This afternoon, the Tampa Bay Rays announced that they will be without the services of OF Colby Rasmus for the rest of the season. Rasmus (hip) has been on the DL since June 23. The team has placed him on the restricted list.
The Rays official statement on Colby Rasmus
The #Rays have placed OF Colby Rasmus on the restricted list. pic.twitter.com/Z28sYZ5SfI
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) July 13, 2017
It is not common that organizations utilize the restricted list. In the event that Rasmus comes back to baseball, he cannot sign with another team. It remains to be seen whether or not Rasmus has played his final days of Major League Baseball.
“The Restricted list is a compendium of players who are out of organized baseball but are not free agents. A team can request that a player be placed on the restricted list if that player has left the team without a valid reason, or has announced his intention to retire but is still of an age or level of skill that could allow him to return to professional baseball in the future. In effect, the team states that it retains rights to the player if and when he becomes active again. The list is also used to place a player who is unavailable to play for non-baseball reasons, such as personal issues or trouble with the law”
Rasmus had off-season surgery on the hip and was subsequently left off the Opening Day roster as he recovered. After missing the entire first month of the 2017 season, Rasmus made his debut for the Rays on May 2.
It was thought that Rasmus would be ready to re-join the team in August after lingering issues with tendinitis delayed his recovery. However, the news of his “stepping away”, questions if the injury is more severe.
In 37 games, Rasmus had nine home runs, 23 runs-batted-in, and a .281 batting average.
Mallex Smith and Peter Bourjos will now see an even-more expanded role once Kevin Kiermaier returns from the disabled list.
