Joshua Hicklin
Staff Writer
Rowdy Tellez is a left-handed first baseman who formerly played for the Toronto Blue Jays, Milwaukee Brewers, and now the Pittsburgh Pirates. Tellez was a key piece to the Pirates offense. This year, Tellez has hit a .243 batting average, 13 home runs, and 56 runs batted in (RBIs) in 241 plate appearances. He was playing his first season with the Pirates when they abruptly designated Tellez for assignment (DFA), which means they cut Tellez from the team.
The owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates is Robert Nutting, who has quickly earned himself the crown of being the cheapest MLB owner in all of baseball. Every season, the MLB announces each team’s starting payroll. Most MLB teams have a starting payroll of around $300 million, while the Pirates owner only puts out $86 million a year towards his team, showing how he would rather pocket money from his team than pay those that deserve more money like Tellez.
This is where the true story begins because this is much more than a cheap MLB team owner cutting a player. Tellez had many incentives in his contract for him to play well this year and earn extra money. But little did he know he wouldn’t even get the chance to earn these incentives.
Nutting decided to DFA Tellez just four plate appearances away from his first contract incentive to reach 245 plate appearances. While this would be a decision that makes sense if Tellez was not having a great year, he is ranked on the Pirates’ depth chart for the following statistics: fifth in plate appearances, tied for fourth in home runs, third in RBIs, and third in games played. These stats easily show that Tellez has done plenty this year to earn his $200,000 incentive for 245 plate appearances. But, the Pirates owner would rather cut one of his best players than cut a small check to show he is appreciative of Tellez and his solid season this year.
These actions of Nutting have caused quite a stir in the world of the MLB, with many saying that he is never going to be able to sign another free agent player as they will fear getting cut for deserving more money.
Pat McAfee had ESPN insider Jeff Passan on his podcast where they discussed the Pirates’ decision to DFA Tellez.
Passan stated, “I feel bad for Ben Cherington [Pirates General Manager] and everyone else who’s trying to run this organization and win when there simply is not enough money there to go out and do it.”
Meanwhile, Passan believed the Pirates should have cut Tellez earlier in the season because of a slump he was in. But like many others, Passan and McAfee believe that once again Robert Nutting is proving he does not care about his players but only the money in his bank account.