Isiah Kiner-Falefa comments on the Pirates not playing him and keeping him from hitting a bonus
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The Pittsburgh Pirates have been making headlines this week after disrespecting Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Rowdy Tellez by making sure they did not hit their plate appearance bonuses.
Early this week they DFA'd Tellez just before he hit a $200,000 bonus as he was only missing 4 plate appearances.
After the last game of the season, Kiner Falefa spoke to reporters regarding the situation stating his manger was not aware of the bonus which is why he did not list him in the lineup the day before the game. IKF added that on gameday, an hour before the game, the team told him he could play if he wants which he declined because he did not find it was fair to the younger players that were getting their shot.
«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 [to play],» Kiner-Falefa said. «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. I got hurt this year. 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.»
Kiner-Falefa added that it is important for the younger players to get an oppurtinity to showcase their talent at the end of the season and did not want to be the reason on of those guys missed out on that.
«It's important that everybody gets an opportunity to play as much as possible down the stretch, and we're also navigating some health and keeping guys away from maybe turning a little thing into a big thing,» general manager Ben Cherington said on his radio show. «So [manager Derek Shelton] and [bench coach Don] Kelly have been having these conversations every day with our position player group. And it just so happened as we got into this weekend, as we had the conversation with [Kiner-Falefa], that came up.»
Previously on Blue Jays Insider
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