So, I guess at this point it is going to be either lose Pache or demote Rojas. Marchan has one bench spot, Sosa will have 1 (once Turner returns) and I canât think of a way to eliminate Merrifield. Personally I would go with a 5 man bench, but we know Thomson will not. I just donât see a need for 8 relievers the way he manages, but that is not going to happen, soâŚ
Demote Rojas, reluctantly, until there is an injury. I donât want to just lose Pache and Castellanos resurgence has eliminated the question of ending his silly contract. Pache is not really a guy we should release, at least not this year, he could still be a solid 4th OF. Rojas has struggled, maybe some time with less pressure and some time to work on skills (he has them) might help. At some point we will need him, we certainly need him to be a cheap bat, defensive whiz and base stealing threat. I think he is just a little over his head this season, we hoped he would âlearnâ at the ML level, I am sure he has, but it just isnât translating to offense.
With catcher now a black hole of offense we canât just leave CF as an offensive wasteland. We are going to need a trade eventually, and Pache will not get us much, but he will be a nice 3rd player in the trade.