Welcome to the All-Star break, the point in the Major League Baseball season when teams are faced with a simple, pointed question: Are we or aren’t we a contender this season? The answer will determine what they do in the next three weeks.
If they believe a trip to the playoffs is a possibility, they’ll be looking to add pieces before the MLB trade deadline, hoping to find the missing player or two who will finally put them over the top. If the postseason doesn’t look to be in the cards, they’ll be thinking about shipping off high-priced talent, seeking to restock the cupboards with prospects in order to build for the future.
Unfortunately, the Rockies are once again in the latter group. Colorado limps into the All-Star break at 40-48, which puts them 16 games out of first place in the National League West. As a result, rumors are already starting to fly about the team shopping some of their veteran players. Just last week, it was reported that Carlos Gonzalez was open to being moved and there continue to be whispers that Jorge De La Rosa’s days in purple pinstripes might be limited.
From a financial standpoint, these moves make sense. CarGo is making more than $16 million this season, while JDLR is hauling in $12.5; they’re the two highest-paid players on the roster, so the Rockies could trim their payroll significantly, for this year and beyond, if they were able to trade them.
From a baseball perspective, it probably isn’t a terrible idea to look at sending Gonzalez and De La Rosa packing; neither one is on the upswing of his career. Cargo just turned 30, the age when injuries start to be a concern for any athlete, and De La Rosa is 35, suffering through a tough first half of the season that has seen him post only a 5-6 record thus far. It’s not a stretch to suggest that getting something now, before their skills diminish to the point that it negatively impacts their trade value, is a smart move.
But before anyone jumps on the “Rockies should be sellers” bandwagon, two key questions need to be asked and answered. First, what will Colorado do with the money they save by not having Gonzalez and De La Rosa on the roster? And second, who are they going to get in exchange for two of their best players?
Based on past history, there’s no reason to believe the Rockies will use their newfound millions to land a big-time free agent. When was the last time they got into those types of conversations during the offseason? It simply doesn’t happen. And there are no signs that this is going to change. If it doesn’t, they won’t need to make sure they are keeping some extra cash on hand to pay Nolan Arenado down the road; the All-Star third baseman will be eventually heading to greener pastures if the losing ways continue at Coors Field.
Given the two most-recent deals Colorado made that saw a star player leave town, it’s hard to have a lot of faith that CarGo and De La Rosa will be parlayed into future star players. One was a disaster, while the other looks to be heading that way.
Five years ago, the Rockies sent pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez to Cleveland in exchange for Joe Gardner, Matt McBride, Drew Pomeranz and Alex White; Gardner is yet to make the big leagues, McBride has been a .199 hitter with Colorado, and Pomeranz and White went a combined 8-27 during their Rockies careers. Last year, the team sent Troy Tulowitzki to Toronto, getting Miguel Castro, Jeff Hoffman, Jose Reyes and Jesus Tinoco in return; Castro is 0-7 as a Rockie, Hoffman is 4-7 this year in Albuquerque, Reyes is now a Met (with the Rox footing the bill) and Tinoco is 0-3 with a 14.85 ERA in Modesto this season.
This all adds up to a huge cautionary tale when it comes to trading away big-name players. Quite frankly, it suggests that Rockies fans would be much better off if the franchise simply stood pat between now and the end of July.
It doesn’t do the paying customers any good if the team saves money on payroll; it just means there aren’t as many players on the field who are worth the price of admission. Adding prospects that may or may not develop into big-league talent does nothing to help the Rockies win now; young acquisitions just help the organization kick the can of accountability down the road another few years.
This is a franchise that has been around for almost a quarter century but has never won a division title. This is a team that has had four winning seasons this century, with none since 2010. And this is a club that has only reached the postseason on three occasions.
It’s already a bad enough product. Stripping it of an All-Star outfielder and the only pitcher who has ever consistently won at Coors Field certainly won’t make it better.
The standings suggest that the Rockies should be thinking like a seller after the All-Star break. History says they ought to leave well enough alone. At least Carlos Gonzalez and Jorge De La Rosa are fun to watch; that can’t be said with any certainty for whoever Colorado might get in exchange for them.
