The Rockies declined Alexi Amarista's option for 2017, and he now joins the ranks of free agents. As we wrote in Amarista's Ranking the Rockies post from early October, he made no real contributions to the team, and the Rockies could replace what he gave with minor-league filler.
This is a great story that cuts through a lot of the surface awareness and assumptions of team dynamics and highlights a moment fans can imagine having a resonating effect. After the Rockies' Wild Card loss, Patrick Saunders describes Charlie Blackmon making an effort to approach, embrace, and communicate confidence to Gray.