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Today the Padres officially announced the signing of Alexei Ramirez. To make room on the 40-man roster, Rymer Liriano was designated for assignment. Liriano was at one time a top-50 prospect, but after undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2013, his trajectory flattened out. He saw some time with the big league club in 2014, during which time he did this glorious thing:
Unfortunately, that was his only homer out of 121 plate attempts, over which he slashed a meager .220/.289/.266. 2015 was a much better year as he slashed.292/.383/.460 in AAA, but was blocked for most of the season and didn't get a call-up in September. Some were keen to note his absence from the expanded roster and that it might suggest a lack of confidence among the front office folks.
Rymer Liriano is out of minor league options. That means that he either had to make the 25-man roster or get DFA'd. In some ways, this was not a surprise. With Matt Kemp, Melvin Upton, Jon Jay, Rule-5 pick Jabari Blash, Travis Jankowski, and Alex Dickerson in camp, it was highly unlikely that Liriano was going to stay with the squad for long anyway. While he showed so much promise for so long, it's time to bid farewell for a prospect who never bloomed under the Padres watch.