The Rockies announced they’ve designated utilityman Cole Tucker for assignment. The move opens an active roster spot for Charlie Blackmon, who is back from the 10-day injured list. Colorado also reinstated Sean Bouchard from the 60-day IL and optioned him to Triple-A Albuquerque. The Rox’s 40-man roster remains full.
Tucker had a brief stay on Colorado’s roster. The Rox selected his contract one week ago, plugging him into three games. He collected three singles and a walk in eight trips to the dish. He’s out of minor league options, though, meaning Colorado had to keep him on the active roster or DFA him once they called him up.
They’ll now have a week to put him on waivers. A career .214/.263/.316 hitter in parts of five big league campaigns, the 27-year-old Tucker had a solid .311/.419/.459 showing this season in Albuquerque. Since he’s out of options, any team that claims him would have to plug him directly onto the MLB roster. Tucker has been outrighted before in his career, so he’d have the ability to become a minor league free agent if he clears waivers again.
Blackmon returns after missing more than two months. The veteran outfielder fractured a bone in his right hand in early June. He’ll return to the lineup carrying a solid .265/.347/.422 line through 56 games on the season. Blackmon is playing this year on a $15MM salary and will be a free agent in a couple months.
Bouchard has missed the entire season after undergoing biceps surgery in Spring Training. The 27-year-old impressed with a .297/.454/.500 showing over 97 plate appearances in his first big league action last summer. He’ll get more time in Triple-A before returning to the MLB roster but could get a chance to carve out a role in the first base/corner outfield rotation down the stretch.
Poor Cole Tucker. A once promising prospect, but a bust.
He was the Bucs #1 pick in the 2014 draft and while he had potential, he never lived up to expectations
He certainly excelled at striking out though which seems to a pre-requisite for playing for them even now
Definitely wasn’t striking out in his personal life
Indeed
??
considering his profession of choice is a failure I guess he can always live off of his girlfriend’s money
I was wrong about him said he would be dfa in 48hrs it was 4 days…
8 plate appearances is nothing, but he came out swinging in that super small sample size. Someone will pick him up.
Any first rounder that makes the majors is not a bust. There are plenty of first rounders that never even make it out of AA. The problem is that there are too many people thinking that there are only two choices, Hall of Famer or bust. Not a great career thus far, but he has got 2 years of service time and is still only 26.
Yeah, I’m sure that when the Pirates gave him a first-round bonus they said to themselves..”Hope he makes it up with another team”
Of course he is a bust.
Wasted pick. Especially in the first round.
You should work with the Pirates
First round..you are saying anyone..that’s like a 20th rounder. That makes it.
Yes, if you are a first rounder signing for crazy slot money and bonus and you barely produce or make an impact in Triple A or the majors..you are a bust
Sleep well on the bus Cole
Former first rounder
I think you are just unaware of how unproductive the average first round pick actually is in the major leagues. Just as an example, look at 1998. There were 43 first round picks (2 were unsigned, but were drafted again later). 30 of them made the majors, meaning 13 didn’t make the big leagues at all. Of that 30 that made the majors, only 18 produced a WAR above 0.0, Meaning a full 12 out of 43 first rounders made the majors without producing a positive WAR for their career.
I would argue that the 13 that didn’t make the majors were not on the same level as the 12 that produced negative WAR in the majors.
I think I counted like 20 of the first 27 first-round picks that year, including Tucker, made it to The Show
I have it at 29 out of 41 so far. 12 haven’t made it yet (including picks #1 and #2) and 10 are at 0.0 WAR or less. So it falls in line with 1998 quite well so far.
I went with 1998 just because all of the careers are over and none of the stats are ever going to change. 2014 picks can still come and go for a while. For example, Forrest Wall made the bigs for the first time in 2023.
He so far has 2 years of service time in the major leagues. That is a success. Not a great success, but that is 2 years more than most players. There are many degrees for success. Bust should be reserved for the very worst of the worst. Tucker wouldn’t even qualify in the bottom 10 of just Pirates first round picks. A full 36% (26 out of 73) of their first round picks did not make the majors. as of today. That includes 5 that are recently drafted, so it is still 21 out of 73.
The term bust should be reserved for someone like Mark Merchant (#2 overall after Ken Griffey Jr. in 1987) or Mark Farris ( #11 overall, made to AA before deciding to be a college QB at Texas A&M)
I am referring to the game of baseball, not life. Simply because it is MUCH harder to make the highest level in baseball than in football or basketball where every first rounder is usually a key player early on. Baseball players have to continually improve over 3-4 years and 3-4 increasing levels of competition in order to even make the majors. Just making it to the highest is grounds for celebration for any player because so many do not make it. Even prospects with the highest pedigree like first round picks.
I understand people being disappointed by Tucker’s big league career, and I am sure it is not what HE wanted either. But to just flat out call him a bust is an affront to the difficulty of getting as far as he did.
As far as bust goes, I don’t put Tim Couch on the same level as Ryan Leaf. Tim Couch was a disappointment, but not a bust. He did have some success. Ryan Leaf was just a disaster from the start and deserves the term bust. In basketball terms, Anthony Bennett was a flat out bust, whereas someone like Ben Simmons is not a bust, just disappointing.
Cheers
Hopefully Vanessa Hudgens leaves him and gets with me finally!
There’s a line Jiz! Hopefully on the rebound she develops a taste for older men.
Houston what?!
Rick Hahn just picked up the Pirates 2018 #1 round bust probably on the phone for this one too.
Yankees should get him.
I would have expected Profar to the IL to be the corresponding move for activating Blackmon, but maybe his injury isn’t as bad as it looked yesterday.
It probably could have been had they not needed the 40 man spot for Bouchard as well. Unless Profar is out for the year, his IL time would not have taken him off the 40 man for Bouchard.
He had a doozy of an inning against the Dodgers the yesterday-ran the Rocks out of a rally trying to stretch an RBI single into a double and then made an error that scored a run in the bottom of the frame.
100% have to consider Cole Tuck a 1st rnd bust. I’ll include Brendan Rodgers as well for a no doubt 1st rnd bust. Teams have to hit on these selections.
Don’t give up on Rodgers quite yet. He won a Gold Glove last year and hit well after a poor start to last season. If he is healthy next season but has an OPS+ under 100, then I’ll be willing to agree about being a bust.
Rodgers put up a 4.3 WAR season and won a Gold Glove in 2022 and is still only 26 years old. Is any player that doesn’t make the HOF immediately considered a bust to you?
How long should we wait? Tovar/Story/Arenado showing more from a deeper draft slot. Eat up that war and gold glove if you loke but he didn’t deserve either. Almost entire war was from Defense, lots of easy ground balls at coors. It’s their pitching mo. Avg D imo.
Next time go hard to the plate young man. That was your chance to make a statement