Colorado Rockies option Drew Stubbs to Triple-A, recall Brandon Barnes

The Rockies have officially addressed the gigantic elephant in the room.

Drew Stubbs, whom the team tendered a $5.825 million contract to prior to the season, has agreed to be optioned to Triple-A Albuquerque, Purple Row's Drew Creasman has learned (now official). The Rockies will recall Brandon Barnes from Triple-A to replace Stubbs on the 25-man roster.

Stubbs has struggled at the plate since the onset of spring training, striking out in 31 of his 56 plate appearances this season after posting a similar K rate in the spring. The 30-year-old outfielder has just six hits and three walks, good for a .118/.182/.255 batting line in 24 games for the last-place Rockies.

Despite his issues this year, it wasn't a poor decision by the Rockies pay him last offseason. Their injury and depth woes, combined with Stubbs' .289/.339/.482 line in 424 plate appearances last year, had few questioning the move. That is, until he looked completely lost at the plate in 2015.

Stubbs entered this season with three options remaining but the Rockies didn't have the ability to remove him from the 25-man roster without his consent due to the veteran having five-plus years of service time.

As for Barnes, he will provide solid defense, speed on the base paths and energy to a team that is in need of all three. He may not give the Rockies much with the bat, though; after hitting .257/.293/.425 in the majors in 2014, he owns a paltry .205/.266/.364 line for Albuquerque this season.