Paxton, Romero, and Taylor sent down to AAA

Some fresh news has come across the News Desk here at Lookout Landing and the long and short of it is as follows:

Paxton, Taylor and Romero optioned to Tacoma

— Ryan Divish (@RyanDivish) March 28, 2016

Yes, joining friends named Shawn O'Malley, Mike Zunino, and Boog Powell in AAA Tacoma are the likes of Chris Taylor, James Paxton, and Stefen Romero. This being the final week of Spring Training, we will be surely recieving a lot of news on roster moves such as this one as the week wears on, so buckle up. The announcement this morning comes as no real surprise, at least with Romero and Taylor.

Stefen Romero's future on the 25-man roster looked to be as the righty platoon partner with Adam Lind at first base. His flexibility to also play corner outfield, if needed, made him appealing to some as a player who could make the roster and help in multiple positions. Scott Servais said he will get reps at both first base and OF while in Tacoma. Speaking of utility, Chris Taylor, after the demotion of Shawn O'Malley, was battling with Luis Sardinas for the "every man" role. Luis flashed a bat that has never shown quite as shiny at the Major League level, and played a slick SS while showing an ability to play OF spots and grow there. Chris had a rather shaky Spring for a guy looking to win a roster spot, and while I'm sure we will see him soon, he goes to AAA to get reps at SS/3B/2B and get his bat back in order.

James Paxton was battling Nate Karns for the fifth spot in the rotation and as of two weeks ago, the arsenal just didn't look quite as finely tuned as Karns'. James goes down to AAA to prepare himself for what I'm sure will be at least ten MLB starts with the M's this year, if not more.

To say it shortly, I think these are all moves we expected. What it means is that the Opening Day roster is a lot more certain as of this morning. Luis Sardinas is the utility man, Dae-Ho Lee has won the platoon first base job, and Nate Karns enters the season as the final man in the rotation. I don't think any of these position battles ended with any real surprise, barring maybe Sardi making the roster over O'Malley. Karns simply looked to have more pitches ready for the season, DHL did nothing but hit and his first base was better than expected (by the eye test), and Sardinas has done everything you'd ask a guy to do in Spring to make the roster.

I'd expect to see all three of Taylor, Romero, and Paxton this year be it a September call-up with the expansion or something much earlier. These are the sorts of players that should give you comfort being stashed in AAA. Tacoma is pilling up a lot of fun players and should be a great watch this year, all while the MLB roster has legitimate players waiting in the wings for when something goes off of the plan. We'll talk more about these moves and others as the week goes on, but here's to things taking shape.

Real baseball coming soon. We promise.

love and goms