Trail Droppings 2042-10 First Round of Cuts

[indiansfan]

First Round of Cuts

The Pioneers announced their first round of cuts today, reducing the roster to 34 players. The team still needs to reduce the roster by 7 more spots. All of the players announced today will be sent down to AAA St. Paul or AA Duluth. Here are some of the key players and the reason given for their demotion.

C - Andy O'Quinn - He had a great training camp hitting .455 with 7 RBIs in only 22 at bats. The addition of Barrera doomed his chances at making the team.

INF/OF - Robinson Trujillo - A mediocre camp didn’t help Trujillo and the team also decided to send him back to AAA to work on learning some additional positions. By learning 1B, 2B and RF, he will turn into a super sub.

INF - Ian Patrick Anderson - Last year’s utility man has apparently lost his job to a Rule 5 invitee. Anderson will go down as remain in Calgary’s system as injury insurance.

SS - Alex Herman - Another guy going down to AAA to learn some more positions. Herman proved he doesn’t have a big league bat yet so he will spend this season learning the rest of the infield.

OF - Steve Rogers - This guy did everything right. He hit .300, with 3 HR, 10 RBI, and a .967 OPS in training camp. He improved fielding. He proved that he is BBA ready but there just isn’t a spot for him on the roster. So he will spend another year at AAA and be first up if the team suffers a major injury.

CF - Juan Valverde - The newcomer only hit .139 in camp and with the glut of outfielders his demotion was a no brainer.

SP - Tokimasa Ihara - One of the guys in the running for the #5 spot had a terrible spring. With only 2 AAA games under his belt he will go to St. Paul to work on his consistency. He could be a mid season call up.

RP - Manuel Garza - Despite 2 seasons of AAA ball, Garza will be going to St. Paul again. Until he improves his slider, he just isn’t going to cut it in Calgary. A terrible spring didn’t help.

RP - Dwight Owens - In 4 games pitched this Spring he didn’t give up a run and averaged 10K per 9. The team really likes what they saw, but Owens needs some seasoning and has not pitched above AA.

RP - Ismael Guzman - He pitched 14 innings in camp and struck out16 while posting a .64 ERA. However his change up and knuckleball need more work so the 21 year old will go down where he can get more innings and work on his pitches.

[RonCo]

Some good players in that mix.