Rockies Rumors: Teams Wary Of Troy Tulowitzki, Carlos Gonzalez Trades

The Colorado Rockies could be open to a trade for either Troy Tulowitzki or Carlos Gonzalez this winter, but rumors have been quiet so far. Could that be because teams are wary of a potential deal?

Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez probably aren’t going anywhere this winter. Why? Because it turns out that executives around the league are just as unsure about the health of those two superstars as angry fans on Twitter.

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Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post has a report this week about the feelings around the league about a potential trade for Tulo or CarGo this winter.

"“There are so many hurdles,” one GM said. “You need to find out how healthy they really are. Then you have to ask if the Rockies would be willing to take on some of that money. I’m not saying (a trade) won’t happen, but I think it would be a longshot this winter.”"

From the Rockies’ perspective, I have been bullish that Tulowitzki will always be worth the risk because of how good he is when he’s healthy. I find that to be the case in terms of his health and in terms of the money on his deal.

When a guy is a 5.0 win player in 90 games, I think it’s worth the injury risk every year. And when he is potentially that valuable, should you ever really complain about paying him $20 million? People focus so much on the total money left, $118 million, that they tend to glaze over the fact that the per-season hit never exceeds $20 million on Tulowitzki’s contract.

That is how I feel. Rival executives do not agree with me. From Saunders:

"Added another GM: “A trade right now doesn’t seem to make much sense. We’re not in the market for Tulo, but if we were, I’d want to see what he does on the field first — during spring training and early next season.“When Tulo is healthy, he’s one of the five best players in the game. You’d be hard-pressed to find a better player. But right now, it’s about him staying healthy. I think there is a similar feeling about Gonzalez.”"

The big takeaway here is this: the Rockies have built their entire organizational philosophy around these two players. If they are going to bail and trade them, they need to get their money’s worth. Based on these comments from rival executives, that’s not going to happen this winter.

Someday, perhaps next off-season, the Rockies could own the rumor mill by making these guys available. But that time is not now, and the Rockies need to treat any potential offers this winter accordingly.

What does that mean? It means the Rockies should remain open to trading CarGo while trying to maximize the return in a potential deal, and it means that this is not the winter to trade Tulo.

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