Pirates: What’s your favorite kind of music, Kyle? Is it chin?
By TC Zencka
More details have emerged regarding the scuffle in the Pittsburgh Pirates clubhouse that recently landed reliever Kyle Crick on the injured list.
The kerfuffle began when Felipe Vazquez asked Pittsburgh Pirates bullpen mate Kyle Crick to turn off his music. Crick refused. Per Nubyjas Wilborn of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Vazquez quickly became the aggressor in the situation, confronting Crick at his locker. Vazquez challenged Crick to hit him, and when Crick refused, Vazquez took it upon himself to escalate.
It’s easy to assume this hurts Vazquez’s trade value moving forward. Perhaps the same for Crick. But I’m willing to bet that if Vazquez isn’t the most likeable person to deal with, people around baseball probably knew it already. With talent like his, personality “quirks” are easily overlooked.
It does make it a tad more curious that GM Neal Huntington wasn’t willing to entertain trade offers. If I had a supremely talented buzzkill on my team, I might try to extract as much value as possible before the bottom fell out. Of course, not everybody minds fielding a roster with an asshat or two. The right kind of asshat can look great on a contending team (see Chapman, Aroldis).
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The Pirates aren’t a contending team, however, and the perception seems to be that Huntington did entertain offers for Vazquez – he just didn’t get the godfather offer.
The fact is, Vazquez has been worth 6.4 fWAR over the last three seasons, the most of any reliever in that span. He’s owed $5.75MM in 2020, $7.75MM in 2021, with club options for $10MM apiece in 2022 and 2023. That’s A+ production with an A+ contract. Even if he’s a C- personality, you don’t trade that guy without a godfather offer.
Crick isn’t without blame in this encounter, and the Pirates seem to agree, fining him $2,500, compared to $10K for Vazquez. But Crick’s also right when he says that Vazquez’s actions could constitute a crime in a more public forum (ie, on the street).
Crick is right. He didn’t technically do anything wrong. He doesn’t have to turn off his music when his teammate asks. Not a criminally violent one like Vazquez. So kudos to him.
Crick’s wallet may take less of a hit, but on the whole, this incident is far more damning for him. Not only is he struggling this season (4.96 ERA/5.94 FIP, -0.7 fWAR), but now he lost any opportunity to right the ship. He’ll undergo season-ending surgery on his right index finger as a result of this altercation.
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Ultimately, the whole incident is embarrassing for the Pirates. They don’t have a much margin for error when it comes to team-building, and a reputation for infighting won’t much help them to attract or keep top talent. On the bright side, they still have some in the form of a mercurial, underpaid reliever who apparently needs some peace and quiet every once and awhile.