Troy Tulowitzki trade rumors: ‘This is the winter’ for a Tulowitzki trade

The Colorado Rockies won’t trade Troy Tulowitzki in the next two days. That doesn’t mean that these trade rumors are going away anytime soon.

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For all involved parties, this is a good thing. I don’t believe any of us would be inclined to trust the current front office to get a Tulowitzki trade right under any circumstances, but certainly not while they were feeling the pressure of a deadline.

With the extra time to mull things over, the Rockies could also make the decision to keep Tulo. According to Andy Martino of the New York Daily News, the Rockies will still keep in mind that they can keep Tulo for the duration of his current deal. If they do decide to trade him, however, it will happen soon. From Martino:

A baseball official familiar with Rockies’ thinking said that a deadline trade would not happen, not because Tulowitzki is on the disabled list, but because the team has not decided how to proceed. He could still remain there for his entire career — but if not, “this is the winter” when a trade would probably happen, the official said.Major league sources say that the Yankees, Red Sox, Mets and Cardinals are the teams to watch, although there is skepticism that the Yankees have the prospects to make a deal, if they even decided to engage.

As for those Mets, the team that arguably could put together the most appealing package for the franchise shortstop, they are probably hanging on the fringes of any talks for Tulowitzki.

— On the Mets side, we’re told that a trade for Tulowitzki, while always a possibility, remains “unlikely” to ever happen. In fact, strong indications are that Gonzalez is the Rockie more likely to land in Queens.

Here’s one thing we do know: these things change quickly. Even with the Rockies stumbling for most of 2014, there was little or no momentum to the Tulowitzki trade rumors as of a couple months ago. A couple public comments, a misspelled commemorative shirt, and one Yankees game attended later, and we have been forced to confront the reality that Tulo might be gone. That has taught us that the tone of this situation could change in a hurry between now and the off-season, for better or for worse.

Part of the Rockies’ decision will surely be based on the results for the Rockies between now and the end of the season, something that seems to point towards some serious hot stove focus on Tulowitzki this winter.