When Starling Marte was suspended 80 games for testing positive for a performance enhancing substance in April, Sean Rodriguez was in Atlanta recovering from shoulder surgery.
Signed by the Braves to a two-year contract four months earlier, he wasn't in the Pirates' clubhouse to witness his former teammates cope with losing one of the top defensive outfielders in Major League Baseball. But he knew it was a difficult loss, particularly off the field. And having been reacquired by the Pirates in August, he can now speak to how different the clubhouse chemistry is now compared to when the team won 98 games in 2015.
In his opinion, it all went wrong when management traded away a "big piece of the core."
"It definitely played a factor in 2016," Rodriguez said of the clubhouse chemistry, at Saturday's PiratesFest. "There were some moves made in ’16 that kind of hurt. A big piece of the core was chipped off. I get it, I know there’s a business side to it. I don’t know who’s at the forefront of it … well, I kind of do. I’m not taking shots at Neal [Huntington], because it wasn't necessarily him. It plays a huge factor. You can’t eliminate something that’s moving in a certain direction and take a big piece off of it. Can it work? Sometimes, but it’s a low percentage. That’s just the way it is. That’s the game, that’s the business. Hopefully, we've got enough building up that core that it doesn’t matter. That’s what my mindset is — to keep that core strong under any circumstances, those pillars that are holding everything up."
Rodriguez didn't mention a specific player, but he was likely referring to Neil Walker, who was traded to the Mets for Jonathan Niese during the Winter Meetings prior to 2016. Walker, who had spent seven seasons with the club, was a leader in the clubhouse and was coming off a career season where he hit 16 home runs with 71 RBI.
Walker was set to make $10.55 million in 2016, and the Pirates had Josh Harrison on the roster. Although Harrison batted .283/.311/.388 that season, Rodriguez said the clubhouse wasn't the same in 2016, when the Pirates missed the playoffs. Rodriguez was a member of the Rays when the club lost in the American League Division Series three times in four seasons and won a AL title, despite competing against two teams with significantly higher payrolls: the Yankees and Red Sox.
When Rodriguez was asked by a reporter what the club needs to return to the playoffs, he said with confidence that the current core is strong enough and that only a few minor pieces may be needed, although he didn't elaborate on what those may be. However, he added that he's not sure if the club plans to "alleviate" payroll or if the front office plans to add. But he did make it a point to say that the window has not closed on the Pirates' current core.
Andrew McCutchen is entering the final season of his contract with the club, and he has been the subject of trade rumors for a second consecutive season. He did not attend PiratesFest on Saturday, with the Winter Meetings beginning Sunday in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., although Pittsburgh is his offseason home. Gerrit Cole is also drawing interest from teams across Major League Baseball.
So, the front office must decide whether or not it should "retool," as Huntington put it during a Q&A session with season ticketholders, or add to the core that includes McCutchen, Cole, Marte, Gregory Polanco, Josh Bell and Felipe Rivero.
"No chance [the window has closed]," Rodriguez said. "No. In ’15 we dominated. The only difference we had was that concept (of team first). That’s what we've talked about, and we’ve been trying to understand what might be interfering with that. That might have been the only difference for me. We showed up and it was one goal. It wasn’t, ‘Man, I’m hitting .220.’ or ‘Man, I’m doing this or that.’"
Rodriguez said now that he's back with the Pirates, his focus is on helping that chemistry and mindset return to the clubhouse. When speaking to reporters later in the day, Hurdle noted that he noticed a difference once Rodriguez returned in August.
Rodriguez, like his teammates who spoke Saturday, admitted he doesn't try to worry too much about what could happen for the Pirates this offseason, particularly who the club may trade. However, Rodriguez did become emotional when I asked what sort of impact trading McCutchen could have on that clubhouse chemistry he is trying to rebuild.
"I guess that’s on us then to win," Rodriguez said. "If you’re winning, they try to hold on (to players). I haven’t (been giving it much) thought because it hurt last time. I left behind a lot of my boys, Cutch being one of them. I don’t want to go through that again, even the other way around. So, we’ll see."