Rockies prioritizing experience over potential and results for Opening Day bench

The last two days have seen the Colorado Rockies make a series of roster moves which is customary for this time of year as teams work to get the rosters down to 25 players for Opening Day.

Most of these transactions have been predictable — Mark Reynolds was always going to have his contract selected especially after the Ian Desmond injury, and as well as he played, Anthony Bemboom wasn’t making the trip to Milwaukee with the way Dustin Garneau separated himself this spring and after the signing of Ryan Hanigan to a minor league deal. No matter your take on Raimel Tapia, most everyone agrees regular at-bats in Triple-A do him and the Rockies more good than putting him into a bench role. Same could be said for Harrison Musgrave‘s innings.

On the other hand, the Rockies did come out with a few surprises this week. The biggest was the news that they have designated Jason Motte for assignment. It was a little bit surprising that they decided not to carry Jordan Patterson out of the gate considering how good he was this spring. But as good as he was, Stephen Cardullo was better and has been rewarded by having his contract selected, almost certainly securing himself a spot on the bench and a seat on the plane.

But the decision to (seemingly) go with Cardullo over Patterson is indicative of the theme for the bench. Cardullo has 59 MLB at-bats, Patterson only 19. That isn’t much, but along with Patterson and Pat Valaika — who was also sent down this week — still have options and have very limited MLB experience seems to be what has kept them off the roster to begin the season.

Cristhian Adames, while again not by a huge margin, has more experience than both Vailaka and Patterson combined, and Alexi Amarista has them all beat. The Rockies also risked losing both utility men if they did not carry them. While some might not see either as a huge loss, a general manager has to consider his entire stockpile of assets and its almost always better to have more chips in that pile. Adames showed promise with the bat this spring. Amarista did not. He appears to be able to play defense just about anywhere, but the guy has never shown an ability to consistently hit MLB pitching.

So, it looks like the bench will be: Cardullo, Garneau, Amarista, and Adames. They could add another name if they decide to go with an seven-man bullpen but all indications are that they prefer to go with eight in the ‘pen. Adames will have to truly build on his hitting tool and Cardullo will have to prove not to be a flash in the pan for that to be anything more than a pretty punchless bench.

This brings us to the next natural question. There have almost always been two spots open in the bullpen coming into this year, unless you have particularly harsh views of Carlos Estevez. That being said, the DFA of Motte does not necessarily mean the Rockies will go with the inverse strategy to the bench for their bullpen. They could still go with Chad Qualls and Jordan Lyles (experience) or Jairo Diaz (potential) and Scott Oberg (recent results) or they could split the difference and select one of each.

For now, Jeff Bridich and company appear to be erring on the side of MLB experience, stockpiling assets, and leaving room for roster flexibility throughout the season over potential, riding the hottest hands from spring training, or — arguably — taking the most talented 25 players on the 40-man roster to Milwaukee.