The Rockies announced their 40-man roster moves in advance of today’s Rule 5 deadline, bringing their allotment back up to a full 40 players. Colorado selected the contracts of infielder Adael Amador, outfielder Yanquiel Fernandez, and right-handers Juan Mejia and Angel Chivilli.
There wasn’t much suspense over the first two moves, as Amador and Fernandez are two of the better prospects in all of baseball. Baseball America and MLB Pipeline each rank Amador as the 21st-best minor leaguer in the game, while Fernandez is ranked 47th by BA and 49th by Pipeline. The duo each reached the Double-A level in 2023 but didn’t perform particularly well, though Amador missed a lot of time with a broken right hamate bone. It seems likely that Colorado will start both back at Double-A Hartford to begin the 2024 campaign, but it wouldn’t be a shock if either Amador or Fernandez got a cup of coffee in the majors before the year is out.
Mejia had a combined 5.06 ERA over 58 2/3 combined innings with High-A Spokane and Double-A Hartford in 2023, but as MLB.com’s Thomas Harding wrote this week, Mejia looked quite impressive in Arizona Fall League action. Though Mejia had nine walks over his 8 1/3 innings in the AFL, he also struck out 17 batters, highlighting in rather extreme fashion his career-long trend towards both missing bats and battling control problems. The Rockies felt Mejia’s live arm is worth the protection, so the 23-year-old will now make a 40-man roster for the first time.
The 21-year-old Chivilli ran into some home run issues in Spokane this season, contributing to the 5.61 ERA he posted over 61 combined innings (57 in High-A ball, four at Double-A). Like Mejia, Chivilli has saved some of his best work for the offseason, pitching well in Dominican Winter League action.
