Adam

Rosales

The 36-year-old announced Tuesday on Twitter that he was “hanging up his beat-up cleats and opening an exciting new chapter.” He also offered thanks to the eight different organizations that employed him throughout his 11-year major league career. Rosales batted .226/.291/.365 in 1,807 total plate appearances at baseball’s highest level while playing all around the diamond defensively. He even made two appearances as a pitcher.

Rosales has made a long career out of being a backup utility player. He has been in the majors every year since 2008 with six different clubs. He has yet to play in the majors in 2019 however and has struggled badly with the Twins’ Triple-A squad, slashing just .194/.263/.222 with zero homers in 80 plate appearances. He will have a better shot to get back to the majors with Cleveland than in Minnesota. The Indians have scored the second-fewest runs in the American League this year and could use a spark off the bench. Rosales will report to Triple-A Columbus and needs to start hitting a lot better before he will be under consideration for a call to the majors.

Rosales was released by Minnesota last Friday, but he is now back in the fold as Triple-A depth. The veteran utility infielder owns a weak .226/.291/.365 career batting line in 651 games at the major league level.

The 35-year-old looked like he was on his way to securing a bench spot on the team’s Opening Day roster when he started the spring 9-for-20 (.450), but Rosales went just 1-for-16 the rest of the way to seal his fate. He’ll most likely have to settle for a minor league deal elsewhere.

Rosales hit the first of what would be three home runs off of Keone Kela in the fifth inning. He finished the day 1-for-2 and is now hitting .450 (9-for-20) with three homers and six RBI. If he keeps this up, he’s going to hit his way onto the Twins’ Opening Day roster.

Rosales isn’t supposed to make the Twins, but he’s doing all he can to change that with eight hits and two homers in 17 at-bats this spring. It’s still hard to see how he fits, even with Miguel Sano on the DL until May. Perhaps another team will want him as a 25th man.

Rosales spent most of 2018 in Triple-A, though he did go 4-for-19 with a homer for the Indians in September. At age 35, he no longer has much to offer as a utilityman, and he probably won’t make the Twins unless injuries strike in spring training.

Rosales has been limited after falling on his left shoulder during a series of running drills, but A’s manager Bob Melvin was hoping to at least play him in the field on Monday. “It’s getting better,” said Rosales. “It’s just a little frustrating because I’ve been itching to get out there.” The 28-year-old infielder is in the mix for a bench job this spring.

Rosales was a defensive replacement during last week’s Opening Series in Japan, but didn’t have an official plate appearance. Eric Sogard will now function as the team’s primary backup middle infielder while Josh Donaldson should get most of the playing time at third base.

Donaldson entered Friday’s action hitting just .239 (9-for-39) with 11 strikeouts, but Melvin thinks his swing has looked better recently. Eric Sogard, Wes Timmons and Adam Rosales are also options, but the A’s appear prepared to let Donaldson sink-or-swim, despite the fact that he has just 34 plate appearance in the majors and is relatively inexperienced at the hot corner. He doesn’t look like much of a fantasy option outside of two-catcher AL-only formats.