Rob Biertempfel tweeted earlier today that the Pirates elected to keep Rule 5 pick Josh Rodriguez on the team instead of Pedro Ciriaco as Ciriaco was demoted to Triple-A today. Since it seemed like Ciriaco had all but made the team last week, that move was a little bit surprising. In hindsight, maybe it shouldn’t be. Rodriguez has quietly had a very strong spring at the plate and has come on strong down the stretch here; he’s now hitting .303/.410/.394 in his 39 plate appearances this spring. Ciriaco’s hitting strongly, too, at .333/.326/.429, but given his low minor league OBP, his inability to take a walk is at least a little worrisome. Over their minor league careers, Rodriguez is a much better hitter with a .266/.356/.426 line to Ciriaco’s miserable .274/.302/.358 line. So they’re both hitting well this spring, but Rodriguez has been a little better rounded and he’s got a better history.
The only reason to not keep Rodriguez would be his defense, which is a different argument. I don’t think he’s as strong at short as Ciriaco defensively, but I don’t know much about Rodriguez’s glove at short beyond what I saw when I was in Bradenton. For a backup infielder the glove vs. bat discussion is definitely one worth having, but of course the Pirates would lose Rodriguez all together if they chose Ciriaco to make the club, which is an added point in Rodriguez’s column.
So the Pirates make what’s would appear to be a perfectly defensible and downright logical move and this is how Dejan Kovacevic reacts:
#Pirates force Rule 5 pick Josh Rodriguez on roster despite richly unimpressive spring, low-ceiling skills, and being outplayed by Ciriaco.
Dejan Kovacevic
Dejan_Kovacevic
He goes on in his blog to wonder if management is forcing an error onto the team. So Rodriguez has low-ceiling skills, but Ciriaco and his .302 minor league OBP doesn’t? Rodriguez actually had a better OPS in spring training over a similar number of at-bats but was richly unimpressive? Rodriguez has a better minor league profile as a hitter and he’s less than a year older than Ciriaco. What exactly is wrong with sending Ciriaco to play 2B in Indianapolis and seeing if he’s actually making strides at the plate or if this was a spring illusion? Getting even a little bit worked up over the de facto 25th man is a waste of energy even if the move is the wrong move, but it’s not at all apparent that the Pirates are making the wrong move here. You can actually make an awfully compelling case that they’re making the right move.
