Troy Tulowitzki’s Trade Value Is Down, So Don’t Trade Him

By Hayden Kane |

Troy Tulowitzki is the subject of early trade rumors this off-season, but with his value down, should the Colorado Rockies trade him at all?

I still hold out hope that the Colorado Rockies will have Troy Tulowitzki for his entire career. I say that while proudly wearing my Troy Tulowitzki shersey and writing at a desk with an autographed Tulowitzki card and hat just beyond my computer as decorations (and right next to a Dinger bobble gnome…eat your heart out, haters).

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This network is called FanSided, and I am writing this as a fan. Tulowitzki is my favorite professional athlete, and so I bring you this transparently biased analysis with the background that I want him to be with the Rockies forever.

I am also writing, however, with the understanding that Troy Tulowitzki will probably be traded by the Rockies eventually. One can only sit through so many off-seasons of rumors and speculation without coming to grips with that fact. The drama of the 2014 season, the Yankees Stadium visit and all that, certainly didn’t help things.

So yes, I will acknowledge that the Rockies will probably trade Tulo at some point in his career. But it shouldn’t be this off-season. This is not the time.

The Colorado Rockies should trade Justin Morneau and they should take a serious look at trading Carlos Gonzalez. But they should keep Troy Tulowitzki.

As to why this is not the off-season for the Rockies to trade their franchise shortstop, consider this note from Andy Martino of the New York Daily News:

We noted yesterday that rivals expect the Rockies to listen on Carlos Gonzalez this winter, and Ken Rosenthal added Troy Tulowitzki. Earlier this week, the feeling among the executives we spoke to was that the shortstop will be very difficult to trade, given the length of contract (six more years), and injury history.

This if the off-season to trade position players. But Tulo’s case is unlike those with players like Morneau and Gonzalez. The reason for that is simple: Tulowitzki is that much better.

Tulo is a generational talent, the kind of player who only comes around so often. Injuries continue to rob us of seeing his full potential, but he is a truly special player. The Rockies can find another Justin Morneau and they can probably find another player or a platoon to get close to matching what they get from Gonzalez. But they will never find anything close to what they have in Tulowitzki.

There is far less risk in running Tulowitzki out there to start 2015 and hoping he stays healthy than trading him for $.75 on the dollar this off-season. Furthermore, when the time for a Tulo trade comes, the Rockies will have to proceed carefully. If the front office mishandles a Tulowitzki trade, that is the kind of misstep that can set the franchise back for years.

The Rockies have two other juicy pieces they can dangle in trade negotiations this winter, and they should do just that while holding onto Tulowitzki. There will be a time when it makes more sense to trade Tulowitzki, but we aren’t there. Not right now, and maybe (hopefully?) not for a long time.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to put on my Rockies’ pajamas and curl up with the Troy Tulowitzki video page on MLB.com.

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