On Tuesday, the MLB trade deadline came and went without a sound from LODO.
The Colorado Rockies didn’t make a single move at the actual deadline, while the rest of the contenders in the National League all made noise.
And, what’s worse about the Rockies not making a trade is the fact that their two biggest hurdles to winning the NL West — the LA Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks — both made massive moves to improve their respective teams. Los Angeles made the biggest move of them all, trading for Manny Machado while they also added Brian Dozier and John Axford. The Diamondbacks landed a lefty and two righties to bolster their bullpen, and infielder Eduardo Escobar provides some depth at third base, too.
Meanwhile, the Rockies landed Seun-Hwan Oh. Oh, that was it.
Here, Fan Graphs presents a look at all 15 NL teams and how they either improved or decreased their chances of making the postseason.
How National League teams improved/decreased their hopes of making the playoffs at the deadline. Credit: fangraphs.com
From fangraphs.com:
“The Rockies added to their bullpen depth before the deadline, picking up Seung Hwan Oh from the Toronto Blue Jays. Unfortunately, The Final Boss was also The Final Transaction for the Colorado Rockies, a club either blissfully unaware that their offense has been a significant problem in 2018 or simply way too reliant on the Last Six Weeks Projection System. While their NL West opponents addressed their team weaknesses, the Colorado Rockies made the brave choice to boldly do nothing. As a consequence, the Rockies saw their projection playoff probability lose more percentage points than any team in baseball.”
Well said by Dan Szymborski there.
The Rockies knew the trade deadline was July 31, no? And, on top of not doing anything, they must’ve seen the Dodgers get Machado the day after the MLB All-Star Game, right?
Bridich? Bridich? Has anyone seen Jeff Bridich?
Look, the Rockies GM has done well to spend more this season (Colorado’s 13th in payroll), but simply spending money doesn’t earn wins. It’s important to spend money well.
Ian Desmond, Jake McGee, Bryan Shaw; together, they make $36.5 million this year alone. That’s 25.1 percent of the total payroll ($143 million) on those three players, all of them wildly underperforming this season.
A first baseman — preferably someone who’s played the position before — an outfielder, or relievers for the pen; there were multiple moves the Rockies could’ve made, and yet, nada.
In Bridich’s defense, maybe he did try to get some deals done, and maybe the asking price was too steep. Brendan Rodgers is an asset so great, trading him away could be devastating to the future. After performing very well in Double-A, he was recently promoted to Triple-A; Rodgers is growing and some say he’s ready for “the show” now.
And that’s the most difficult decision of all; trade future pieces for a chance at winning this year, or stay pat and hope the Rockies can win now, the way they’re built.
Colorado just enjoyed their second-best month in franchise history, going 17-6 in July, a .739 winning percentage. Playing that well pushed the team into contention both in the NL West, now 2.0 games back of the division lead, and 1.5 games back of the NL Wild Card due to two straight losses to the St. Louis Cardinals.
To not make a move is basically Bridich saying, “Good luck next year” to the team who’s given so much to this year, they’ve overachieved as of late.
Look, the Rockies still have a shot at making the postseason. Fan Graphs puts them at a 33 percent chance of making the playoffs, which is something:
Credit: Fangraphs.com
Of course, the road isn’t going to be easy. Colorado starts a three-game series in Milwaukee against the Brewers (63-49) tonight, then host the Pittsburgh Pirates (56-53), and Dodgers (61-49) before traveling to Atlanta to face the Braves (58-47) and Houston (69-41) for two.
Can the Rockies regain their footing and pick up where they left off in July, or will they falter down this incredibly difficult stretch and fold?
Only time will tell, but, in terms of improving the roster, the front office didn’t do much to help the guys in purple and black.