The Blue Jays announced that they have designated first baseman/outfielder Chris Colabello for assignment in order to clear room on the 40-man roster for newly acquired left-hander Jayson Aquino.
Toronto claimed the 31-year-old Colabello off waivers from the Twins back in December. Colabello was a feel-good story for the Twins and for baseball fans in general over the past two seasons, making his big league debut at the age of 29 after spending seven season in the independent Canadian-American Association. Much was written about Colabello refusing to give up his dream, and the Massachusetts native made the most of an invitation to big league camp with the Twins in 2012 by posting gaudy numbers at Double-A and Triple-A before finally getting a look in the Majors.
Colabello enjoyed a big month of April this season, hitting .295/.343/.484 and driving in 27 runs, but much of that was attributable to a .379 BABIP, and he quickly saw his production deteriorate. While the former indy ball star is just a .214/.284/.364 hitter in 401 big league plate appearances, he’s authored a massive .319/.393/.574 batting line with 34 homers in 629 Triple-A plate appearances.