Rockies Designate Eddie Butler For Assignment

The Rockies have designated right-hander Eddie Butler for assignment, the team announced.  The move creates roster space for Greg Holland, whose signing became official today.

Butler, 25, was drafted 46th overall by the Rockies in 2012 and he continued to display that pedigree as a minor leaguer, ranking on top-100 prospect lists from Baseball America, MLB.com and Baseball Prospectus prior to both the 2014 and 2015 seasons.  (BA ranked Butler as the 24th-best prospect in baseball in their 2014 list.)  While Butler pitched well in the lower levels, however, it’s worth noting that he struggled even at the Triple-A level, posting a 5.03 ERA over 157 1/3 innings in the very hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.

Pitching in parts of the last three seasons for Colorado, Butler posted a 6.50 ERA, 1.34 K/BB rate and 5.3 K/9 over 159 1/3 innings for the Rockies, starting 28 of his 36 career big league games.  Despite a solid 48.6% career grounder rate, home runs have been Butler’s largest issue, with a whopping 18.1% of his fly balls leaving the yard.  While Coors Field has played a role in Butler’s problems (a 7.92 ERA in 69 1/3 IP in Denver), the righty has also posted a 5.40 ERA in 90 road innings over his brief career.

Since we’re less than two years removed from Butler holding blue-chip prospect status, it wouldn’t be surprising if Butler draws interest from multiple teams wondering if he could get on track in a more pitcher-friendly environment.  Check out the MLB Trade Rumors DFA Tracker to monitor the status of Butler and other players around the bigs who are awaiting their next assignment.