PITTSBURGH — The looks afforded to Joshua Palacios and Liover Peguero this week better be worth it.

That was my reaction after learning the Pirates had designated Rowdy Tellez for assignment on Tuesday when the first baseman was just four plate appearances shy of earning a $200,000 bonus.

Are the Pirates cheap, dumb or oblivious?

As someone who has spent a lot of time around them over the past five years, sometimes it can be hard to tell.

They DFA’d Tellez and Michael A. Taylor, general manager Ben Cherington and manager Derek Shelton argued, because they wanted to get Palacios and Peguero time with the big club before the regular season ends.

This has zero to do with the incoming players, but the move was absurd, bringing negative attention to the team for absolutely no reason.

Given the way the Pirates are perceived around baseball — cheap — this only serves to further that reputation, whether their reasons were legitimate or not. That’s why I never, ever would’ve taken the chance.

Cherington obviously saw the decision differently.

“No factor at all, zero,” Cherington said Tuesday when asked whether the looming bonus played a part and if he worried about the optics of such a move. “And, no, I’m not concerned. Contracts are negotiated in good faith. Then they live out.

“We feel like we gave Rowdy lots of opportunity here this year. To his credit, he fought through some difficult times earlier in the year. Had periods of success and frustration. This is just where we got to in the season. Had nothing to do with where the plate appearances were lining up.”

Let's actually pretend the move wasn't financially motivated — which I find hard to believe given owner Bob Nutting’s ... let’s say, love of efficient spending. But go with me here.

If nothing else, it shows an inability to read the room, a problem that has plagued the Pirates for far too long.

There’s almost an inability here to calculate how such a move can make others feel, from players who feel like they’ve earned such things to fans who spend their hard-earned money supporting the team and just want one summer where the team does not become an MLB-wide punching bag.

One thought I had after learning of Tellez’s bonus from Ethan Hullihen — a local MLB financial expert — was that it sure doesn’t help.

The Pirates, regardless of intent, have made themselves a national baseball story for all the wrong reasons because they DFA’d a guy when he was four plate appearances shy of earning a bonus, possibly thinking they could do so without the world ever finding out.

Not only that, they jettisoned an outfielder in Taylor who took it upon himself to mentor Oneil Cruz in the latter’s transition to center field.

“The first day Oneil [was in center field], Michael was standing right next to him, talking to him,” Shelton said earlier this month. “He’s continued to have conversations with him, not only during his work but during the game of how to react, where to go and what to do. I think it just speaks to how much of a pro Michael is."

And how cold-hearted what the Pirates did on Tuesday felt.

No, Taylor did not have a good year. In fact, he was actually quite bad, going from 21 home runs and a .720 OPS last year with the Twins to just five and a .543 OPS this season.

I believe Taylor was one of those most affected by the Pirates’ team-wide hitting approach, which has been a big factor in their disappointing season and a conversation for another day.

But cutting Taylor’s season short the way the Pirates did makes it look like they didn’t value how he carried himself, how he operated when he lost his job and how he legitimately tried to help here.

Players also talk, and I have a hard time Taylor would give a glowing recommendation of Pittsburgh to potential free agents — a legitimate problem considering their ongoing battle of convincing guys to play here.

The same has to be true for Tellez, who’s much more vocal and was also able to get past the constant boos and dig himself out of a sizable funk.

Again, objectively, Tellez was bad for two months. But he figured it out, played a decent defensive first base and wound up with a .243 average, .691 OPS and 13 homers. His career OPS is .739, which means he was a lousy two months from what we should have expected.

This also isn’t an endorsement of Taylor and Tellez. Their failures to consistently produce, especially compared to their contracts, became a misappropriation of resources.

Consider Tellez and Taylor combined for 0.0 wins above replacement, per Baseball Reference, and their $7.2 million salary was a gross overpay.

But their salaries are guaranteed. The only thing the Pirates saved was Tellez’s $200,000 bonus, though it could cost them dearly when it comes to negative public perception.

And for what?

Certainly nothing against Palacios or Peguero, two players I like a lot. But what are five games — neither was in the lineup Tuesday — going to tell us that we don’t already know?

Peguero has a .657 OPS in 60 big-league games. He’s shown some signs offensively and has supposedly improved his defense at shortstop, but he also hit .257 with a .729 OPS this year at Triple-A. None of that screams must-play.

The same goes for Palacios, who has appeared in 153 games over four seasons in the big leagues, batting .231 with a .647 OPS.

Palacios has been a fine pinch-hitter and could profile as a fourth or fifth outfielder. But the Pirates likely enter next season with Bryan Reynolds, Oneil Cruz, Bryan De La Cruz, potentially Connor Joe and a glaring need to add more offense.

They should be looking to buy a bat or two on the free agent market, the position somewhat dependent on what happens with Reynolds at first.

Guess we better hope any players they sign don’t have contract incentives they’d like to see honored.

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