The Rockies announced last night that first baseman Ben Paulsen and utility man Rafael Ynoa have been outrighted off the 40-man roster after being designated for assignment earlier in the week. Both players have the requisite minor league service time to qualify as free agents this winter.
The 28-year-old Paulsen mashed at a .284/.329/.479 clip in 420 plate appearances from 2014-15 with the Rockies, though those numbers are inflated by Coors Field and by the fact that his left-handed bat was largely shielded from left-handed pitching. This season, he batted just .217/.258/.304 in 97 PAs with the Rox and posted a fairly pedestrian .278/.331/.434 in the hitter-friendly Triple-A Pacific Coast League.
Meanwhile, the 29-year-old Ynoa went hitless in five plate appearances with Colorado’s big league club this year. He saw quite a bit of time in the Majors last season, slashing .260/.277/.339 in 131 PAs. Ynoa has nearly 1900 innings of experience at shortstop in the minors in addition to more than 4900 innings at second base. He’s also logged time in the corner outfield and at third base in both the Majors and minors. He’s a lifetime .274/.344/.364 hitter in the minors.
