Jaso proving adequate at first and Jason Rogers now on the roster the Bucs have been able to use him elsewhere. Disclaimer: Yes he has played first some and will play there still in some games, hence utility.

Next: Cutting a Player then Signing Another