Rodriguez hit .226/.301/.379 with 81 homers over 2913 MLB plate appearances.  Originally a third-round pick for the Angels in the 2003 draft, Rodriguez went on to play for six different teams in the bigs, with the majority of his 1103 career games coming with the Rays (553 games) and Pirates (384 games).

No matter the uniform, Rodriguez made himself valuable due to his ability to play virtually anywhere on the diamond.  Second base was the most common of his many positions, though Rodriguez made at least 27 appearances at every position except catcher and pitcher throughout his career, and he even made a couple of mop-up appearances as a reliever in 2019.

Those two mound appearances came when Rodriguez was a member of the Phillies in 2019, as he played 76 games with the club and hit .223/.348/.375 with four home runs over 139 PA.  One of those homers made Rodriguez something of an infamous figure among Philadelphia fans, Zolecki notes.  Rodriguez hit a walkoff home run to lift the Phils to a 6-5 win over the Pirates on August 26, 2019, though in a postgame interview, Rodriguez described Phillies fans as “entitled.”

Discussing the incident with Zolecki, Rodriguez said that “Philly fans are just as passionate about baseball as I am.  I was doing my best to try to defend two stars on our team, seeing if I couldn’t alleviate some pressure on them.  It is a little funny that I’m back, but Phillies fans are passionate and I’m a passionate player.”

Rodriguez moved on from Philadelphia to sign a minor league deal with the Marlins in the 2019-20 offseason, and he played four games with Miami during the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign.  Rodriguez’s time on the Marlins’ big league roster was further limited by an extended stint on the injured list, as Rodriguez joined many other Miami players in being sidelined by a COVID-19 outbreak in the clubhouse.

Rodriguez will now move into the next phase of his baseball career on the instructional side, operating at the Phillies’ camp in Clearwater year-round and working with the organization’s minor leaguers on infield work and baserunning.  We at MLB Trade Rumors congratulate Rodriguez on a fine playing career and we wish him the best in his new role.

SEPT. 20: The Marlins have designated utilityman Sean Rodriguez for assignment, the team announced.  Utilityman Jon Berti has been activated from the 10-day injured list to take the open roster spot, while southpaw Braxton Garrett has also been added to the roster as the extra 29th player for today’s doubleheader with the Nationals.

Rodriguez was only activated from the injured list last Tuesday, as he had spent the rest of the season out of action for unspecified medical reasons.  Rodriguez appeared in four games for the Marlins, recording two hits in 13 plate appearances and playing second base and left field.  The 35-year-old has now been a part of 13 consecutive Major League seasons, the bulk of which with the Rays and Pirates from 2010-18.  Rodriguez inked a minor league contract with Miami last winter.

The club is essentially swapping one multi-purpose bench piece for another in welcoming Berti back into the fold.  Berti hit the 10-day IL on September 10 due to a right finger injury, so he’ll return after only a minimal absence.  Over two seasons with the Marlins, Berti has already appeared at six different positions, and it seems likely he’ll mostly play second base the rest of the way this season in a semi-platoon with rookie Jazz Chisholm.  Beyond his versatility, Berti has also been a useful hitter for the Fish, batting .267/.350/.392 with eight homers over his 401 PA in a Miami uniform.

The IL placement will officially end a very unusual season for Diaz, who ended up appearing in seven games and hitting .182/.182/.182 over 22 plate appearances.  Diaz played in two games before deciding to opt out of the 2020 season, and then opted to rejoin the Marlins in September after getting permission from both the league and the MLBPA.  All things considered, 2020 is essentially a lost year for the top prospect, though one would think he still projects as a big part of Miami’s future plans.

Diaz had been starting regularly at second base since his return, but the keystone may now be handled by a combination of rookie Jazz Chisholm and Rodriguez, who now seems set to officially begin his Marlins tenure.  Rodriguez signed a minor league deal with the Fish prior to the season and made the Opening Day roster, but was placed on the IL along with a dozen teammates in early August.  While no official reason was given for Rodriguez’s absence, it is probably safe to assume that it was COVID-related, given the outbreak that hit Miami’s roster around that time.

The 35-year-old Rodriguez is a veteran of 12 MLB seasons, with a .226/.302/.380 slash line over an even 2900 plate appearances.  Rodriguez has played all over the field during his career, giving the Marlins a pair of versatile utility pieces in Rodriguez and Jon Berti, once Berti (finger laceration) returns from what is expected to be a minimal injured list stint.

Miami also made official a previously reported slate of roster moves. Lefty Richard Bleier was acquired from the Orioles in exchange for a player to be named later or cash. Right-hander James Hoyt was acquired from the Indians for cash. The club also claimed relievers Justin Shafer and Josh D. Smith from the Reds, claimed reliever Mike Morin from the Brewers and claimed reliever (and former Marlin) Brian Moran from the Blue Jays. Veteran infielder Logan Forsythe signed a one-year, Major League deal.

As for internal moves, the Fish called up right-hander Jorge Guzman, outfielder Monte Harrison and righty Jordan Yamamoto. The club also selected the contracts of left-hander Dan Castano, right-hander Josh A. Smith, right-hander Nick Vincent, catcher Ryan Lavarnway and infielder Eddy Alvarez. Outfielders Matt Joyce and Lewis Brinson were activated from the injured list.

It’s a dizzying sequence of moves brought about by the Covid-19 outbreak that decimated the organization’s Major League roster. Miami ultimately wound up with a reported 18 players and two coaches testing positive, and the outbreak caused scheduling delays with the Phillies, Yankees, Blue Jays and Nationals in addition to the Marlins. Miami was left with a depleted roster and forced to scramble to simply cobble together a roster and continue its season.

The losses of Alcantara and Smith will remove two of Miami’s top rotation options from the mix for the time being, while Rojas was the team’s starting shortstop. Stanek had been expected to occupy a high-leverage late-inning role, and Conley is one of the team’s most experienced bullpen pieces.

Replacing him on the active roster will be veteran utilityman Sean Rodriguez, whose contract was selected. The Fish also announced the signing of outfielder Travis Snider to a minor-league pact. He’ll head to the team’s alternate training site.

It’s obviously disappointing to see Alfaro hit the shelf right at the start of the season. The 27-year-old has established himself as a solid MLB backstop, though he’s hoping to take another step forward after posting consecutive 95 OPS+ efforts at the plate. Alfaro is also playing to set himself up for his first run at the arbitration process.

Vincent, 33, had some uncharacteristic struggles with the Giants a year ago when he posted an ugly 5.58 ERA in 30 2/3 innings. A strained pectoral muscle may have been to blame, though, as Vincent was sharp for his first six weeks with San Francisco (2.25 ERA in his first 24 frames) before imploding over the next two weeks and eventually landing on the injured list. By the time he was healed up, the Giants opted to simply cut him loose. He caught on with the Phillies and yielded just three runs in 14 innings with a 17-to-4 K/BB ratio to close out the year.

From 2012-18, Vincent was quietly a very effective reliever. Over the life of 332 innings with the Padres and Mariners in that time, he compiled an impressive 3.17 ERA and 3.09 FIP with 9.0 K/9, 2.2 BB/9 and 0.78 HR/9. Soft-tossing, extreme fly-ball righties aren’t exactly en vogue these days — Vincent averages 89.7 mph on his fastball and has a career 33.9 percent grounder rate — but there’s no denying Vincent’s solid track record. And if he does make his way to the Miami ’pen, their spacious home park should help to keep those airborne balls in the yard.

The 35-year-old Rodriguez can play virtually anywhere on the diamond and has typically been a solid, albeit unspectacular bat against left-handed pitching. That makes him a nice potential bench bat for a club with an expanded roster in 2020, though. Rodriguez’s 2017-18 seasons were ruined by an offseason car accident in 2016 that ultimately led to shoulder surgery, but he turned things around to an extent last year. After batting .167/.277/.305 in the wake of that car crash, he logged a .233/.348/.375 line with Philadelphia in 2019.

Meyer, 21, is one of the best pitchers in the history of the University of Minnesota. The now-former Gopher ace was long expected to be a top 10 pick, but the Marlins still surprised some pundits by passing over fellow college arms like Asa Lacy and Emerson Hancock as well as Vanderbilt third baseman Austin Martin in order to scoop up Meyer third overall earlier this month. With a triple-digit fastball, a plus slider and a career 2.13 ERA and 187-to-41 K/BB ratio in 148 college innings, it’s easy to see why the Marlins were so enamored of Meyer though.

Many scouting reports on Meyer picked him to be among the fastest players to reach the Majors from this year’s draft — if not the fastest. The Athletic’s Keith Law even suggested that some clubs might be bullish enough to think that Meyer could pitch in the Majors as soon as this season, although that accelerated timeline would burn a year of control and service for the Marlins despite the fact that they’re not expected to contend. Anything can happen in a shorter season, though, so if the Fish do get out to a torrid start, perhaps they’ll be emboldened to bring Meyer up to the big leagues in an effort to bolster their staff.

FEBRUARY 4: The Marlins have struck a minor-league deal with veteran utilityman Sean Rodriguez, per Jeff Passan of ESPN.com (via Twitter). Other terms aren’t yet known.

Presumably, the 34-year-old will receive an invitation to participate in MLB camp. Rodriguez has seen action in each of the past dozen years in the big leagues, though he has failed to produce league-average offensive numbers over the past three seasons.

Rodriguez slashed a robust .270/.349/.510 in 342 plate appearances with the Pirates in 2016. That was an remains his best campaign at the plate. He inked a two-year contract with the Braves in the ensuing offseason, but was never really able to get going in Atlanta. Rodriguez and his family were victims in a major automobile accident before camp opened in 2017.

Given the severity of the injury and the depth of his ensuing struggles on the field, Rodriguez’s 2019 season was actually something of a rebound. He took 139 plate appearances last year with the Phillies, slashing .223/.348/.375.

Joining Rodriguez on the active roster is righty Enyel De Los Santos. To create space, infielder Mitch Walding and righty Drew Anderson were optioned back to Triple-A.

Rodriguez turns 34 on Friday, so this makes for an early birthday gift. He’s in the starting lineup today at shortstop, representing his first MLB action since he was designated last August by the Pirates. Rodriguez has struggled at the plate in recent seasons but is off to a .267/.327/.622 start with the bat at Triple-A. He’ll help fill in while Jean Segura is sidelined.

As for Pazos, who’s closing in on his 28th birthday, it seems the Phillies have been quite underwhelmed since receiving him via trade over the winter. He was a quality relief piece in 2018 and has plenty of cheap control remaining, but had struggled badly in a Phillies uniform. Over 14 2/3 innings between Spring Training and the start of the Triple-A season, the southpaw has managed just six strikeouts against 11 walks.

That said, Pazos pitched to a strong 3.39 ERA with better than a strikeout per inning in 103 2/3 frames with Seattle in 2017-18. While he was dominant against either righties or lefties, he demonstrated an ability to limit damage against each; right-handed hitters managed a .248/.327/.393 line to left-handers’ collective .248/.326/.353. During that two-year run with Seattle, Pazos averaged just under 95 mph on his heater while posting a 10.9 percent swinging-strike rate and 32.6 percent opponents’ chase rate on pitches outside the strike zone. Given the number of teams in need of bullpen help throughout the league, there’s a solid chance he’ll generate interest from another team.

More on the injury front …

• Tigers righty Chris Smith appears headed for Tommy John surgery, as Evan Woodberry of MLive.com was among those to report on Twitter. It’s dreadful news for a hurler who has only briefly touched the majors but seemed to have a shot at earning a pen spot in Detroit. Smith pitched to a 3.93 ERA with 10.6 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 last year at the Triple-A level.
• The Rays will likely go without righty Ian Gibaut to open the season, as Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets. It seems the broader prognosis for his lat injury is a good one, but the club will likely take things slow with the 25-year-old hurler. Gibaut hasn’t yet thrown at the game’s highest level, but has generally torched minor-league hitters throughout his four seasons as a pro. Last year, he worked to a 2.09 ERA with 12.1 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 over 56 Triple-A frames.
• Veteran utilityman Sean Rodriguez has a meniscus tear that may require surgery, per Matt Breen of Philly.com (Twitter link). That likely won’t make for a terribly lengthy absence, but obviously knocks out any chance of him breaking camp with the Phillies. Rodriguez could certainly still challenge for a job in Philadelphia or elsewhere after working back to health.
• White Sox prospect Luis Alexander Basabe has a hamate fracture, as MLB.com’s Scott Merkin recently reported on Twitter. That’ll keep him from full game action for about three months, according to initial estimates. Basabe, 22, isn’t a near-term consideration at the MLB level, so this news won’t have much of an immediate impact. It will slow his start to the season, though, which is unfortunate — particularly since he was looking to bounce back from a tepid showing at Double-A and tough trip through the Arizona Fall League.

Rodriguez, 34 in April, has struggled over the past two seasons after turning in a strong showing with the Pirates in 2016. Back in ’16, Rodriguez posted a very strong .270/.349/.510 slash with 18 homers in just 342 plate appearances while playing all over the diamond in Pittsburgh. That led him to sign a two-year contract with the Braves in the offseason, but a shoulder injury suffered in a frightening car accident that winter wiped out the majority of his 2017 season.

Rodriguez was eventually traded back to Pittsburgh, but the struggles he had in Atlanta continued in his return to the Bucs. In all, over the past two seasons, he’s batted a combined .167/.277/.305 through 326 trips to the plate. He’ll give his new organization some depth at second base, third base, shortstop and in the outfield corners.

At present, the Phillies have Maikel Franco, Jean Segura, Cesar Hernandez and Rhys Hoskins lined up around the infield, with Andrew McCutchen and Nick Williams penciled in as the corner outfielders. Those mixes, however, could change — and, perhaps more accurately, will change — as the Phils are widely expected to land either Manny Machado or Bryce Harper before the offseason draws to a close.

• The Angels have selected right-handed reliever Junichi Tazawa’s contract from Triple-A Salt Lake, the team announced. The 32-year-old Tazawa is finally in position to make his Halos debut nearly two months after signing a minor league deal with the organization. Tazawa has been an effective major leaguer at times dating back to his 2009 debut with the Red Sox, but his career has hit the skids since he signed a two-year, $12MM deal with the Marlins entering 2017. He ended up tossing 75 1/3 innings in Miami from 2017-18 and logging an ugly 6.57 ERA/5.40 FIP, leading the team to release him in late May.
• The Pirates announced that they’ve selected infielder/outfielder Pablo Reyes from Triple-A Indianapolis and reinstated righty Nick Burdi from the 60-day DL. The club has also released veteran infielder/outfielder Sean Rodriguez, whom it designated for assignment Wednesday. A Pirate since they signed him out of the Dominican Republic in 2012, the 24-year-old Reyes saw his first Triple-A action this season and slashed .289/.341/.435 with eight home runs and 13 stolen bases over 398 plate appearances. Burdi, whom the Pirates acquired via trade from the Phillies at the 2017 Rule 5 Draft, has rebounded nicely after multiple arm injuries slowed his development. The hard-throwing reliever missed most of 2016 with elbow issues and then underwent Tommy John surgery in 2017, keeping him out for the majority of that season and the current campaign. Despite his injury woes, Burdi – originally a second-round selection of the Twins in the 2014 amateur draft – still ranks as the Pirates’ 20th-best prospect, per MLB.com. Now that he’s healthy, the former Rule 5 choice will have to spend 90 days on the Pirates’ active roster in order to avoid going on waivers.
• The Brewers have released infielder Eric Sogard for the second time this season. Milwaukee parted with Sogard on July 12, only to re-sign him to a minor league deal two weeks later. The 32-year-old hasn’t produced at either the Triple-A level or in the majors this year, however, after offering respectable production in 2017 with the Brewers.

Rodriguez, 33, has been unable to regain his footing in his second stint with the Pirates. The versatile utilityman had a career year in Pittsburgh back in 2016 and inked a two-year contract with the Braves in free agency that winter, only to suffer a major shoulder injury in an offseason car accident. Rodriguez required surgery to repair the rotator cuff in his left shoulder following the crash, and while he returned ahead of schedule in 2017, the results simply haven’t been there.

In 326 plate appearances between Atlanta and Pittsburgh across the past two seasons, Rodriguez has managed just a .167/.277/.305 slash. That’s a far cry from the hefty .270/.349/.510 line he authored in the aforementioned 2016 campaign. Pittsburgh will have a week to trade, outright or release Rodriguez, who’ll likely be on the hunt for a minor league contract this offseason as he looks to rebuild some stock following a pair of injury-ruined seasons.

[Related: Pittsburgh Pirates depth chart]

Anderson, 25, was the Pirates’ 20th-round pick back in the 2015 draft. While he’s never been considered to be among the organization’s very best prospects, he’s steadily risen through the ranks and been a steadily above-average performer along the way. This season in Triple-A has been no exception, as he’s worked to a tidy 2.34 ERA through 34 2/3 innings of relief work.

Anderson has never posted especially impressive strikeout numbers and is averaging just 6.2 whiffs per nine innings pitched in 2018. However, he’s long demonstrated outstanding control and has posted a ground-ball rate of at least 61.3 percent at each minor league stop. The Pirates shifted Anderson from the rotation to a relief role last season, and he’ll carry a gaudy 65.7 percent grounder rate with him to the Pittsburgh bullpen.

As for Rodriguez, the 33-year-old has struggled immensely at the dish in each of the past two seasons. Signed by the Braves a two-year contract in November 2016, Rodriguez suffered a shoulder injury in a car accident later that offseason and wound up missing a significant chunk of the 2017 season. He was traded back to the Pirates last summer, but the early struggles he had in Atlanta carried over to his return trip to the Buccos. Over the past two seasons, Rodriguez is hitting .157/.273/.285 in 290 plate appearances.

Rodriguez, of course, played for the Pirates in 2015 and 2016 and had his career-best season with the Bucs (.270/.349/.510 over 342 plate appearances) in 2016 before signing a two-year, $11.5MM deal with Atlanta last winter. Later that same offseason, however, Rodriguez and his family were in a serious car accident, and Rodriguez spent the first few months of the season working his way back from a shoulder injury. He finally returned in mid-July and has batted .162/.326/.351 in 47 plate appearances since.

Now, though, the Braves don’t have the need for Rodriguez they once might have — as Bowman notes, Johan Camargo has hit well while playing the leftmost three infield positions for the Braves this year, and the team added another versatile player, Danny Santana, in a trade in May. Meanwhile, the Pirates have been left without Jung Ho Kang this season as the third baseman struggles to get a visa, and the team has gotten poor production at various points from bench players like Philip Gosselin, John Jaso and Max Moroff. Rodriguez will provide them with another option around the infield and at the corner outfield spots. In addition to the remainder of his salary this season, he will make $5MM in 2018.

The 24-year-old Joe was the 39th overall pick out of the University of San Diego in the 2014 draft, but he’s moved through the minors slowly for an early college pick, owing in part to a 2014 back injury but also to his struggles to generate offense commensurate with the corner positions at which he’s played. This season, he’s batted .240/.338/.380 in 28 plate appearances for Double-A Altoona, demonstrating a good batting eye (with a 12.1 BB%) but modest average and power. He did not rank in MLB.com’s list of the Pirates’ top 30 prospects.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Rodriguez, 32, signed a two-year, $11.5MM deal to join the Braves over the offseason. At the time, he seemed to be lined up to take regular duties at second base, while also providing an option at the hot corner depending upon how the season progressed.

An offseason car accident changed everything, though. Rodriguez has steadily worked back from a shoulder injury ever since. While it was believed at the time that he might miss the entire season, he was obviously able to make it back with plenty of games left to go.

It’s opportune timing for Atlanta, which has climbed back to .500 even as the Wild Card leaders have fallen back to earth. Qualifying for the postseason still looks to be a tall order, but it’s hardly out of the question. And Rodriguez — who slashed a career-best .270/.349/.510 last year — could provide a significant boost.

At this point, it’s not clear just how the Braves will line up. Brandon Phillips has handled everyday duties at second after being acquired to replace Rodriguez. And Freddie Freeman is now spending significant time at third base to allow Matt Adams a lineup spot at first. It seems likely that manager Brian Snitker will mix and match his lineups on a day-to-day basis, at least preliminarily.