Travis Ishikawa has been outrighted to Triple-A by the Pittsburgh Pirates after clearing waivers, Chris Cotillo reports.
Source: #Pirates Travis Ishikawa sent outright to AAA Indianapolis after clearing waivers. He can elect free agency, and is likely to do so.
— Chris Cotillo (@ChrisCotillo) April 23, 2014
Cotillo says that Ishikawa is likely to elect free agency. He can elect free agency since he currently has more than six years of service time in the majors. It also makes sense that he would elect free agency, since he’s not going to get much of a chance at first base with Indianapolis and it’s obvious he’s no longer in the organization’s plans at first base after the Ike Davis trade.
UPDATE 7:10 PM: Ishikawa has elected free agency. Since he has less than five years of service time, he won’t receive the full $1 M salary from the Pirates. It is my understanding that he would only receive money for the time he was in the organization, which is up until today. That means his hit on the payroll is a little less than $150,000.
Tim started Pirates Prospects in 2009 from his home in Virginia, which was 40 minutes from where Pedro Alvarez made his pro debut in Lynchburg. That year, the Lynchburg Hillcats won the Carolina League championship, and Pirates Prospects was born from Tim's reporting along the way. The site has grown over the years to include many more writers, and Tim has gone on to become a credentialed MLB reporter, producing Pirates Prospects each year, and will publish his 11th Prospect Guide this offseason. He has also served as the Pittsburgh Pirates correspondent for Baseball America since 2019. Behind the scenes, Tim is an avid music lover, and most of the money he gets paid to run this site goes to vinyl records.
Not a smart move….unless he already knew another team was looking to sign him to a ML contract…..
I agree, some other team must have already shown a little interest or he’s flat out crazy.
He would still be a depth option if he took the assignment. Unless he knows of team that would put him on their 25, he might as well take the cash and go to AAA.
Ishi…we hardly knew you.
Tim- thoughts on WHY he would elect free agency if we are paying him $1,000,000 and he is unlikely to get a guaranteed 25 man roster spot somewhere else?
If he’s smart about money, he really should accept the assignment. Travis has made $1.3m in his career. Riding the pine in AAA will almost double the money he has made playing baseball. It would be kinda calling it a career at that point, but the odds of him making more than that somewhere else look really slim anyway.
Agreed, the $1 mil is a lot better than the $30K or so as a minor leaguer somewhere else. Even after taxes!
good question…does he still get paid that money?
No. He has just over 3 years MLB service time and you need at least 5 years MLB service time to refuse the assignment and still get paid the terms of your contract.
Not if he refuses the assignment. He is then a free agent and does not get paid unless he signs with another team.