Colorado Rockies Need To Make An Offer For Ian Kennedy

According to Ken Rosenthal, senior baseball writer and MLB Network insider, San Diego Padres starter Ian Kennedy rejected his $15.8 million quality offer Friday afternoon, electing to become a free agent.

With that being said, I feel as if the Rockies should reach out to the 30-year-old veteran, because, why not? Colorado is in desperate need for quality starting pitching and Kennedy can provide just that for the club. Kennedy made 30 starts this past season for the Padres, earning a 9-15 record while tying a career-high in strikeouts per nine with 9.3. Kennedy logged over 168.1 innings, giving up 80 runs while walking 52 batters and striking out 174. However, the home run ball was nuisance on the right-hander, giving up 31 on the season which was tied for fourth in the Majors. We all know who was number one on that list: Kyle Kendrick with 33.

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Another reason Kennedy would be a good fit for the Rockies, although the home run numbers tend to scare you, would be his splits at Coors Field. For his career, Kennedy is 6-7 at Coors Field with an ERA of 3.03 — not bad, right? It all makes sense; 3.03 at the 303, it means he actually wants to pitch here. All joking aside, the stats look good. Kennedy has logged 133.2 innings at 20th and Blake, yielding 45 runs on 118 hits. For the amount of innings he has pitched, 15 home runs doesn’t look too bad in the sample size. The right-hander has walked only 39 batters opposed to 139 strikeouts, collecting a strikeout per nine ratio of 9.3.

Just think of the possible rotation at hand right around Opening Day, pending offseason acquisitions.

Ian Kennedy
Jorge De La Rosa
Chad Bettis
Jordan Lyles
Jon Gray

You could also throw in starters such as Chris Rusin and Tyler Chatwood as wild cards, though I believe Chatwood should have a spot in the rotation pending a rough Spring Training. As you may know, Chatwood was sidelined for the entire 2015 campaign after undergoing Tommy John surgery.

Next: Rockies Year In Review: Corey Dickerson

Colorado might have to cough up a bit of money to get the veteran pitcher in Kennedy, however, I believe he would be a great addition to the Rockies’ staff. The 30-year-old owns a career record of 75-68, accompanied by an ERA of 3.98.