The Colorado Rockies made four roster moves today regarding their 40-man roster. Most notably right-handed reliever Brooks Brown was claimed off of waivers by the Los Angeles Dodgers. The other three moves had the Rockies outrighting catcher Michael McKenry, and right-handed relievers Simon Castro, and Gonzalez Germen to Albuquerque.
If you are unfamiliar with outrighting, it is when a club wants to take a player off its 40-man roster and send the player to the minors. The player must first pass through waivers. As it sits the Rockies 40-man roster is now at 42, with five of those players as exceptions for the moment, as they are on the 60-day DL. Castro, and Germen will remain with the Rockies organization because they went unclaimed on waivers. McKenry on the other hand is eligible to elect free agency since he was outrighted, cleared waivers, and has more than three years of MLB service time.
As for Brown, the 30 year old and former first round pick of the Diamondbacks joins the Dodgers 40-man roster. He will not be eligible to play in the postseason. Brown played his second season in the big leagues this year, each have been with the Rockies. He’s thrown in 64 games, (59 innings) over the past two years with a 3.97 ERA, and a 1.237 WHIP. His strikeout rate dropped dramatically this season, and his walk rate increased. Overall he was not the same pitcher this season, however he was still one of the most effective pitchers in the Rockies bullpen.
The most curious outright assignment comes in the form of McKenry, who has been the backup catcher for the Rockies for the past two seasons. His 2014 was fantastic, posting a 1.7 WAR in 57 games, he hit eight home runs, batted in 22, and hit .315. This year in the same amount of time he was just average, hitting four homers in 58 games, while batting in 17, and hitting .205. McKenry a 2006 draft pick of the Rockies has bounced between the Rockies, Red Sox, and Pirates organizations. He is still is a capable backup and it wouldn’t be surprising to see another team acquire McKenry.
You can read about Castro’s season from just yesterday, here. This was an expected move, as Castro is the prototype four-A player, and the Rockies don’t see him as a factoring asset moving forward. Germen was picked off of waivers by the Rockies mid-season, and was actually pretty solid in 29 games. I his 32.2 innings he had a 3.86 ERA, with a 1.653 WHIP. Not even ten days into the offseason and the Rockies are already making changes to their bullpen.
