Pirates continue to play for absolutely Nutting

Some moments in sports history can be hard to stomach, like a star pitcher needing Tommy John surgery and missing out on a career season. Sometimes there is a blown call, taking away a no hitter that can be gut wrenching to watch. Maybe a pitcher gets pulled in the 8th inning on the verge of a perfect game. These moments can hurt, they may feel avoidable, but eventually, we can get over them.

Then there are other moments in sports history that are just downright disgusting. There are too many to count when it comes to Bob Nutting and his losing antics, but the recent DFA of first baseman Rowdy Tellez may take the cake. 

Rowdy may have started the season a little rocky, but he began to shine in a lackluster offense. Through 383 at bats, Tellez went .243/ .299/ .392, with 13 home runs and 56 RBI's. It was no all-star year for Rowdy, but there was no rational reason that Rowdy should have been kicked to the curb just six days before the end of the season.

For more context, once a player is DFA'd the team must do one of the following in the next seven days of the DFA per MLB rules. The player must either be returned to the roster, placed on waivers, or released and sent outright to the minor leagues. Basically, it's like a legal loophole to drop a player for a few games and make some decisions about them.

So, in Rowdy's situation, with five games left, the Pirates have chosen to exclude Tellez in the rest of the regular season.

So why is this such a disgusting move by the Pirates organization? Well, Tellez needed 425 at bats on the season to make an extra 200k per his incentive on his contract. He was at 421 plate appearances........ Two games could have easily gotten him there. 

The Pirates have denied up and down that the 200k incentive had nothing to do with the move, but there was literally no reason for it. The Pirates haven't been playoff contenders for a few weeks now. Even if Tellez was playing horrible baseball, there was no conscionable reason for them to do what they did.

Four games separated Tellez and a deserving boost in income playing on this deplorable team, and he was denied that opportunity because Bob Nutting would rather keep a losing team to make a quick buck. 

This should have a resounding impact on anyone the Pirates try to sign in free agency in the future. I can't speak for anyone in MLB, and at the end of the day, a few million to play baseball should be a good enough reason to play on any team, even if they are losers. However, when an incentive is given and purposefully taken away to save a buck, it should speak volumes about this organization. If I were in a situation to choose to take a contract with the Pirates or play in the minors for another organization, I'd gladly go anywhere else.

I don't see why anyone would ever agree to a contract with this organization. It's a plague on the MLB and there should be some intervention. I feel bad for the likes of Bryan Reynolds who wanted to make a career in Pittsburgh. I feel bad for Andrew McCutchen who will be remembered as an all time great for an organization that couldn't give him more than eight playoff games in 11 seasons.

There is no silver lining to this team. Not only are they bargain bin shoppers, but they are also actively screwing over players, and doing a bad job at hiding it too. 

I say it every year, I say I am done with this organization and the classless management that runs them into the ground year after year. It sucks so bad because I want to proudly watch a Pirates season and be excited for the future, but it's becoming impossible to have any respect or enthusiasm when mediocrity isn't the standard, it's the ceiling.