One of baseball's top prospects, Junior Caminero, has been sent down to Triple-A at spring training and won't crack the Opening Day roster.
The Tampa Bay Rays announced the move on Monday:
The following players have been optioned to minor league camp:
INF Junior Caminero
RHP Yoniel Curet INF/OF
Greg Jones
INF Austin Shenton
Caminero was one of several cuts for the Rays, who won 99 games last season and finished second in the American League East. He had been vying for the starting shortstop job in the wake of Wander Franco's legal situation, but now the team appears satisfied with Jose Caballero and Amed Rosario handling the duty. Caminero should still be up this season, as he made his major league debut last year after Franco was placed on administrative leave.
He is the No. 4 prospect in all of baseball entering the season, per MLB.com:
The following comes from a portion of his MLB.com prospect profile:
Starting from an open stance, the right-handed slugger routinely unloads on pitches of all kinds (especially fastballs) with exit velocities that would pop up Major League leaderboards right now, nevermind ones adjusted for age. It’s near top-of-the-scale power that plays to all fields -- eight of his 20 Double-A homers went the other way to right -- and it’s a big reason why Tampa Bay wanted him nearby in the playoffs. His plate discipline also improved as he climbed the ladder, and that, combined with his loud contact, should help him be a plus overall hitter, too.
He hit .235 in 34 at-bats after his call-up last season. He had one home run.
More must-reads: