Ronny Cedeno Reportedly Unlikely To Be With Pirates Next Year

Dejan Kovacevic tweets that the Pirates are "unlikely" to pick up their $3 million option on shortstop Ronny Cedeno this offseason.

SS Ronny Cedeno just told me #Pirates have not spoken with him about 2012. Has club option but seems unlikely to be exercised.

That's very strange. Cedeno's occasionally boneheaded play hasn't exactly made him a fan favorite in Pittsburgh, but his shortstop defense is solid, and while his bat is uninspiring, it gets the job done. He's a completely functional starter. The Pirates will have to pay Cedeno a $200,000 buyout if they don't pick up his option, so the cost of keeping him in a Pirate uniform next year is $2.8 million, which is, actually, a bargain. Beyond big-ticket players like Jose Reyes who should be well out of the Pirates' price range, there is little on the free agent market, either. And none of the Pirates' remaining shortstops - Chase D'Arnaud, Jordy Mercer, Brandon Wood - have proven much of anything.