Rockies select first baseman Matt Adams, designate RHP Ashton Goudeau

The Rockies announced that they have selected first baseman Matt Adams, designated right-hander Ashton Goudeau for assignment and optioned outfielder Sam Hilliard.

The 32-year-old Adams joined the Rockies on a minor league deal last month, which came after he posted career-worst production with the Braves in 2020. Adams hit .184/.216/.347 over 51 plate appearances with Atlanta, causing the team to release him in early September. It was the second straight down year for Adams, who struggled with the Nationals in 2019.

While his most recent output has been poor, the well-traveled Adams has enjoyed a few solid seasons in the majors. The left-hander has logged four seasons with a wRC+ north of 100, including a personal-high 135 (.284/.335/.503) in 2017 with the Cardinals, and has hit 20 or more home runs on three occasions. Overall, Adams has batted .259/.367/.467 (106 wRC+) in 2,574 trips to the plate in the majors.

Now that he’s returning to the bigs, Adams will serve as a bench bat for Colorado, whose offense ranks dead last in the majors in wRC+ (77). He’ll give the team some depth at first base behind C.J. Cron, the Rockies’ most productive hitter this year.

The past several months have been quite an adventure for Goudeau, whom the Rockies previously designated for assignment last November. The Pirates then claimed Goudeau before losing him on waivers to the Orioles. The O’s lost Goudeau to the Giants, who lost him to the Dodgers, who lost him to the Rockies less than two weeks ago. If that trend continues, someone will claim Goudeau in the next week.

The soon-to-be 29-year-old Goudeau made his MLB debut with Colorado last season, but opposing offenses crushed him for 15 hits and seven earned runs in 8 1/3 innings and he issued as many walks as strikeouts (two). Goudeau was, however, highly effective at the Double-A level in 2019, when he notched a 2.07 ERA with fantastic strikeout and walk percentages of 30.1 and 4.0, respectively, across 78 1/3 frames.