There was an interesting article the other day from Bill Chastain about CJ Cron’s playing time.
Basically, Cron is a known quantity, and a good hitter, and if the Rays were in contention for the playoffs, Cron would probably play almost every day. But because they no longer are in contention in the polarized American League, they’re taking away that playing time to get a look at some other players so they know more about them for next year.
Kevin Cash has explained all of this to Cron up front. There’s another side to this, which is that it could potentially cost Cron money in arbitration.