Andrew Heaney earning bonus in brutal way was clearly his ticket off Pirates roster

After the Pirates were essentially knocked out of playoff contention in 2024, the biggest piece of negative PR that surrounded them was the release of Rowdy Tellez just before he reached a performance bonus. A similar situation occured again in Pittsburgh this week, as Andrew Heaney was transferred to the bullpen just one inning away from a $50,000 bonus. After two outings following that semi-controversial decision, Heaney did obtain his first level of bonus, but accrued it in the absolute worst way possible.

Unsurprisingly, immediately after passing the 120-inning threshold, Heaney was ... DFA'd, keeping him from passing 130, 140, or any other innings pitched level with monetary ties.

Following four strong innings from Johan Oviedo, Heaney allowed five earned runs in St. Louis on Monday, blowing the lead. He didn't even complete the frame, getting just two outs. The first out was all he needed to receive this bonus.

The disastrous turn his season has taken should be much more concerning than the marginal income he's now earned - but clearly it mattered to the Pirates. Regardless, Pittsburgh was 100% correct when choosing to remove him from the rotation. He has a 8.87 ERA in his last seven games. He has not been good at all, and DFAing him was honestly the better move than the bullpen shift. He is just not effective and has turned into one of the worst pitchers in the league right now.

Pirates let Andrew Heaney earn his bonus, but it came in the worst way possible.

The cheap ways of the Pirates had fans fuming over this decision just because of when it happened. His move to the bullpen came right before his bonus. It was telegraphed. Objectively, though, he has not come close to deserving a pay bump by any means. The timing was questionable, yet the statistics behind both moves justified them.

Now it's time for the Pirates to give Hunter Barco or Thomas Harrington some work in the last month instead of the minors. It is very unfortunate that no one at the deadline would take Heaney, but we can see why first-hand.

This is nowhere near the same thing as the Tellez situation. Even though the late decision to move him to the bullpen was pushing things, it was the right thing to do. Now that he got the money, it's the perfect time to release him. Heaney had a good run in April, but since then, he has been a lousy signing.