Former Rockies catcher Wilin Rosario hopes to return to the majors after spending 2016 in Korea, Jon Heyman of Fan Rag reports on Twitter. He signed there when significant MLB interest failed to materialize after Colorado designated him for assignment last fall.
It seems questionable whether Rosario will return to suiting up behind the dish at this stage — he’s never been a well-regarded defender — though perhaps that can’t be ruled out. Regardless, he ought to draw some interest for his power bat.
Still just 27, Rosario ran up an impressive .321/.367/.593 batting line with 33 home runs in his 532 plate appearances for the Hanwha Eagles. While that output took place in the extremely hitter-friendly KBO, it still serves as a reminder that he has legitimate pop.
Over 2012-13, his first two full major league seasons, Rosario swatted 49 home runs in just 892 plate appearances and posted a .282/.314/.507 slash. Even with Coors Field boosting the line, that was good for a 107 OPS+.
Rosario fell off thereafter, of course. And while even his best offensive seasons in the majors were impressive for a catcher, they weren’t exactly jaw-dropping for a player who could be limited to first base or DH.
Surely Baltimore will sign him and he’ll hit like .260/.320/.550 next year with 45 HRs
Ha!!!!
Lol, so true.
Yes, that is absolutely, 100% what will happen, I’ve never agreed with you as hard as I do with this, lol
Haha! This time next year we’ll all be wondering if he’s gonna get a QO.
Don’t we all.
I could see the Braves having limited interest. I hope they’ll look into him, maybe sign him as a non roster invitee for the spring. Could be a nice piece to keep Catching role until long term option is found.
I could see the Braves having interest, but if he signed in Korea after being DFA’d and not getting signed to a MLB roster, not sure h would take a non-roster invitee invite
Can we get a memo to Braves fans to stop connecting every single player to their team on here?
No, Freeman is their 1B, Rosario is not a C. Even Vogt is a better C option than Rosario, whos a DH/1B only.
I don’t see him as a logical fit with the braves stated interest. In my opinion they’d be more likely to look for a strong defensive catcher first and foremost (instead of an offensive minded one). The Braves are a team which looks to see several young pitchers get time in the big leagues over the next few years so it appears they’d want a catcher who has the skills to frame well and handle young pitchers more than a player who is more hitter than catcher.
Don’t get me wrong, they would like hitting upside in a catcher too, but Rosario offers too little defense to likely be a logical or likely candidate for the Braves.
mets should have interest. anything is better than d’arnaud and plawecki!!
yeah the Mets should get one of the worst defensive catchers of the last 5 years with basically 0 chance of hitting mlb pitching and have him replace a younger guy, whose only a year removed from an above average offensive season! also Plawecki is a backup/depth. Sadly his top 100 prospect status looks to have been slightly overrating him. Rosario is NOT an upgrade dude.
“anything is better than d’arnaud and plawecki!!”
Willin Rosario is absolutely not better than those two. You’d be better off getting Gattis to C than attempting to trot Rosario out there, and even then you’d get horrible pitch framing and D.
I second woodhead1986 here.
Rosario is not only a terrible defensive catcher, but his offense even plummeted in 2014 and 2015 – to sub TDA levels.
Mabye the Reds take a look? With Mesoraco still questionable, and Barnhart as a solid everyday or backup, they could use Rosario as bench depth or backup 1B and possibly a spot start behind the dish.
In a thread full of bad fits, this is the worst one of all. Barnhart was the best defensive C in the game last year (by fangraphs dWAR), you take that hit with his bat because he makes all your pitchers better and gets you more outs. Replacing him with a DH masquerading as a C would be the worst decision ever. I’d even move Mesoraco either in trade or to LF over using Barnhart as anything other than an everyday C.
I wasn’t suggesting starting him over Barnhart or Mesoraco. I was suggesting as a depth piece, exactly what I said. “they could use Rosario as bench depth or backup 1B and possibly a spot start behind the dish”, where in that phrase is he replacing Barnhart? Reading comprehension is hard.
Let the Giants Sign him, so he can show Posey how a Tough guy catches !@