The Rockies are one of the few teams clearly out of playoff contention a month from the deadline. That positions them as a likely seller, though Colorado has generally been reluctant to deal players in recent summers even as they’ve typically been near the bottom of the standings.
Jon Heyman of the New York Post writes that Colorado is expected to be open to offers on most of their impending free agents. However, Heyman indicates the Rox are less interested in parting with Daniel Bard, who is under contract for 2024. That’s not to say they’d categorically refuse to listen on players with multiple years of club control, but it seems the front office prefers to relinquish only shorter-term assets.
That’s no surprise in light of Colorado’s past deadline activity. If the Rox do constrain themselves only to parting with rentals, they could be in for another quiet summer. The Rockies have six impending free agents — they already dealt Mike Moustakas to the Angels last weekend — but the bulk of the group has struggled.
A late-spring roll of the dice on Jurickson Profar hasn’t panned out. The switch-hitting left fielder has just a .231/.315/.372 line with six home runs over 318 plate appearances. His strikeout and walk numbers are solid, but Profar hasn’t hit for power and has rated as a well below-average defender. He’s playing this season on a $7.75MM salary and is unlikely to have much trade appeal.
That’s also true of reliever Pierce Johnson, who signed for $5MM over the winter. The right-hander carries a 6.19 ERA across 32 innings, struggles that pushed him out of the closing role a few weeks ago. Johnson has struck out an excellent 31.8% of opposing hitters while sitting north of 96 MPH on his heater, so perhaps another team could view him as an upside flier in the middle innings. Johnson’s poor ERA and bloated 13.2% walk percentage mean he’s unlikely to bring back much of note, though.
Outfielder Randal Grichuk and first baseman C.J. Cron are veteran stopgap bats. Grichuk has a .294/.357/.429 line with two homers over 196 plate appearances — league average offense after adjusting for Coors Field, as measured by wRC+. He’s capable of covering all three outfield spots but better suited for a corner. Cron lost a good chunk of the season to back spasms, returning a few days ago. The right-handed hitter has managed only a .231/.277/.420 line in 38 games this year. Cron came up just short of 30 homers in both 2021 and ’22, but he’s had a tough first few months.
The other two impending free agents, Charlie Blackmon and Brent Suter, are currently on the injured list. Blackmon has full no-trade rights and is making $15MM. He’s very unlikely to move. Suter, claimed off waivers last winter, has a 2.81 ERA across 41 2/3 innings of relief. The control specialist could draw some attention if healthy, but he just landed on the IL with a strained left oblique.
Colorado’s top realistic trade candidate might be another left-handed bullpen arm, Brad Hand. Signed to a $3MM free agent deal, the three-time All-Star has a 3.62 ERA over 27 1/3 frames. Hand has an above-average 28.1% strikeout rate despite a modest 9.5% swinging strike percentage.
Hand isn’t a true rental, as his contract contains a $7MM team option for next season. Heyman suggests the Rockies are likely to gauge the market on Hand, though. That’s not too surprising, since that option price is probably a bit beyond the veteran’s market value. If he’s traded, the option would convert to a mutual provision.
None of the Rockies’ impending free agents would bring back a significant prospect return. That’s probably also true of Bard, even though the veteran has a sterling 2.05 ERA across 26 1/3 innings. Bard opened the season on the injured list due to anxiety issues that have affected him at times throughout his career.
He has been on the active roster since mid-April but struggled to find the strike zone consistently. Bard has walked just under 20% of opponents, nearly double last season’s rate. At age 38 and due a $9.5MM salary next year, the right-hander would be a risky target for contenders even if the Rockies put him on the market.
Wow what a shock. The rockies are in bad shape and have little to offer to try to improve for future seasons. I’m so surprised that my hat just jumped right off the top of my head while reading this.
Odds are they don’t trade any of those guys not because they won’t get anything back but because they don’t want to. Question is how many of those guys will they bring back next year? Perpetual mediocrity in Denver.
Par for the course. They’re perennially top 10 in MLB attendance. Currently 14th but they’ll get there again with the arrival of summer. I wouldn’t be surprised if they added to try to finish off at .450.
Perfect example of a team that most of their good players are still in the lower minors and them being cheap on who they want but then expecting to get a good return on someone doing nothing to help the club.
Not a great plan
A report card on the February 2021 Nolan Arenado trade.
Rockies trade Arenado plus send 51 mil to the Cardinals for 5 players.
Here are the 5 players 2023 stats:
Tony Locey 7.00 ERA in A ball
Mateo Gil .199 batting average in A ball
Austin Gomber 7.01 ERA with Rockies
Elihuris Montero .202 batting average with Rockies
Jake Sommers Out of baseball
They could have gotten a kings ransom for a disgruntled Trevor Story in 2021 but did not trade him and got nothing.
This is the antithesis of a rebuild.
This is the most inept organization in baseball.
Sorry Rocks fans but you need a new owner and a new front office.
Wow never heard of that before. Your insight on this topic is so original and useful.
Come on hiflew, have a sense of humor. You should be mad at your owner and not at us
I’m not mad at anyone. Just tired of the same old tired refrain,
They Also Signed Bryant to that ridiculous contract. And length. I’d add that one for sure.
Don’t forget Profar. 29 other teams ABSOLUTELY and OBVIOUSLY decided he was not worth what he was asking for, and he remained on the market well past all other FA’s. Everyone else saw this but Colorado, who basically gave him his asking price. There’s always hope when stuck between the Rockies and a hard place.
It was a reaction to spring training injuries. Plus their pitching coach is also from Curaçao and probably played a hand in the decision.
As a Rockies fan, I’m ready to move on but he has been a little better lately. Finally got his OPS over 700.
The Rockies don’t have expectations like the rest of us. They are completely happy having a mediocre team that tends to play well at home in front of a friendly, buzzed, and stoned crowd that doesn’t have high expectations either. It’s just a nice venue to come out & chill with friends in the summer. Rockies hang on to their decent players even at the risk of getting nothing in return for them because they want some skilled players on the field for the crowd to cheer on. That’s why they signed Bryant: “Hey here’s a reputable star name we can half-a$$ market & keep the sky boxes rented out & keep the twenty-somethings coming out to mingle.” They do a lesser and cheaper version of what Arte Moreno does in Anaheim.
Arenado is on pace for a 2.0 WAR season so he is not exactly setting the world on fire in 2023. The Cards get the priceline privilege of paying him $35 million minus $7 million the Rockies are paying for a league average player this season.
Cardinals won the trade. Rockies got smoked on the trade. How did the trade work out for Nolan? Any meaningful October baseball yet?
Plan?? I’ve never had the impression this team ever had a plan, for anything.
They will sit and do nothing. When you know very little you do very little, usually as little as possible.
You’ve got that right. The only reason they traded Moustakas is because he sucked, the FO actually knew it, and the Angels actually wanted him. It shows they’re not completely brain dead, but beyond that they’ll keep the crew together because “we like our team.” There’s your plan.
Moose was above league average with the bat.
Monfort believed he had a .500 team….
denverpost.com/2023/01/28/dick-monfort-rockies-500…
I imagine the front office meetings in Denver go something like this.
Colorado general manager: the team is likely out of the playoff race. Who should we trade to restock the farm?
Dick Monfort: let’s just extend them all
The Rockies will do what they always do. The exact opposite of what they should do.
They won’t sell. At least not enough to make a difference in rebuilding their squad for the future.
I think the Mariners should try to wrestle away C.J. Cron. If he can replicate more like how he did the last couple seasons, he would be a useful piece.
I don’t expect the Mariners, or any other MLB team for that matter, to have to “wrestle” away any Rockies. If the calling teams want to wrestle away a player, let them have at. And don’t forget to let them win.
What would Seattle be willing to give up?
Spare parts
I’d like to see the Orioles get Johnson. They definitely need a 2nd set up guy to compliment Cano. His recent stats, over last 4 games, are healthy. Worth risking giving up a prospect or 2 to get him? Oh and if Bautista gets hurt he does have closer experience albeit on the ugly side but a stop gap.
You got the Nuggets and Avalanche.
Be happy.
What? Profar, that this site kept pushing as such a great free agent that should have been signed earlier for big money, a disappointment? Color me shocked.
I think they unload Profar for a marginal prospect by eating at least half the remaining salary. To some team looking at an injury-depleted outfield at the deadline. Or possibly Grichuk instead, although that would leave them a little thin in CF.
Rockies will have a glut of corner OF/DH types when Blackmon is back from the IL (Blackmon, Profar, Bryant, Grichuk, Nolan Jones) so somebody will need to go. Trading Cron would help a little since Jones (and also Bryant) can play 1B, but Cron needs to start hitting or nobody will want him.
Bard is walking about a batter per inning so with next year’s price tag he probably has negative trade value despite that deceptively small ERA.
I’m in favor of ending baseball in Colorado.