The Seattle Mariners made a big announcement this morning.
The club’s top prospect, Julio Rodriguez, has been named to the Opening Day roster.
A new era is beginning in Seattle.
The 21-year-old outfielder has had a solid spring training, hitting .419 with three home runs and eight RBIs in 31 at-bats.
Last season in the minors, Rodriguez hit .347 with 13 homers and 47 RBIs.
The J-Rod era has begun in Seattle, and Mariners fans now have an exciting young player they can look forward to seeing play as the team looks to build off of its surprise 90-72 finish from a year ago and end the longest standing postseason drought.
The time is now 🇩🇴🦁 @JRODshow44 has been named to our #OpeningDay roster. #SeaUsRise pic.twitter.com/5urb6hkzZC
— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) April 4, 2022
Hello, J-Rod!
Not only is the J-Rod era beginning in Seattle, but the Mariners have done something else as well.
By adding Rodriguez to their Opening Day roster, the Mariners are avoiding service-time manipulation, which was one of the major sticking points on the players’ side of negotiations during the lockout.
Though tanking may not be entirely curbed, the new CBA that was signed less than a month ago appears to be working in other aspects, service-time manipulation being one of them.
It’s good to see teams taking this seriously.
The Kansas City Royals are another team that is doing its best to avoid service time manipulation, naming Bobby Witt Jr., the top prospect in all of baseball, to their Opening Day roster.
It seems that teams are doing their best to not manipulate a young player’s service time and give them more flexibility early on in their careers.
Now, all we can do is sit back and wait to see what the J-Rod era has in store for us.
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