Kiner-Falefa: I ‘didn’t deserve’ performance bonus

After enduring backlash for releasing Rowdy Tellez earlier this week when he was four plate appearances from qualifying for a $200,000 performance bonus, the Pittsburgh Pirates found themselves in another payroll predicament before Sunday’s season finale at the New York Yankees.

This time, it was the player who opted out as infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa said he “didn’t deserve it.”

“I had no problem with it,” Kiner-Falefa said on the SportsNet Pittsburgh postgame show. “I didn’t fight it. It is what it is.”

Ethan Hullihen, who analyzes the Pirates’ payroll and transactions for the Bucs on Deck newsletter, posted on X that Kiner-Falefa was four plate appearances shy of triggering a $250,000 bonus. Because Kiner-Falefa was acquired from the Toronto Blue Jays at the trade deadline, the bonus would have been split between the two teams.

But Kiner-Falefa wasn’t in Sunday’s starting lineup, which caused Pirates general manager Ben Cherington on his weekly radio show to address and clarify what he called “certainly not usually a topic we would talk about but because there is some question around it in the public sphere.”

“He told us he was comfortable and made the choice that, no, for today’s last game that other guys were going to play and he was comfortable with that,” Cherington said on 93.7 FM. “He ultimately made that choice. Boy, how much we respect him. Just another example of how happy we are to have IKF on our team.”

Pirates manager Derek Shelton and Kiner-Falefa took turns explaining the process following the 6-4 loss to the Yankees that clinched a last-place finish in the NL Central for the Pirates (7686), with Kiner-Falefa ultimately taking responsibility for the decision not to play.

Shelton said he had conversations with the Pirates’ position players that he wanted to give some of the younger players a chance in the final series. The Pirates started Billy Cook at first base, Nick Gonzales at second, Liover Peguero at short and Jared Triolo at third.

But with 496 plate appearances in 133 games between the Blue Jays (83) and Pirates (50), the Pirates approached Kiner-Falefa an hour before Sunday’s game and offered him the chance to play.

“When I did find out about that situation, I called him in and said, ‘Hey, you’re this close. I’ll be more than happy to adjust the lineup,’ ” Shelton said on the SportsNet Pittsburgh postgame show. “I think that speaks to the leader that he is. He said no. We had multiple conversations about it. I wanted to make sure that he was in a spot that he understood that we would make that adjustment, that I would make that adjustment.”

Kiner-Falefa explained his stance, noting he spent a month on the injured list with a left knee sprain while playing for the Blue Jays and didn’t want to risk re-aggravating the injury on a wet playing surface that caused a 91-minute delay.

“At that point, I had kind of already checked out,” Kiner- Falefa said. “I didn’t think it was fair to take Peggy or one of the young guys who hasn’t had the opportunity to play at Yankee Stadium away from them.

“I got hurt this year and missed a month. If that doesn’t happen or we’re actually in a real (playoff) race, I crush those incentives by a long shot. At the end of the day, I feel like I didn’t deserve it. From that aspect, it was nothing the team did. They tried to make it right at the end. That meant a lot to me right there.”

Kiner-Falefa started 48 games for the Pirates, batting .240/.265/.322 with 10 doubles, two triples, one home run and 10 RBIs while playing shortstop, second base and third base. The Blue Jays were 14 games out of first place in the AL East at the time of the trade July 30.

“In Toronto, I don’t think I would’ve got close to this incentive just because we were in where we are now in August,” Kiner-Falefa said. “That’s kind of why I got traded. They were going to see what the younger guys had.

“This organization, we’ve been out of it for a couple of weeks and they still gave me the opportunity to play every day and chase some of the goals that I had. It meant a lot that they gave me that option but, at the end of the day, I got hurt, missed a month and we weren’t in the race. This game was a meaningless game for me. Maybe if were in the race, it would’ve been a different story and I would’ve got it. It all comes down to winning. Hopefully next year we can turn things around. … I’m looking forward to making a playoff run and getting those incentives next year.”