Rockies ‘leaning hard on’ breaking camp with 6 outfielders
The way Colorado appears to be using its roster spots is interesting to say the least.
After optioning most of their infield depth to the minors on Thursday, the Rockies are considering breaking camp with six outfielders, according to Troy Renck of the Denver Post.
Colorado somewhat-surprisingly sent Josh Rutledge to Triple-A and also optioned fellow infielder and roster hopeful Ryan Wheeler, per a team press release. The club is also expected to reassign veteran shortstop Paul Janish, tweets Renck, leaving utility player Charlie Culberson as the sole source of infield depth likely to crack the 25-man roster.
So, why is this news? Well, it's not often that big-league clubs put six outfielders on their roster at any point during the season, let alone at the beginning when wear-and-tear keeping a guy out of the lineup isn't usually an issue. It's even stranger for the Rockies, who have only two outfielders -- Carlos Gonzalez and Michael Cuddyer -- who qualify as everyday players. It would be one thing for a team like the Dodgers -- who have multiple All-Star caliber outfielders in the fold -- to carry that many, but it's an entirely different scenario for a team to carry four fringe guys when only two would do the trick.
It's especially strange because the list of outfielders the Rockies seem ready to add -- Gonzalez, Cuddyer, Drew Stubbs, Brandon Barnes, Charlie Blackmon and Corey Dickerson -- doesn't even include Culberson, who has spent time in left field in the majors.
That’s seven guys on one team capable of playing the outfield. Unless the Rockies believe they can circumvent the rules by placing all of them out there at the same time, there’s little reason to believe that’s an efficient use of roster space.
