The Rockies have designated a notable group of players for assignment today to clear space on the 40-man roster, per a club announcement. Relievers John Axford, Rex Brothers, and Tommy Kahnle are all now in DFA limbo, as is first baseman/catcher Wilin Rosario.
Colorado has selected the contracts of righties Carlos Estevez and Antonio Senzatela, infielder Trevor Story, and outfielder Raimel Tapia. All of those players will be protected from the Rule 5 draft.
It’s somewhat surprising to see all of those veterans being pushed out the door, but the move saves significant dollars for the Rockies. Per MLBTR’s arbitration projections, the trio of Axford, Brothers, and Rosario would’ve cost just over $11MM in 2016. All three could potentially score guaranteed contracts in free agency — and Axford almost certainly will after a solid campaign — but it also is easy to see why the team wasn’t willing to pay their respective arb prices to keep them.
Kahnle was not yet arb eligible, but lost his place after his walk rate ballooned to 7.6 BB/9 last year. The pre-2014 Rule 5 pick showed enough to stick in Colorado, and his mid-90s heater is still humming, so he ought to draw some interest from clubs that are looking for a project.
Brothers and Rosario both had a good amount of trade value the last 2 off seasons. And Axford had quite a bit around deadline time. Leave it to the Rockies to not see that and basically give them away for nothing.
Huh? Brothers and Rosario have been worthless since the 2013 off-season, as in utterly worthless (they’ve only been major league players because the Rockies needed warm bodies). Axford had some value perhaps, but not a ton.
Under the right pitching coach who focuses on throwing strikes (like the Cardinals, where he showed improvement) Ax could be effective. He’s a steady 10 K/9 guy, his weakness like many hard throwers is control.
They had quite a bit of value in the 2013 off season and a little bit last year with the Rockies knowing that they weren’t needed. The Mets were known to be looking at Rosario in 2013 and Brothers in the 2014 OS. I’m not saying they could have gotten Syndergaard or anything like that, but packaging them together last year could have gotten a Jon Niese or Dillon Gee along with a lottery ticket prospect. That would have been better than nothing and would have at least made the FO look like they were trying to improve rather than just sticking with the status quo that isn’t working.
Hopefully axford can come back on a cheaper contract if they want him
Could see the Pirates getting one of the relief arms
I think Rosario would be a great fit for a team like Detroit, who could use a catcher
Is Rosario really that bad at defense as a catcher? The Angels could use him with Iannetta on his way out.
From what I noticed in 2014 when he was catching all the time, he had some problems that were big. Why they got nick hundley.
He’s completely unusable as a C. Not just bad. He’s a 1B/DH now. He hits lefties quite well and someone in the AL can probably use him.
Yeah Rosario is horrible as a catcher. He will give you great power at the position, but will give away at least twice as many runs as he produces behind the plate.
He’s the kind of guy that ends up in Tampa, reestablishes himself for a season, maybe a season and a half before falling off the face of the baseball map for good. probably at DH/1b and only because he will play for close to league minimum.
Come on Padres, Get at Axford and Brothers.
Come on over to the Padres Axford, reunite you will Trever Hoffman & get you in a park that can hold some of your long balls – still throwing hard?