Rockies first baseman/catcher Wilin Rosario has elected free agency after clearing outright waivers, per MLB.com’s Thomas Harding (via Twitter). As a player with more than three years of service time, Rosario had the right to reject his outright assignment.
Rosario owns a lifetime .273/.306/.473 batting line in parts of five big league seasons. That looks rather impressive at first glance, but represents roughly league-average production overall once his time at Coors Field is weighed in. Last year was Rosario’s worst at the big league level — excluding a short stint as a 22-year-old — as he managed only a 79 OPS+ in his 242 MLB plate appearances.
The 26-year-old was one of several arb-eligible players recently designated for assignment by Colorado. MLBTR projected him to earn $3.2MM through arbitration, and that pay rate obviously proved too steep both for the Rockies and the rest of the league.
It seems likely that Rosario will find a new home, though it remains to be seen whether any other organizations still believe there’s hope for the 26-year-old behind the plate. As a backstop, Rosario’s high-power bat holds quite a bit of appeal. But if he’s limited to first base or DH duties, there’s obviously much less upside.
He has value as a platoon 1B/DH, he’s so awful at catcher just can’t play him there. Career 319/356/6004/960 numbers against lefties.
Career .260 OBP away from Coors Field.
Don’t judge Rockies hitters by their road numbers as Rockies. Look at what they do after they leave the team. There is a road penalty when you hit for Colorado that doesn’t exist for any other team. It’s probably almost as strong as the home benefit.
Not to mention the fact that Colorado’s division road schedule includes SF, LA, and SD, three of the most pitcher-friendly parks in the league.
Those parks have little to do with his awful plate discipline.
As said by Seamaholic there is a very real road penalty when it comes to players playing in Colorado that I believe Eno (maybe I got person wrong) studied. Rosario is useless against righties but he has a 144 wRC+ against lefties over his career, which you know adjusts for the coors effect.
Good guy, huge thunder in that bat when he gets a fastball. Bad anywhere in the field, although his emergency ability to play multiple positions has a little value. Hope he finds the right home.
He’s worth a flyer….. if teams are Wilin…
Jays should sign him as a backup catch and first baseman Martin can show him a thing or two about being an effective catcher
The Rays could try and unload Loney, then platoon Rosario with Morrison at 1B. Would add some power to the lineup.
Enjoy Cleveland Wilin
He was jerked around so much last year I don’t take his numbers to heart as much as some. I could easily see him going somewhere and turning it around like Big Papi and EE did.