Last week the Rays cleared two 40-man roster spots by designating infielders Reid Brignac and Elliot Johnson for assignment.
They traded Johnson to the Royals as the player to be named later from the big James Shields swap and now they’ve traded Brignac to the Rockies for a PTBNL or cash considerations.
It makes sense that they didn’t have to simply waive Brignac, because despite hitting just .227 with a .586 OPS in 256 games as a big leaguer and not even producing much at Triple-A he’s a good defensive shortstop and former top prospect who’s still just 27 years old.
Brignac won’t be playing shortstop in Colorado unless Troy Tulowitzki gets hurt again, but he could work his way into the mix at the other infield spots while serving as a utility man.
