Rockies center fielder Charlie Blackmon has changed representation and is now a client of the ACES agency, reports ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick (Twitter link). The move comes at a crucial time for Blackmon, who is eligible for arbitration once more this winter before reaching free agency next offseason.
Blackmon’s new reps’ first order of business will be to engage the Rockies in negotiations on his next contract. Odds are, the sides will focus first on avoiding arbitration. MLBTR predicts that Blackmon will nearly double his 2017 salary of $7.3MM, with the algorithms projecting a $13.4MM arb value.
Of course, the opportunity to chat might also lead to some exploration of a longer-term deal. Blackmon will turn 32 next summer, so he’s not as youthful as fellow mid-arb star Nolan Arenado. And the Rockies do have a variety of players under contract into the future that might help make up for his theoretical loss in free agency. Still, it will be tempting to see what it might cost to keep Blackmon’s bat at the top of the lineup into the future.
If the sides can’t work out an extension, Blackmon figures to hit the open market in 2018 as one of the premier free agents available. While his age will tamp down his earning power, few free agents will be able to match his recent track record of productivity, barring a collapse in the season to come. Indeed, the veteran has taken his game to a new level in 2016-17. A two-time All-Star, Blackmon was a solid bat with some power and speed through the first few years of his career, but he won an NL Batting Title in 2017 and has turned in an overall .327/.390/.578 line with 66 homers and 31 steals over the past two seasons.
That’s enough output with the stick to make Blackmon a significant asset even if he eventually moves over to a corner spot. Just how much his future is worth, though, is a complicated topic of its own. If he and the team do sit down at some point, it isn’t tough to imagine the Rockies being willing to promise another three years and Blackmon’s reps seeking five, with the sides also sure to haggle over the annual value of the deal. It will be interesting to watch and see whether accommodation can be reached at some point over the coming months.
Blackmon’s switch in representation is now reflected in MLBTR’s Agency Database, which contains information on more than 2,500 Major League and Minor League players. If you see any errors or omissions, please let us know: mlbtrdatabase@gmail.com.
Blackmon’s former agency was Sports One Athlete Management for those who want to know.
I was about to say once again, Why not name his former agency in the post? It is half the story. He left x agency, he joined y agency. The rest of the post is just musing on his future prospects insofar as free agency or an extension is concerned. While this is good reading it would have been just as valid and topical as commentary if he hadn’t changed agency, which makes it somewhat random.
It would be a better post if you discussed the possible impact the change has, like if he went from an agent that doesn’t do a lot of extensions to an agent that does a lot of extensions, that could be a sign that he is more likely to do an extension, something like that.
Thank You Ryan
Thanks. I wanted to know. I have no clue why the former agency is never mentioned. The argument that it looks poor for the former agency is not valid. Players change representation quite often. To report the change but not mention who is replaced is only half reporting
This info is available by copying the agency database link, Googling “wayback machine,” clicking the first result, pasting the link into the search bar and then picking a screenshot from before the player changed agencies. I will continue to post it in the comments until MLBTR stops leaving it out.
Are Blackmon’s numbers inflated any at all because he plays at Coors field? I am not trying to be critical in any way, I know he is one of the best lead-off hitters to ever step up to the plate. IMO, a .327 lead-off hitter obviously knows how to get on base, but just curious about how he would do outside of the mile high city. Maybe better, who knows? He is a very very talented and gifted hitter no doubt.
.276 away from Coors Field in 2017. For his career .264. Clearly, clearly, clearly (once again) batting stats from Colorado do not represent the real value of a hitter.
Its valueable to the Rockies.
Cuddyer and Morneau won batting titles in Colorado. Loved those guys, but meaningless.
not meaningless at all, it still takes major talent to lead the entirely league in batting average
If the Rockies traded for Stanton……..
……….and played 162 games at home…….
1. Stanton would easily break Bonds HR record…..maybe by August!!!
2. Batting Champs would almost always be from the Rockies
3. Virtually every offensive record on the books wold be in jeopardy.
Nope
It’s not meaningless just because they played in Coors. Though the two players you mentioned did perform better at Coors (Morneau:.327/.363/.515. Cuddyer: .356/.414/.582), they performed very good away as well (Morneau: .309/.364/.475. Cuddyer: (.311/.367/.485). Though Blackmon does benefit greatly from Coors.
The NL leader in batting average would still only come from Colorado about once, maybe twice a decade. To use an atrocious comparison simply for dramatic effect, altitude to offensive numbers is somewhat akin to steroids but in a much more limited scale. Neither can make Pedro Alvarez hit a down and away slider from a lefty pitcher or Chris Carter to hit basically any breaking ball that breaks instead of hanging for example, but both altitude and steroids could make them hit it farther and/or harder if they could hit those pitches in the first place.
Kudos to Cuddyer, Morneau and Blackmon, not Denver.
Yes, Coors Field inflates stats for hitters, BUT the road stadiums in the NL West (aside from Arizona) really deflate road stats for Rockies hitters as well. 75% of the Rockies division road games (and about 50% of the total road averages) happen in the most unfriendly stadiums for hitters. That leads to the inordinate gap between the favorable home stats and the unfavorable road stats. Plus even if you don’t buy that argument, you have to at least concede the fact that Rockies hitters are the only ones in the league that don’t get Coors inflated stats added to their road averages.
I have followed the Rockies intently since the franchise started in 93. The best way to use H/R splits is to ignore them completely because neither is very telling. Playing in Denver is just so different than anywhere else that the H/R stats are just meaningless.
The H/R splits confirm Denver’s skewed offensive propensity, not invalidate them….
hlflew……………….That’s like saying ……….
“We Have 11 children. That may seem like a lot, but it’s really not. If you did a survey, you’d find that most of our neighbors either don’t have kids or only have 1…….so our surplus just helps make up for their lack”……
In addition, you’ve suggested that “The players on those other teams play at a disadvantage……because of the stadiums they play in”. You’ve actually stated that “50% of the Rockies’ road opponents” suffer from that. LOL
“Playing in Denver is just so different than anywhere else that the H/R stats are just meaningless”
That’s Hilarious!
Isn’t THAT the essence of “Why H/R Splits Exist???”……..to identify parks that are…..
1. More pitcher friendly
2. More hitter friendly
Blackmon’s H/R Splits for 2017……………
Decide for yourself…….Numbers Don’t Lie
Home……………..391/.466/.773/1.239
Away………………..276/.337/.447/.784
His RHP/LHP splits are nowhere NEAR this different.
He hits Much Better when the count is in his favor…0-0, 2-0, 2-1, 3-1 are his 4 best counts to hit……
Surprisingly……..his Chase Field numbers are horrible…..182/.200/.273/.473
There is no reason for Colorado not to trade him now then. He’s easily replaceable and they can let someone else overpay for him.
Teams would line up for Blackmon. SF, STL, & CLE are just 3 I can think of off the top of my head who need a true CF. I just don’t see COL trading him now even if it makes a ton of sense.
you would be surprised how few teams will trade or sign him as free agent. teams dont want 270 hitrer with little or no power outside of Denver. I would not want him on any team outside of denver.!!!!!!!!!!
Saying Charlie Blackmon is easily replaceable is like saying Scottie Pippen was easily replaceable for Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls teams just because you could find a bunch of players in the league who could score more points, or get more rebounds or have more assists if you want to single out specific aspects of the game. Blackmon, like Pippen, does everything well and that is very hard to replace.
Denver sucks as a fan I don’t watch ro attend any games in Denver as its not a baseball game that is watchable. If i want to watch a bad game I can watch mnior leage games or high school games. Denver is bad for visiting teams pitching staff, it hurts them for 2 weeks after some teams just don’t try to win in de3nver because they care more about big pitcher like hole season.