Designated RHP Bartolo Colon for assignment.
Selected the contract of LHP Rex Brothers from AAA Gwinnett.
Sent RHP Chaz Roe to GCL Braves on a rehab assignment.
Designated RHP Bartolo Colon for assignment
Well, we certainly thought this was a possibility. Yesterday, I mentioned that Colon has been a victim of bad luck, and he has. But even adjusting for luck, he’s been bad, with an ERA over 5. DRA, which adds in the quality of competition, is even harsher, suggesting that Colon’s 8.14 ERA is only slightly off of where it should be (8.00). While it would have been fine to see what happened with Colon in the bullpen, he doesn’t have an ideal skill set for that role. Perhaps due to that or out of respect for the veteran himself, Atlanta is opting to just move on. The salary investment is a sunk cost, so at this point it’s all about playing time and the roster spot. Atlanta decided, and probably rightly so, that Colon just isn’t worth having on the roster anymore.
I hope it’s not the end of the road for Colon. He’s had a pretty great career, and you just don’t want to see it end in this fashion. Here’s wishing him the best of luck. I wish his time in Atlanta had been more fun, bigger and sexier, but what can you do? It ends for most guys before they’re 44.
[personal note: I’ll always remember Bartolo pitching the first game I attended at STP. He was actually kind of brilliant that day, unlike most games with Atlanta.]Selected the contract of LHP Rex Brothers from AAA Gwinnett
Over his first three seasons, Brothers was a pretty good reliever. Colorado employed him as a closer for a bit in 2013, and he was fully on track to become an upper-tier relief ace. Then, in 2014, everything fell apart. Brothers was wild (over 6 BB/9) and ineffective (6.61 DRA). Some of it was injury-related, and some of it came from mechanical meddling from the Colorado organization. 2015 was a lost season spent in AAA, where he was even worse than before. He didn’t pitch in ’16, and then came to the Atlanta system for this season.
With just 12 minor league innings under his belt, Brothers seems to have righted his problems. That’s an incredibly small sample, but it’s all we have at the moment. In those 12 innings, Brothers has allowed 9 hits, 5 walks, and 4 runs. He also has 22 strikeouts. It’s an eye-opening number, and while we can’t really know if Brothers has fixed everything in a span of 12 innings, there’s no better place to find out than in the majors. With two more years of team control via arbitration, Brothers is an attractive commodity. Atlanta could keep him around or unload him at the deadline. For the latter to even be an option, they’re going to need to get him some innings at this level. It will be interesting to see what he can accomplish. After 2015, it seemed questionable if Brothers would ever make it back to the big leagues, so this is an exciting day for him. If he can maintain that strikeout rate, it’s an exciting day for the rest of us.
Sent RHP Chaz Roe to GCL Braves on a rehab assignment
Roe has been a sneaky good reliever for a few years now, posting a sub-4 DRA every year of his career (2.85 last year), so the Braves would certainly love to add him back into the bullpen mix. Out since mid-April with a lat strain, the team will ease the 30 year old into his return.
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