Infielder Prime one of Goldeyes’ final roster cuts

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This article was published 14/05/2019 (2357 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Tuesday was the American Association’s roster deadline day, and the Winnipeg Goldeyes were busy.

The Fish had 27 players in training camp and needed to trim the roster down to 23 and meet all league roster-requirement rules by noon.

The Goldeyes released first baseman Correlle Prime and right-handed pitchers Kevin McAvoy and Landon Hughes. All three players cleared waivers and are now free agents. Pitcher Eric Carter was placed on the inactive list and is ineligible to return before June 3.

Prime, who was acquired in an off-season trade with the Can-Am League’s Rockland Boulders, was the biggest surprise of the roster cuts. Prime hit .279 with seven home runs and 42 RBIs last season with the Texas AirHogs, but was outplayed in spring training for the starting first baseman’s job by Dominic Ficociello.

McAvoy was fighting for a spot in the starting rotation, but his spring training got off to a rough start. In the team’s spring-training opener, McAvoy came on in relief and recorded one out while being lit up for four hits and three earned runs against the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks. Hughes gave up the winning run in a 2-1 exhibition loss to the Lincoln Saltdogs on Sunday and left the game with an undisclosed injury.

The Goldeyes also announced they’ve added left-handed pitcher Christian Torres from the Saltdogs in a trade. Torres made 20 appearances for the Texas Rangers’ high-A affiliate last year, nine of which were starts, and finished with a 5-6 record and 3.36 ERA.

“We’re very short-handed from the left side of our bullpen, so we needed to find someone,” Goldeyes manager Rick Forney said in a media release. “He’s done really well in affiliated baseball and was available, so I didn’t hesitate to move on it.”

Each team must have a minimum of five rookies on the roster, and the Fish filled that quota with pitchers Mitchell Aker, Tyler Garkow and Brandon Bingel, as well as infielder Kevin Lachance and catcher Luis Touron.

The Goldeyes have no more room for veterans, as teams can only carry five on the roster. Third baseman Wes Darvill, relief pitcher Victor Capellan and outfielders Reggie Abercrombie, James Harris and Willy Garcia will be the club’s five veterans heading into opening day.

The Goldeyes closed out their exhibition schedule Tuesday night against the against the Kansas City T-Bones. The Fish swing into the regular season on the road against the AirHogs on Thursday.

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31