It didn’t take much last winter for the Pirates to re-sign utilityman Sean Rodriguez, who inked a one-year, $2.5MM contract after a poor season. Considering Rodriguez has drastically improved his output this year, Pittsburgh won’t be able to bring him back during the offseason at such a low cost, which general manager Neal Huntington knows.
“We’d love to have Sean remain in a Pirate uniform,” Huntington told Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “Given what he’s done this year, we would fully anticipate that there’s going to be quite a market out there for him.”
Rodriguez has lined up everywhere but pitcher and catcher this season, though he has spent the lion’s share of his time at first base, the middle infield and right field. Offensively, the 31-year-old is amid a career campaign, having slashed a terrific .264/.345/.518 with 18 home runs through 320 plate appearances. Rodriguez’s overall line and homer total are easily personal bests since he broke into the majors with the Angels in 2008, and the longtime Ray has helped his cause with a 10 percent walk rate. That’s significantly better than the 2.1 percent mark Rodriguez posted in 2015, when he logged one of his worst seasons.
In assessing Rodriguez’s value, Huntington said, “Sean’s just done a remarkable job. The defensive versatility and the impact, it’s hard to measure.”
Rodriguez hit an uninspiring .228/.295/.371 across 2,093 PAs entering this season, but he could seek a multiyear deal worth around $5MM per annum on the heels of a strong 2016, writes Biertempfel. That would likely price him out of Pittsburgh, per Biertempfel, who notes that the club has potential in-house replacements in Adam Frazier and Alen Hanson. Frazier seems especially likely to take over for Rodriguez, as the 24-year-old has spent time at multiple infield and outfield positions and slashed .311/.361/.432 in his first 144 major league trips to the plate.
Career batting avg: .233
2016 BA: .264
Career BABIP: .290
2016 BABIP: .331
How can people not comprehend that this is just noise?
He’s had increases in his line-drive rate, hard-contact rate, and homer-to-flyball ratio while chasing considerably fewer pitches out of the zone. He may be selling out for power — his contact rate is down quite a bit — but the resulting boom in his walk rate is to his benefit as well.
It’s fair to question if he can sustain the gains he made in the power department, but there’s plenty more going on than a 40-point spike in his BABIP.
Neat trick to be both condescending and wrong at the same time. What Steve said.
How’s he wrong? Rodriguez will more than likely fall off
Lol get rekt m8
You realize BABIP isn’t everything. That isn’t a ridiculously high BABIP. Talk about Puig with a .383 BABIP in 2013 .331 on a good year doesn’t mean he isn’t contributing. Like are you just pulling bullshit out of your ass? His BABIP WAS .325 last year… do research plz
Look I hate this guy, but What he did last year to that water cooler is enough to warrant an extension
True, put big papi on that team too and they can bring devastation to every water cooler and bullpen phone around the league
He’s only making 2.5 mil this year…. That’s what you pay for a guy who can play multiple defensive positions with zero bat. He will likely never see 18 home runs again but for kicks and giggles how many different positions did Bautista play and how many teams gave up on him before he became a monster? Not even remotely suggesting he will hit 20 let alone 40 hrs but just because he is not 24 doesn’t mean he can’t finally find his swing and comfort zone at the plate.
Sign him
sean has had a fine, career season no doubts there. But one thing Pittsburgh is known for is not signing veteran players to big money after just one good run when previous seasons they floundered.
I can see him getting offered a Jaso type contract, 2 years 8M plus maybe an option and incentives for games played or something.
He has done well and i’d like him back, but if they cannot work it out i think the pirates will be in an okay position with out him