I feel like saying this is rubbing salt in the wound for you Rockies fanatics out there, but trading Tulo should not be the last big trade that Colorado makes. Not by any means.
Let me say this now- I think that there are three players on the Rockies right now that are not expendable: Nolan Arenado, Charlie Blackmon, and DJ LeMahieu.
Everyone else should be considered fair game to trade for the commodity that the Rockies desperately need: pitching.
Specifically, pitching prospects. We all saw what the Rox got for Troy Tulowitzki- Jose Reyes and more importantly three young pitchers (including a 2014 first round draft pick in Jeff Hoffman). I think that it’s a good start for a team that wants a fresh start, but there is much more that can be done.
Carlos Gonzalez could bring a similar package of pitchers to be deposited into the Rockies farm system. Gonzalez struggled immensely for a good chunk of the season. He had trouble hitting over the Mendoza Line (.200) and his power numbers were down.
Obviously, his struggles are attributed to a bad case of knee tendonitis that plagued him throughout 2014 and forced the two time All Star to undergo season-ending surgery last August.
But lately, all signs of a still-nagging injury have disappeared. CarGo has been on fire. He hit 11 homeruns in the month of July and has raised his batting average to a season-best .281.
I have my fingers crossed that General Managers everywhere are eyeing him. With Gonzalez’s improved performance, I think he could easily fetch a trade that would yield similar talents to what the Rockies acquired from the Blue Jays in exchange for Tulo.
The Rockies are the most blessed bad team in baseball right now because they excel in hitting. They already are successful at half of the game of baseball. I think that becoming a team that can pitch decently is something that is definitely within the Rockies’ reach.
Let’s be honest, the Rockies are likely never going to have a shutdown pitching staff full of aces. Blame that on Denver’s altitude. But I recall a team that went to the World Series without a lights out pitching staff.
The 2007 Colorado Rockies had a team ERA of 4.32 and they won 90 games in the regular season. All the Rockies need is a decent pitching staff. Not great, maybe not even good, but a decent pitching rotation could bring the Rox over .500 again.
Rebuilding a baseball team is not an easy task. A lot of the time, it means doing things like shipping away star players for unheard of prospects that won’t even be relevant for years to come. Baseball is a bit of a gamble, but sometimes gambles can pay off big.
The Rockies will be good again. It might not be tomorrow, or in a few weeks, or maybe even a few years, but they will be playoff contenders by the end of this decade. Personally, I think that trading away people like Carlos Gonzalez and other players that aren’t young anymore for pitching talent will only speed up things for the Rockies.
Contact CU Independent Rockies Beat Writer Justin Guerriero at justin.guerriero@colorado.edu and follow him on Twitter @TheHungry_Hippo
