The offseason roster crunch has begun as the Colorado Rockies announced they have outrighted veterans Harold Castro, Austin Wynns, and Matt Carasiti off the Major League roster to make more room for the players they will need to activate from the 60-day injured list.
The Rockies announced today that RHP Matt Carasiti, INF/OF Harold Castro and C Austin Wynns have all been outrighted off the Major League roster.
— Rockies Club Information (@RockiesClubInfo) October 13, 2023
The Rockies currently have 37 players on the 40-man roster, with five players on the 60-day IL (Gilbreath, Gomber, Márquez, Rolison,…
The Rockies were going to need to make moves in order to alleviate roster bloating and unsurprisingly have chosen the route of dropping veterans who have little future with the team.
Harold Castro, joined the team on a minor league deal and ended up playing 99 games with the Rockies while batting .252/.275/.314 in 258 at-bats. He became a regular in the lineup at second base following Brendan Rodgers's injury earlier in the year while playing multiple other positions. Unfortunately, he was one of the least valuable players on the team as stated in our Ranking the Rockies article, and was due for arbitration and a projected salary close to $2 million for next season as he enters his age 30 season. Since he has three years of service time, Castro is eligible to reject the assignment and elect free agency, which is likely to happen.
Austin Wynns played the role of journeyman this season starting the year with the San Francisco Giants before moving to the Los Angeles Dodgers. After a few games with the Dodgers, the Rockies claimed Wynns off waivers in May, where he remained the backup catcher for the rest of the year. Between the three teams, Wynns appeared in 51 games and hit .208/.268/.277 with positive defensive grades. The team valued his work with the pitchers and his veteran presence and MLB Trade Rumors had him projected for a $1 million salary. It’s within the realm of possibility that Wynns stays with the club one way or another, but, like Castro, he is eligible to elect free agency.
Lastly, Matt Carasiti pitched 24 innings for the Rockies in his second stint with the team, posting a 6.29 ERA in 16 games with the team. He spent the majority of the year in Triple-A where he had much more success pitching to the tune of a 3.33 ERA in 27 innings over 25 games. Carasiti signed a minor league deal in December of 2022 and despite his struggles at the big league level turned in a successful campaign. Since Carasiti has already been outrighted in his career, the 32-year-old is also eligible to elect free agency.
The Rockies now have 37 players on the 40-man roster with five on the 60-day IL.
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