Pittsburgh Pirates: Richard Rodriguez Likely to be Moved

With Spring Training underway, Opening Day is right around the corner.  With that, the Pittsburgh Pirates might not be done with their roster.

The Pittsburgh Pirates currently have a ton of pitchers on their roster, especially potential bullpen arms that the team will want to evaluate.  This also includes a potential trade chip.  Back before the 2018 season, the Pirates signed Richard Rodriguez after being let go by the Baltimore Orioles.  Since coming to Pittsburgh, the soon to be 31-year-old right handed pitcher has posted a 3.02 ERA over 159 games.

The presumed closer for the Pirates makes a lot of sense as a trade piece. He just completed his first year of arbitration and will earn $1.7 million this season.  He has three years of club control left and could bring back a good return.  Rodriguez won’t be part of the Pirates next window of contention, so trading while his value is at its highest should help deepen the farm.  A few days ago, Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic wrote about the pitchers in Spring Training.  For Rodriguez, Biertempfel wrote:

"”The prize for becoming one of former GM Neal Huntington’s most astute free-agent signings is the status of Pirates reliever most likely to be traded this spring.”"

This is an interesting nugget from Rob, who is well connected in Pittsburgh.  We’ve heard rumors all offseason about different Pirates being trade candidates with the three most talked about players being Chad Kuhl, Steven Brault, and Adam Frazier.  Rodriguez’s name hasn’t come up much, but he represents an expendable piece for the Pirates.  If a pitcher goes down or a team needs to add more depth, Rodriguez is a perfect target and could provide a veteran presence.

While the return won’t be grand, the Pirates should still get good value from a Rodriguez return.  The right hander has pitched well over the last few years and is under club control for three more seasons at a low rate.  Stay tuned to the site for any updates and rumors.