The Mariners announced that minor league outfielder Alberto Rodriguez has gone unclaimed on waivers. He’ll stick in the organization at High-A Everett on outright assignment.
Rodriguez entered the professional ranks as an amateur signee of the Blue Jays in 2017. He was dealt to Seattle three years later as part of the trade that sent Taijuan Walker to Toronto. The left-handed hitter drew some attention from prospect evaluators for his power upside and was regarded as a possible future right fielder. The M’s put him on their 40-man roster last winter to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft.
He spent his entire age-21 campaign in High-A on optional assignment. Rodriguez hit .261/.336/.396 with 10 home runs across 527 plate appearances. That’s decent production but not overwhelming for a bat-first prospect. More concerning, he went down on strikes in more than 26% of his trips. That dealt enough of a hit to Rodriguez’s long-term value that Seattle took him off the 40-man to claim J.B. Bukauskas last week.
The M’s took the risk of losing Rodriguez, but no other team was willing to devote him a 40-man spot either. He’ll remain in the system as an upside flier for the Seattle player development staff, where the M’s can monitor the progress of his bat-to-ball skills as he tries to work his way to the big leagues.
Mariners outright Arod
High-Arod
Good for Alberto! He’s been a fan favorite in Everett, and has some serious pop. Hopefully, he can start making more contact and head to Arkansas sometime this season!
Anytime there is a clear disconnect between a player’s abilities and their in-game output, it instantly makes me question whether they might benefit from a change of scenery..
Idk enough about Alberto, but here is to hoping he’s able to get his career back on track!!
I’ll outright you!!!
Does anybody think that sometimes it might be better to be off the 40-man roster? If you’re number 38-40 or so, it would seem like you would be under constant pressure to perform, and you can lose your spot through no fault of your own, if the major league team signs a free agent, etc. If you are in the system but not the 40-man you might be more able to improve and advance at your own pace. And since following this site I’ve seen several examples where a player is outrighted off the 40-man, but called up to the bigs a couple of months later.