Denard Span To Nationals, Dexter Fowler Market Clearer

With the news that Minnesota Twins center fielder has been traded to the Washington Nationals for pitching prospect Alex Meyer, the Colorado Rockies will have one less team from whom to field phone calls about center fielder Dexter Fowler. With free agent Michael Bourn still looming as well, that means that whatever teams are left (Philadelphia Phillies, Tampa Bay Rays) that might make an offer for Fowler might be getting more desperate.

That means that the official stance of the Rockies has not changed. They will listen to offers for Fowler in case a team “overwhelms” them, but otherwise are not actively shopping him. Here is the update from the Denver Post’s Troy Renck:

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Presumably the demands include a package of starting pitchers as appealing as they felt the one they got in return for Ubaldo Jimenez was. Even with outfield depth, the Rockies would probably also want to replenish with young position players.

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They might also strong-arm teams into giving up a third baseman. After all, that is a hole on the roster, with the uncertain but emerging Chris Nelson and the still-too-young Nolan Arenado. In a short period of time, this team went from having “too many third baseman” to having not enough third baseman. But hey, it’s not like they had a chance to draft Evan Longoria or something crazy like that.

The list of teams that might try to lure Fowler away is shrinking. Image: Gary A. Vasquez-US PRESSWIRE

Phew. 

Back to Fowler. In reality, we all know what it would take for another team to get him: big time starting pitching. And teams do not give up that currency in trades very often, and certainly not in off-season trades. As such, it would take an increasingly unlikely video game trade (NOT a Herschel Walker trade) to get him away from his home in the vast center field of LoDo.