Pirates Bench Another Player Before At-Bat Bonus
Death, taxes and the Pittsburgh Pirates benching players four at-bats shy of a performance bonus.
This time, though, it's under very different circumstances.
Isiah Kiner-Falefa is out of the lineup for the final game of the regular season against the New York Yankees. Ethan Hullihen reported that the Pirates' utility infielder was four plate appearances away from earning a $250,000 bonus, which comes on the heels of former first baseman Rowdy Tellez, being designated for assignment when he was four at-bats away from a $200,000 bonus.
In a cruel twist of fate, IKF is........
— Ethan Hullihen (@EthanHullihen) September 29, 2024
4 PAs away from $250k performance bonus https://t.co/ZqQHbdtVLI
Later in the day, Alex Stumpf reported that Kiner-Falefa being benched came at his discretion, as he chose to be out of the lineup in favor of a young player being in the starting lineup. Liover Peguero is getting the start at shortstop on Sunday.
Kiner-Falefa began the season with the Toronto Blue Jays and played 83 games for them before he was traded to the Pirates at the trade deadline. For Toronto, Kiner-Falefa batted .290, hit seven home runs and drove in 33 RBIs in 281 plate appearances. The utility infielder largely struggled once arriving in Pittsburgh, batting .240 with one home run and 10 RBIs in 215 plate appearances.
Regardless of how the Pirates and Kiner-Falefa arrived at him not playing on Sunday, the optics still aren't the best. With a player just one game away from earning a bonus, one would think the team would just let him play.
Even if it was at Kiner-Falefa's discretion, it's still an instance of the Pirates finding a way to save money with a player just one game away from earning something they played the whole season to earn.
The Pirates (76-85) round out the regular season on Sunday when they face the Yankees (93-68) at 3:05 p.m. ET.
