Rockies designate Jon Garland for assignment

The Colorado Rockies have designated Jon Garland for assignment according to a major league source.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>MLB source said that Rockies will designate Jon Garland to make room for Francis today</p>&mdash; Troy Renck (@TroyRenck) <a href="https://twitter.com/TroyRenck/status/343449695030497280">June 8, 2013</a></blockquote>

<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Despite Garland's recent struggles, Colorado fans should be thankful for his contributions to the team. Garland was brought in to stabilize the rotation and give the young arms of Tyler Chatwood and Drew Pomeranz more time to develop in AAA Colorado Springs, and in April, he did just that. Garland began the season 3-0 with a 3.32 ERA and was a huge part of the Rockies 13-4 start this season.

However, he has since regressed into the pitcher the Seattle Mariners thought he was when they released him in March. The righty is just 2-6 over his last nine starts with a 6.80 ERA and opposing hitters have a .972 OPS against him in that span. This, combined with the pitching depth they have waiting in the wings was enough for the Rockies to pull the trigger.

This move is also a piece of good news in that it likely confirms that the Rockies don't believe Tyler Chatwood's triceps soreness is serious. If they had any indications at all that his status was in jeopardy, they would have put this budding arm on the disabled list and hung onto Garland a little bit longer while the waited for Roy Oswalt to finish tuning up in AA Tulsa.

The rotation is likely to see more changes between now and the All Star Break, but today the first major domino has certainly fallen.