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Pittsburgh Pirates closer David Bednar’s name has been mentioned in trade rumors as the deadline quickly approaches. The righty has been a solid piece of the Pirates’ bullpen for years, and it seems like that time could be coming to an end.
With all these rumors circulating, Pirates general manager Ben Cherington was forced to address the buzz ahead of Thursday’s deadline.
“I’m not sure I can recall a single player who has been as strong on the field and off the field and who happens to be from that city as David has been,” Cherington told reporters earlier this week. “The sort of trifecta of those things is not lost on any of us. So much respect for him for who he is, the performer on the field, the person off the field, the willingness to fight through adversity, which he has done here also not too recently.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen. He’s a really valuable pitcher, a really important person. I think we should take that very seriously. Any conversations I have with him, I’ll keep between him and I, but I have a huge amount of respect for him.”
While baseball is a business and the front office will make business decisions, there’s a human aspect of the game that can never be lost.
From what Cherington is saying, it seems like the only hope of keeping Bednar in Pittsburgh is the human aspect, not the player aspect. Bednar’s off-field contributions to the city that he loves can’t be overstated.
But if the Pirates land the trade they want, it seems like Cherington is ready to pull the trigger on a business decision.
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