The Blue Jays have designated Chris Colabello off their 25-man roster now that the first baseman’s 80-game PED suspension is over and he has been reinstated from the restricted list, Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith reports (Twitter link). This isn’t a standard case of a player being designated for assignment, as Colabello is still on Toronto’s 40-man roster. As Brendan Kennedy of the Toronto Star notes, the move is akin to the Jays simply optioning Colabello to the minors.
Colabello was a surprisingly big contributor to Toronto’s 2015 AL East championship team, hitting .321/.367/.520 with 15 home runs over 360 plate appearances. The Jays entered the season planning to platoon Colabello and Justin Smoak at first (with Edwin Encarnacion getting the occasional start but mostly seeing DH duty), though Colabello got off to an ice-cold start, with just two hits in his first 32 PA of 2016. It’s reasonable to guess that the impending PED suspension may have been weighing on Colabello’s mind, given that he was first informed of his positive result on March 13 and was appealing the result.
In theory, Colabello’s reinstatement could help the Jays, especially given that Smoak has posted barely replacement-level numbers. GM Ross Atkins, however, was recently rather non-committal about Colabello’s role with the team, especially since Colabello won’t be eligible for postseason play under the terms of the league PED policy. While the Jays have mostly been linked to pitching upgrades on the trade deadline rumor mill, they’ve also been connected to outfielders like Melvin Upton Jr., Josh Reddick and Jay Bruce. Getting a new regular outfielder would force Encarnacion or Jose Bautista into more action at first, leaving no room for Smoak or Colabello in the everyday lineup.
Hindsight is 20/20 and Colabello was really good last year, but you can’t help but wonder what they’d be like if they kept Valencia over him
I know everyone wants to demonize him, but this is probably just a case of a “rehab assignment” for him. Sending him down to get back into game shape before he comes back to help the team get into the playoffs. Of course he can’t help beyond that, but Toronto will need all the help they can get to even make the playoffs.
I don’t think there’s a role for Colabello in Toronto right now. Last year, three guys shared the DH/1B role; I think José will be taking some time at DH to keep him healthy (with occasional DH respite for Russell, Tulo and MVP).
If I were GM, the only way Colabello gets called up is if he’s destroying the ball in the minors. He’s not down there just to get some reps before coming back to the Jays. He hasn’t earned a spot on the 25-man this year. He’s got to prove himself as a PED-free batter. Last year does not count.