With a month of in the books, major league teams will begin to shuffle jobs. The Texas Rangers began yesterday by designating-for-assigment 1B/OF Jason Botts. The 27-year-old amassed an impressive minor league slash stat line of 293/399/384 but was never able to replicate it in parts of three major league seasons (242/329/336). He is officially 4A.
In his place, the Rangers recalled 1B Chris Shelton. Coming into 2008, Shelton had a minor league line of 311/412/500. In parts of three major league seasons, he did something Botss couldn't - he hit for some power with a slash line of 281/348/477. At 27, this is Shelton's last shot to shake the 4A label.
The Orioles sent SS Brendon Fahey to the minors. While the Orioles' have no obvious fill-ins in Fahey's utility role, there is little chance that Fahey set the bar so high that the opportunity isn't easy to grab for whoever gets the chance.
Here are some other hitters who could be on the way out over the next week or so - Shannon Stewart, Jack Cust, Rich Aurilia, Jason Michaels, Jamey Carroll, Brad Wilkerson, Cody Ross, Paul McAnulty, Ryan Freel, Jeff Baker. How much longer do these players' teams keep giving them ineffective ABs while denying opportunities for hungrier players to help their team?