The Marlins introduced Monday that they’ve designated infielder Emmanuel Rivera for task and optioned righty George Soriano to Triple-A Jacksonville. Their roster spots will go to right-hander Adam Oller and second baseman/left fielder Connor Norby, whose beforehand reported promotions to the large leagues are actually official.
Acquired in trade for money after the D-backs designated him for task, Rivera appeared in 96 video games for Miami and tallied 229 plate appearances. He hit simply .214/.296/.269 in that point, clocking in 39% worse than a league-average hitter, by measure of wRC+. The 28-year-old supplied plus protection at third base, as he’s accomplished with the Royals and D-backs all through his three prior MLB seasons, and he stuffed in often at first base as nicely. The slick glovework on the scorching nook was now not sufficient to outweigh a trio of slash stats all sitting shy of .300, nevertheless.
Rivera is out of minor league choices, so the Marlins didn’t have the power to ship him to the minors with out eradicating him from the 40-man roster. Rivera will attain three years of huge league service time tomorrow, whereas he’s in DFA limbo, so he’d have been arbitration-eligible and due a increase this offseason had the Fish opted to maintain him on the roster. That may’ve made him a non-tender candidate anyhow, however Rivera will now be obtainable to the opposite 29 golf equipment through waivers. If he clears, he’ll have precisely sufficient service time to reject the task in favor of free company.
With Rivera jettisoned from the roster and Norby on the way in which up, it appears fairly potential that defensive-minded second baseman Otto Lopez will now slide over to 3rd base, with Norby taking frequent reps at second base. Lopez has graded out brilliantly at second base however supplied scant offensive manufacturing. Nonetheless, Lopez is youthful, extra versatile, extra controllable and nonetheless has a minor league choice remaining, so of the 2 defensive-minded righty-hitting infielders it’ll be Lopez somewhat than Rivera who retains his spot on the roster.