The Rockies find themselves in something of an unenviable spot, coming off a 74-win season likely losing two of their most talented homegrown players — Trevor Story and Jon Gray — in free agency. Gray has already inked a four-year deal with the Rangers, and Story is widely expected to sign elsewhere, leaving the Rockies with a compensatory draft pick. They’re also staring up from fourth place at a pair of 100-plus win teams in San Francisco and Los Angeles, as well as one of baseball’s most aggressive front offices (and largest payrolls) in San Diego.
Many clubs in this spot would rebuild, but the Rockies (despite a thin farm system) have signaled no intent to do so. Quite to the contrary, newly minted GM Bill Schmidt seems keen on attempting to put together a competitive club next year. The Rox already re-signed first baseman C.J. Cron and extended righty Antonio Senzatela and catcher Elias Diaz. They resisted trading not only Story and Gray but controllable pitchers like German Marquez and Kyle Freeland at the July 30 deadline. As recently as two weeks ago, they were reported to be among the teams with interest in signing Kris Bryant.
If the Rockies are going to contend, they’ll need upgrades at various spots on the roster, with shortstop, the outfield and the bullpen standing out as potential areas of need. Still, despite that outfield need, both Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post and Nick Groke of The Athletic have at least raised the possibility of trading an outfielder away when the current transaction freeze is lifted: Raimel Tapia.
The 27-year-old Tapia (28 in February) has taken the lion’s share of playing time in left field for the Rox over the past three seasons, hitting at a combined .282/.327/.394 batting line (solid on the surface but a 79 wRC+). Tapia has just 16 home runs through 1186 plate appearances in that time, but he’s swiped 37 bags (with a 77.1% success rate). His 6.3% walk rate over the past three seasons is well below the league average, but he also rarely strikes out (17.5%, including a career-best 13.1% in 2021).
Tapia has received solid marks in left field from metrics like Defensive Runs Saved (4), Ultimate Zone Rating (6.0) and Outs Above Average (7) since emerging as a regular in the lineup at Coors Field. He’s at least capable of playing center in a pinch, having logged 189 innings there in his career (15 this past season, none in 2020, 83 in 2019).
He’s not the star the Rox might’ve hoped for when he ranked among the sport’s 50 best prospects in the 2016-17 offseason, but Tapia is a solid defender with above-average speed and good bat-to-ball skills. With two years of club control remaining and a projected $3.9MM salary in 2022 (courtesy of MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz), he’s also plenty affordable.
Perhaps that makes him something of an odd candidate to be moved, given the Rockies’ desire to compete, but it also wouldn’t be a surprise for the Rox to seek more punch in an outfield that was one of the least-productive in MLB last year. Rockies outfielders ranked 29th in MLB with an 82 wRC+, leading only the Royals (81). Only the D-backs (43) received fewer home runs from their outfielders as a group than Colorado (46, tied with Kansas City and Cleveland).
If the Rockies indeed secure an offensive upgrade in the outfield, it’s going to be tougher to find at-bats for Tapia. Charlie Blackmon, who’ll be paid $21MM next season, will remain a fixture in right field. Colorado has given Tapia all of 15 innings in center over the past two seasons even as Blackmon has moved off the position, suggesting that they prefer Tapia to remain in left. That’s where the vast majority of remaining free-agent outfielders would need to slot in, and if Colorado doesn’t want to play Tapia in center, he’d be left without a big role. He’s out of minor league options as well, so sending him down is out of the question.
The Rockies could always carry Tapia as a reserve outfielder, but they also have Sam Hilliard, Garrett Hampson, Yonathan Daza and Connor Joe as options. All four will earn less than Tapia in 2022, and Daza, like Tapia, out of minor league options. Carrying a pair out-of-options outfielders on the bench obviously wouldn’t be an optimal setup, and the right-handed-hitting Daza better complements lefties like Blackmon and Hilliard than Tapia, a fellow lefty hitter.
The return on Tapia wouldn’t figure to be enormous. He could net the Rox some secondary prospects or perhaps be swapped for an arm to slot directly into the big league bullpen. With many teams needing some help in the outfield — the Phillies, Guardians, White Sox, Marlins and Nationals, to name a few — it stands to reason that an affordable 28-year-old with two years of remaining club control would generate interest. Tapia isn’t a middle-of-the-order bat, but his blend of speed, defense, bat-to-ball skills and affordable club control ought to be enough for a few other teams to inquire on the former top prospect as they look to round out their own outfield mixes.
Blackmon too old and pricey for White Sox in RF.
IDK about Tapia. Can be play RF as well as he has LF?
Doubt it. His arm is crap. There is a reason why he is in LF despite having elite sprint speeds and decent glove work.
Tapia? He has one of the best arms in the NL. Very accurate and strong.
Is that why he has a career negative rARM (runs saved based on just his throws)?
Seriously? I don’t even know what to say.
How is his 69x420z since we’re on this topic?
I’ve probably watched half or more of the Rockies games on TV the past 20 years. Tapia isn’t down at the Johnny Damon level, but his arm is at best average for a big-league LF. Too weak to play in RF.
He also tends to make bad throwing decisions, trying to get outs where he has no chance and letting runners move up, but that’s a different problem.
If he can’t manage a 100 or better WRC+ playing half his games at Coors, White Sox don’t need him. Engel can do better and Sheets can platoon against righties.
WRC+ accounts for ballpark factors so the Coors argument doesn’t make any sense
Usually when an outfielder moves, we know he’s alive.
His beard is in the top 10 (hair today, gone tomorrow)
Yankees are obviously out
Beards are soft & cuddly, Yanks are not
how’s his CF?
Tapia has under-appreciated tools. Boston should inquire, though they have Willie Mays Hayes, sorry, JBJ, back in town.
Atleast Willie Mays Hayes hit .290, JBJ hit more than 100 points worse than that ….
He bulked up this winter. He’s a power hitter now.
so he’s Willie Mo Hayes now?
“yeah for a guy that will be bagging groceries in 2 weeks”.
As long as millions attend games while the Rockies lose, mediocrity will rule. There is no incentive to build a winner. Montfort is totally content to pad his accounts.
Is the problem that they don’t spend money?.. or that they don’t spend their money wisely?
They are one of the top spenders (per size of market) in baseball. Or were before the Arenado trade.
Mostly the 2nd…. Small markets can only throw so much money at double you’s. lol
@ CKinSTL;
Let the kids condemn all owners for being “cheap” if their teams don’t win. That’s a mainstay comment here on the MLBTR chatroom board. With a lot of the writers as well. Demagogues with no understanding of how winning baseball is played rule!
We all know that if only teams would spend more in payroll, then all teams would make the playoffs each year, and most would go to the WS. (Someone somewhere has a spreadsheet.)
KC, Oakland, Seattle, TB, Cleveland, Miami, Arizona, Baltimore, Washington, Pittsburgh- those are going to be your ten lowest payrolls in the league.
Going into ’22, would you wager on anyone but TB potentially winning anything?
You can spend foolishly and not win, but you rarely can win without spending unless you have an amazing GM, Samuel.
@Samuel:
Google ‘MLB Payroll versus wins’. The reason people say that spending more generally means you win more is because it’s true. It has nothing to do with ‘demagogues with no understanding’. It’s because, generally speaking, the more a team spends, the more a team wins. There are teams like the Rays (don’t spend a lot but win a lot) or my Mets (spend a lot, don’t necessarily win) that are counter-examples, but they’re the exception and not the rule.
rct- You make good points, but I don’t think there really isn’t a rule when it comes to spending
The Indians have been the best team in the AL central the last 5~7 years with little money….the A’s in the AL west, the Brewers in the NL central., TB AL East
They do all have one thing in common to me but its not payroll constraints. They are managed extremely well and draft and develop better than anyone else (Brewers so-so) but are managed so so well
Sure money has its virtues, but it’s still criminally over rated in here day to day on its affect imo. Give me a strong front office and coaching staff any day over a large payroll
We know that Washington and Baltimore can spend, but it doesn’t make a ton of sense to do so with where they’re at. I also wouldn’t be surprised to see SEA win.
That’s part of the problem. The biggest problem in baseball is not the fact teams can spend more. The biggest problems is that big market teams like LA or Boston can afford to make many mistakes and just get someone else. Heck LA often takes on other teams’ mistakes just to get prospects. Small markets teams like the Rays can’t afford to make a single mistake or they are done. And mid market franchises like the Rockies can pay big money but their big money mistakes cripple them for years.
Who has LA bought prospects from?
LA’S biggest problem is their own homegrown players have turned into superstars and with the bright lights every Oct get paid full dollar when the time comes
CKinSTL –
You hit the nail on the head. The Rockies have spent money in the most foolish ways of any MLB team that I can think of. Just one head-scratcher after another. Sign Arenado to a massive contract and then basically pay St. Louis to take him? Let Story walk for nothing but a draft pick? I’m still trying to make sense of the whole Ian Desmond thing LOL. At least the awesome Charlie Blackmon is only making 21 mil next year for his incredible production.
I wish this was taught in school, so fans wouldn’t have to learn these things in the streets. There is a huge difference between not spending, and spending foolishly. The three things you mentioned are glaring errors on the Rockies part, and show no signs of long-term thinking.
They aren’t just mistakes. They were predictable mistakes. If the RS sign Suzuki, and it turns our there is a hole in his swing, I can live with it. When you sign Desmond, and don’t even have an open position for him, it’s just such a waste of money.
Hampton probably will go back to 2B next year, now that Story is gone
No, that’s Brendan Rodgers. Rockies will bring in a second tier SS somehow, or play Ryan McMahon there. Hampson is a very good, sometimes fantastic, defensive CF and will likely play there in some sort of platoon with Hilliard. Daza’s a slightly lesser version of Hampson. A new guy will share RF and DH with Blackmon, which is why they’re looking at big bats who don’t contribute anything with the glove, like Schwarber. And they absolutely love-love-love Connor Joe, who was arguably their second best hitter after CJ Cron last year before he got hurt. He’s gonna play a lot of left. Tapia they will sell to whomever will pay his salary I suspect. While there are some things to like about Tapia (his speed, glove, contact ability) he also had one of the highest ground ball percentages in history last year, by far and away the worst in baseball. That’s not what teams are looking for.
Why don’t you tell me what the lottery numbers are?
Keeping them to myself. Don’t have to split winnings that way.
With mine, they are all the numbers between 1 and 49. You didn’t ask what the WINNING lottery numbers.
Oh I think it’s obvious that they are definitely going to do all of those things just like he said…LOL
Fellas, the stove is officially cold
Frozen
Tapia?,something sounds fishy to me!!
*slow clap*
Tapia doesn’t walk enough for the Phillies
Where’s the Marlins joke?
Tilapia?
Man I can’t wait for the rush of transactions when this crap is over!! Work under the current CBA at least for the offseason!!
Don’t hold your breathe
Yeah, don’t hold your *breathe* lol
“The Rockies find themselves in something of an unenviable spot…”
Steve Adams, you win the Understatement of the Day award. Congratulations and please keep up the dry wit.
I was thinking that Tapia would be ideal for the Pirates, who desperately need outfielders and really anyone who can hit. But then I remembered that Tapia makes money, so that rules him out.
Tapia can’t hit. That’s the problem
Why would the Pirates even want Tapia, regardless of money? He’s never had a wRC+ above 100, nor a wRC+ above 90 in at least 100 games played. He’s also ever once had an fWAR above .5 in a season. They’d be better off rolling with Gamel, then promoting like Swaggerty, Bae, Smith-Njigba, or Matt Fraizer.
Tapia can cover a lot of ground in that spacious LF at PNC Park and he gets on base enough and uses his speed to steal bases so he would be a huge improvement over the miserable options the Pirates have had batting leadoff the past eight years or so. At this point Tapia has pretty much established what he can and can’t do on a baseball field and nobody should expect him to be a difference maker for a contending team but that skillset would play well in Pittsburgh as a complementary piece if the Pirates had more than one guy driving the offense. That said between his salary, modest as it is, and limited amount of team control left on his contract it’s still a pretty bad fit but in a few years if some posion player prospects work out and the team goes and gets a middle of the order bat to play first base a player like Tapia could be very useful in Pittsburgh, just not now.
Ramiel Tapia? He has a career .325 OBP and this was the first time he managed an OBP above that 300+ PA’s. In 2019, he had a .309 OBP. If they wanted a less versatile, albiet better fielding Wilmer Difo, they would have just kept Difo. If a sub-.330 OBP hitter is all the Pirates are getting, they’re better off rolling the dice with Swaggerty or just signing a guy. No way would the Pirates, let alone any team, trade anything for a guy who has essentially been a replacement level player his entire career with a sub-80 wRC+.
Tapia can compete for batting average titles and is one of only a few Rockies that is really fun to watch. Plus he is still cheap. He is not going anywhere. Even if the Rockies spend on a couple of free agent bats, which I do not could on. They need a starter, a reliever and a shortstop. The big bat can be a DH, maybe Castellanos, Soler or Schwarber, but just one. Or Nelson Cruz or Rosario. I actually like that the Rockies want to be a 0.500 team rather than tanking and trading Tapia would be a mistake. Tapia is not an everyday CF best suited for LF.
Tapia’s probably the fifth best option on the Rox current roster for the OF, and that doesn’t include the prospect who’s really an infielder or the guy they’re gonna sign this off-season. He’s one of the worst hitters who plays regularly in baseball. His ground ball rate is not just the highest in baseball by a massive margin, it’s one of the worst of all time.
Per Baseball Reference
Tapia Avg. OBP 2B SBs OPS+ WAR
2020 .321 .369 8 8 98 0.8
2021 .273 .327 26 20 80 1.0
2022 .275 .328 24 15 (Proj)
Hilliard Avg. OBP 2B SBs OPS+ WAR
2020 0.210 .272 2 3 77 0.2
2021 0.215 .294 7 5 91 0.6
2022 0.229 .304 12 6 (Proj)
Daza hit 0.228 in second half so it can’t be him either
Don’t let facts get in the way for a guy who knows everything
W. Calhoun, Arihara, SBorz, Acuna, S.Walker to ROX for Tapia and Freeland, Sound reasonable.
I dont know if COL wants any of those players for Freeland.
If y’all still had Gallo that may have been enough. Gallo and his moonshots in Coors woulda been something to see.
Could probably trade Tapia for Pleasac or Civale, and a few nice throw ins from Cleveland.
LOL
Tapia .282/.327/.394 batting line (solid on the surface but a 79 wRC+) while playing his home games at Coors?
That’s worse than Hosmer – and we all know Hosmer is terrible.
Who would want him? Why even propose this? I’d think the writers and posters would be attacking Tapia….you know, like they did yesterday with Hosmer.
Absolutely correct. There can’t be much of a market for Tapia, who is basically a 4th OF without the reputation of being CF capable..
What teams seem to be seeking this offseason is a CF, with the Red Sox and Mets already snagging one and the Phillies, Marlins and others still in need. That would seem to infer that unless OTHER teams think Tapia can play there, guys like Hampson and Daza would draw as much or more interest (and I’m not saying either would generate a lot).
His ability to put the bat on the ball is amazing. A team that thinks they can fix his swing path and get the ball off the ground will go after him.
I appreciate your posts Samuel
Don’t always agree but your a {BIG} cut above the crowd in here.
It’s nice to see honestly as these boards have torpedoed in the last 2 years of quality posters
I can honestly say I only come to read about 10 peoples views on here and your easily one of them – Kudos
Silly comparison, yes, Hosmer and Tapia were both 1.0 WAR players in 2021, but Hosmer cost $21.0 million and Tapia was $1.9 million or over $19 million less
Tapia is a good piece for the Rockies who has rather limited trade value but still has room to grow, so the Rockies should squeeze what they can from him. I do agree that when Veen, Toglia and Doyle are ready, Tapia may slide quickly to a backup or even lose his roster spot. But for now, the Rockies have to roll with:
Tapia LF/RF
Rodgers SS
Blackmon DH
Cron 1B
McMahon 2B
Hampson CF
Joe RF/LF
Diaz C
Montero/Welker/Seager(FA) 3B
SPs Marquez, Freeland, Gomber, Senzatela, Lambert or FA
I think Hosmer might be a perfect trade match for Tapia. Both horrible, and Colorado gets to waste more money like they love to do!
Padres 2021 team payroll $126 million record 79-83
Rockies 2021 team payroll $80 million record 74-87
If either team was “wasting money” it was not the Rockies.
Hosmer and Tapia both had a 1.0 WAR in 2021.
Hosmer was $21 million/year. Tapia was $1.9 million/year.
Baseball Abstract has Tapia’s highest Similarity Score as Denny Sothern, a Dead Ball Era type player who played just after the Dead Ball Era was over.
baseball-reference.com/players/s/sothede01.shtml
Could be a big haul here…
Tapia had a higher war in 2021 than Conforto, Pederson or Rosario.
Tapia had 1 BWAR, representing a high point in his career, and “vaulting” his aggregate over the negative. If you’d rather have him than all three of the players you mentioned, I’m not going to argue with you, but I suspect most GM’s wouldn’t put Tapia at the top
Rockies should REBUILD and re-stock minors otherwise they are just stretching out their mediocrity without much depth to improve team.
The DH in the NL would solve the Blackmon in the Outfield problem.
The Rockies could solve two problems by letting Hampson play 2B (thus not having to figure out how to get him reps in the OF) and move Brendan Rodgers back SS replacing Story.
In reality the Rockies, like so many other teams, need a true Center Fielder which has somehow become in short supply in the Major Leagues recently
You know that because they finished with three fewer wins than the Angels, despite no Ohtani or Trout, they view this is as a brilliant strategy and will triple down on it.
Bryant signing there is FUNNY
Bryant will sign with the team that pays him.
The most.
Cardinals send Dejong and an upside pitching prospect for Tapia? They have a decent outfield but need depth
Does Tapia represent an upgrade over any of the Cardinals Outfielders though?
After O’Neill, Carlson and Bader, they have Yepez for LF only. So Tapia makes their roster, but he would have to fight for at-bats. Tapia is valuable to Rockies but I just can’t think of another team willing to offer much for him. I think he stays put.
Hey, I am a Tapia fan but if the dirty birds want to send McGreevy or Liberatore straight up for Tapia I would have no hesitation if I were the Rox. No way I see Cardinals doing that though. And Rox would not want DeJong, let alone with 6 mil due in 2022 and 9 mil due in 2023. Again, if Liberatore was in the deal, maybe taking DeJong’s salary hit would be worth it.
Blackman for Gregorius might be a win win for shedding unneeded salary.
Blackmon is long removed from being a CF option and Harper is set in RF. I guess he could play LF but he hasn’t since 2015. I don’t really see this overwhelming log jam the Rockies appear to have in the OF. If there is a DH, Blackmon surely becomes the top option. Tapia in LF, Daza/Hampson in CF, Hilliard in RF, and Joe as a super sub who can play all 3 OF spots as well as 1B/3B all fit on the roster.
Tapia hit -0- HRs on the road last year, in 230 ABs, and plays LF.
I wouldn’t mind him in ATL. He offers more offense than Heredia and Pache and would probably do well in CF in Truist considering it’s not cavernous like Coors.
Tomahawk takover
Why did tapia not play cf hardly ever even when not playing in coors? Coulda played great in other parks except coors?
One player is pache. A fairly recent top 100 prospect. Still don’t know value. But he plays cf.
Another option in cf for braves is acuna. Fred mcgillicutty. Peter griffin. My sister.
But your option to replace someone for Cf of the champion braves is ……..
Tapia.
15 cf innings played in ~2.5 years? Love it.
That’s the first thing that occurred to me during these discussions. CO has no regular CF. If Tapia had any aptitude for the position, then CO would’ve played him in CF.
I hope they give Hilliard a shot at starting. See what he’s got, I like the speed/power possibilities.
They have given him a shot and he has power but little bat to ball skills.
Meh, he’s been awful so far and wasn’t great in the minors either. I’d start out the season with Connor Joe at LF and maybe secede playing time to Hilliard if we have a losing record in June.
Ideally Rockies will make a move at Kiermaier. If we managed to resign Story and bring in Kiermaier, this could be the surprise team of 2022.
I’m missing why an almost LF-only 4th outfielder is “plenty affordable” at $3.9m. Seems like someone on the way to being nontendered next winter.
The entire article looks like a planted article from the CO FO. In the article, it states “the outfield ……… standing out as potential areas of need’ and then goes on to explain that they could trade out of an area of need. It’s like the saying the RS could use more BP depth, but we can trade Taylor & Brazier.
Past that, he had an OPS+ of 80 in 2021, and 80 for his career. Almora has a career 81, and can actually play CF. Pillar has a career 88 and can play CF. And those guys are free and cheap. and there are probably a dozen guys like that.
@JoeBrady Forget careers, Almora’s been in steep decline since 2017, and ‘gave’ the Mets a -12 OPS+ in 2021.
Something degenerative is going on. He’s still fast, but he’s put up a negative WAR every year beginning with 2019. It was foolish of the Mets to hang onto him. His next team will be fools even if he’s free.
If the Phillies didn’t DFA Medina they could have included him in a package for Tapia. They don’t have a lot of ammo in trades and I don’t think they have enough to pull a guy like Mullins to address CF. They can at least address LF with a capable player. This far we don’t have any capable OFs other than Harper.
IMHO, the Phillies would better off Keirmaier, assuming TB eats a bit of salary. Tapia,s history shows very little promise. The closest he’s ever been to being a real player was in 2020, with an OPS+ of .772, but that came courtesy of an unsustainable .392 BABIP.
He’s a 4th OF on most teams, which is why he shouldn’t cost much in a trade. Problem with Keirmaier is what do the Phillies really have of value to trade without hindering the main club? Could they bring back McCutch on a 1 yr 4 or 5 M deal to fill the gap, but he has bad wheels.
What you give up depends on how much salary you expect TB to kick in. I think KK is a lot like Renfroe was last year. Renfroe had some value, but TB couldn’t find a partner and cut him loos to save the money. I think all TB would look for with KK, is to get some salary relief. KK is still a real player. just likely not worth quite what he was getting.
What are you talking about? Kiermaier just put up a 3.4 rWAR season and has just 2/25m left with a team buyout if he craters in 2022.
You’ll have to give up a solid prospect to get him, and forget the Rays eating salary.