After doing Rowdy Tellez dirty, the Pirates are now screwing over Isiah Kiner-Falefa

Just a few days ago, a former Toronto Blue Jays infielder made headlines around the league. Rowdy Tellez, the lumbering first baseman who found himself blocked in the Jays' organization before getting traded to the Brewers a few years back, had his name in the spotlight in all the wrong ways.

The Pittsburgh Pirates, whom Tellez had played for for the entirety of the 2024 season, did him wrong and they know it. The 29-year-old needed just four more plate appearances to reach a $200K bonus that was worked into the one-year deal he signed with the Pirates this past offseason. Instead of giving him the chance to get there with a handful of games left, Pittsburgh chose to designate him for assignment and later release him.

It's not necessarily all about the money here, it's more about the ethics behind such a move. The Pirates screwed him over.

In a not-so-fun development, the Pirates are doing it again, this time with a more recent former Blue Jay. According to Pirates stat guru Ethan Hullihen, Isiah Kiner-Falefa is just four plate appearances away from getting a $250K performance bonus of his own.

Does anyone want to place a bet on whether IKF is in the Pirates' starting lineup in today's season finale? Spoiler alert: he's not. The Pirates are at it again.

The Pirates have done two former Blue Jays dirty within a week

IKF, acquired by the Pirates at this year's trade deadline, quickly became a fan favorite in Toronto thanks to his all-out style of play. He's defensively versatile, plays every single day and was putting up career-best offensive numbers prior to the trade. It's easy to see why Blue Jays fans came to love him.

In Pittsburgh, the 29-year-old has seen his offensive production fall off a cliff. In 50 games, he's hitting just .240 with a .587 OPS and 63 OPS+. That pales in comparison to the .292 average, .758 OPS and 116 OPS+ he had put up before the trade.

Either way, this is a Pirates team that's nowhere near contention and has been under fire from the Tellez move. It's hard to wrap our heads around that they're going and doing it again. To make things even more awkward, IKF is still under team control for another season. The Pirates are choosing to screw him over this year and welcome him back to their team next year. It sounds like they have some re-evaluating to do.