Reds release Pete Rose Jr.
Hit king's son refused return to Class AA
Posted: Thursday June 18, 1998 02:47 PM
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Rose led the Class AA Chattanooga Lookouts with 137 hits, 98 RBIs and 27 errors last season (AP) |
CINCINNATI (AP) -- Pete Rose Jr. refused to return to the Cincinnati Reds' Class AA
farm club Thursday and was released by the team his father played for.
The Reds reassigned Rose Jr., 28, from Class AAA to their Class
AA farm club Wednesday, saying he needed to play more regularly. Rose Jr.,
the son of baseball's all-time hits leader, had been passed over by younger
players who are being evaluated as part of the franchise's rebuilding.
Rose Jr. hit .277 with three homers and 13 RBIs in 42 games for
Indianapolis. He told the club Thursday that he would rather become a free
agent instead of going back to Class AA Chattanooga. His agent,
Joe Bick, was in Hawaii and did not immediately return a message left at
his hotel. Rose Jr. got his first major league call-up last
September and went 2-for-14 in 11 games with nine strikeouts.
We appreciate all he did for us, general manager Jim Bowden said. We're
glad we were able to give him the opportunity to realize his dream of
playing in the major leagues. Rose Jr. had hoped to make it
back to the majors this season, but lost playing time to more promising
prospects at Class AAA. Aaron Boone,
younger brother of second baseman Bret Boone, has
been playing third base at Indianapolis, which is Rose's customary
position. Rose Jr. worked on playing first base over the winter to become
more versatile, but Roberto
Petagine and Sean Casey have taken over that position. We
felt he needed to play instead of sitting at Triple-A, Bowden said. 'We
told him he had a better chance to be called up in September if he played
every day in Chattanooga rather than sitting on the bench in Indianapolis,
but we respect his opinion and wish him nothing but the best.
Bowden said the Reds offered him a coaching position in the minors, but
Rose Jr. declined. He made it very clear he's not ready to do
that at this point, Bowden said. In his first six professional
seasons with various organizations, Rose Jr. didn't make it above Class A.
He joined the Reds' farm system in 1995 and had what amounted to a
breakthrough season last year, when he hit .308 at Chattanooga and got his
first promotion to the Class AAA level. The Reds rewarded him
by including him in the September call-up and started him off at
Indianapolis this season, the first time he had started a season at the
highest level of the minors.
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