Pirates' Isiah Kiner-Falefa Opens Up On Missing Bonus
Not even one week after the Pittsburgh Pirates designated first baseman Rowdy Tellez when he was four at-bats shy of earning a $200,000 bonus, they found themselves in a similar situation with utility infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa.
Kiner-Falefa, who the Pirates acquired from the Toronto Blue Jays at the trade deadline, was four at-bats away from earning a $250,000 bonus. On the surface, it appeared to be the Pirates following a similar plan to what they did with Tellez, but Kiner-Falefa opened up on the situation, saying the team gave him the option to be in the lineup after he was originally out of it.
Rather than taking Pittsburgh up on its offer, Kiner-Falefa said he opted to remain out of the lineup in its 6-4 loss to the New York Yankees.
"[On Saturday, I] got the lineup and I wasn't in there," Kiner-Falefa said. "I had no problem with it, I didn't fight it. It is what it is. [On Sunday], when I got to the field and they found out, they came up to me maybe an hour before the game and they gave me the option. At that point, I kinda already checked out. At this point, I didn't think it was fair to take a spot from Peggy, or one of the young guys, an opportunity to play at Yankee Stadium away from them."
Kiner-Falefa played 133 games and tallied 496 at-bats, batting .269 with eight home runs and 43 RBIs. The veteran infielder enjoyed a solid start to his season in Toronto, batting .292 with seven homers and 33 RBIs in 83 games but saw his season take a dip in Pittsburgh, as he batted .240 with just one home run and 10 RBIs across 50 games.
Kiner-Falefa also noted the impact of an injury on his season and his pursuit of the $250,000 bonus, as a sprained left knee caused him to miss over a month of the season. Given that and the Pirates already being out of playoff contention, there were no hard feelings from the utility infielder over being out of the lineup for the final game of the season.
"I got hurt this year," Kiner-Falefa said. "I missed a month. If that doesn't happen, or if we're actually in a real race, I crush those incentives by a long shot. So, at the end of the day, I feel like I didn't deserve it from that aspect. It's nothing the team did. They tried to make it right at the end. That meant a lot to me right there. I'm thankful for Shelty and the organization to give me that opportunity. I just felt like, with an hour before, it wasn't the right move."
