Ring Around the Rosie: Adam Rosales’ Sprinting Comes Full Circle
By Nick Avila
Jun 6, 2013; Chicago, IL, USA
David Banks-USA TODAY Sports
In a little over a week Adam Rosales has been designated for assignment twice, has been shipped out of Oakland, has gone to Texas, and has returned to Oakland, where he has been for the past four years. In the last four weeks, Rosales has been designated for assignment three times (twice by the Oakland A’s and once by the Texas Rangers). To put it simple: Rosales went from the A’s to the River Cats, back to the A’s, then to the Rangers, and finally back to the A’s. Got it? Good.
Now I’ll get to the production. Rosales is having a not-so-extraordinary – many might even say, a positively torturous – season. But even with his .193/.268/.319 triple-slash line, it was sad to some to see the always grinning infielder go. On the other hand, with the highlight of Rosales’ season being a possible game-tying home run that was ruled a double against the Cleveland Indians, thanks again to Angel Hernandez, some fans were overjoyed to see the 30-year-old shown the door.
Now that you’ve been hit with the background information, let’s double track: A player was DFA’d three times in four weeks!? Somebody check the record books; that has to be up there. Why do the A’s need Rosales? (Let me throw in that the relationship is eerily similar to a bipolar teenage couple’s.)
Rosales is maintaining a decent .247/.333/.390 line against left-handed pitchers in Bob Melvin’s second base platoon that also includes Eric Sogard, who has been on a bit of a hot streak (a 13-game hitting streak to be exact). With the production from Sogard, it brings the question: Do the A’s even need Rosales?
The thought becomes even more confusing when you look at the move the A’s made eight days ago.
The A’s just traded infielder Grant Green, a top prospect at one point, for Los Angeles Angels infielder Alberto Callaspo. Why are the A’s adding another infielder? Callaspo’s triple-slash (.242/.314/.374) is a little worse than Rosales’, but when you look at the fact that the A’s let their 2009 first round draft pick go for Callaspo, and waived Rosales in the process, then you’d assume Callaspo is pretty safe on the roster. Although he did injure his arm in Wednesday’s loss, it didn’t seem to be DL worthy.
Another question that pops up is: Why did the Rangers put in a claim on Rosales?
After the A’s designated Rosales for assignment for the second time in July, the Rangers surprisingly swooped in and claimed him. The Rangers and A’s are currently tied for the American League West lead, but that wasn’t the case prior to Rosales’ move to Texas. Rosales was added just in time for the three game series between the teams, but didn’t see any action.
So what did the Rangers want with Rosales?
Maybe it was a scare tactic, maybe the Rangers were worried about Rosales’ one hit in 16 at bats against them on the year, or maybe they gained valuable information about the A’s by torturing Rosales!
Or maybe, the A’s were worried about a Rangers push, so they sent a mole into enemy territory! The plot thickens…
However you look at it, I think we can all agree, it’s an odd situation. Now, I guess, we wait for the corresponding move on the 25-man roster and prepare for some sprinting.
UPDATED: Rosales was designated for assignment, for the third time in a little over a week, on August 10.
UPDATED: Rosales was claimed by the Texas Rangers on August 13.