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Troy Tulowitzki Won’t Be Traded, My Columns

By Hayden Kane |
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Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

Trade rumors persist around Colorado Rockies‘ shortstop Troy Tulowitzki this off-season. Here is a deeper look at why he won’t be traded this winter.

Wouldn’t this be an interesting thing to talk about? If there was actually substance to any of the rumors surrounding a trade for Troy Tulowitzki, wouldn’t that be fascinating? Who can blame writers for big market teams and national networks, then, when they clearly wish that Tulo played for some time other than the relatively obscure Colorado Rockies?

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So often, a national ‘hot stove’ column opens with something that says that the Rockies should be looking to rebuild, so they could look to shed payroll, therefore it might make sense for them to trade Troy Tulowitzki in order to rebuild.

Then they follow up with a report from sources that the Rockies have talked to the Mets/Yankees/other MLB teams about trades for Tulowitzki. Finally, they conclude with the note that the Rockies are highly unlikely to actually trade him or that the talks were exploratory or that the interested team came away with the impression that Tulowitzki definitely won’t be traded.

I understand that this is the time of year that we can take any little grumbling or speculative thought and use it as fodder for baseball conversation…I love that. It’s what makes the off-season fun. It’s just that, in this case, I really don’t want the trade in question to happen.

Maybe it’s just the way we talk about these and other rumors, but on this topic, about which I am admittedly sensitive, it feels like there is an awfully quick leap to, “now that we know the Rockies might trade Troy Tulowitzki, let’s talk about it.”

None of this is out of bounds, of course. This is the fun of the off-season baseball chatter, even if the Troy Tulowitzki echo chamber has been especially silly this winter. In the end, people get to talk about why they think Tulo will or should be traded…

…and I get to say why the Rockies absolutely shouldn’t and why it won’t happen. My column(s).

Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

Troy Tulowitzki will not be traded to the New York Mets

This is the rumor that persists, mostly because the Mets have a stacked farm system and because they desperately need a shortstop.

Why the Rockies shouldn’t want it

The value isn’t there. Furthermore, we might be overlooking the volatility of young pitching in our collective assumption that the Mets are a great match for a trade because they possess a wealth of young arms.

Hasn’t the trend changed a little bit in trades? Teams either target big league-ready talent or they target a top position playing prospect. Maybe the Rockies would look brilliant if they landed a bunch of young pitching for Tulowitzki, but it feels more likely that they would end up getting burned.

How many young pitchers require Tommy John surgery? Like, all of them? How many so-called “can’t miss” pitching prospects flame out? Plenty of them.

There is risk no matter what if the Rockies trade Tulo, but it’s not hard to envision a scenario where the Rockies trade Tulo to the Mets for a package centered around two stud pitching prospects, then neither pitcher pans out, leaving the team in a situation where they traded the best shortstop in baseball and have nothing to show for it two years down the road.

Why it won’t happen

The Mets are reportedly scoffing at the Rockies’ asking price, both in terms of the prospects they would give up and the fact that the Rockies won’t cover any of Tulo’s salary.

What this shows The Mets are at the top of the list of teams that are “kicking the tires” and “checking in” with the Rockies on Tulo. Writers want this to make sense so badly, but the talks never advance. If it’s not happening with the Mets, it probably isn’t happening with anybody.

Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

Troy Tulowitzki won’t be traded to the Oakland A’s

There is no rumor here, only speculation that the A’s aren’t done and that their bizarre moves so far this off-season are positioning them for something larger and splashier. Something, perhaps, like a trade for Troy Tulowitzki.

Why the Rockies shouldn’t want it

They already beat Billy Beane in a trade once. Do they really think it’s going to happen again? If the A’s became interested in Tulo, that should be a red flag that he represents a good value and that the Rockies should be hesitant to trade him.

Even if this is the off-season that Beane has miffed his usual troops of supporters, he is a different kind of cat. If the A’s ever became interested in Tulo beyond the speculation of reporters, it should make the Rockies nervous.

Why it won’t happen

Well, it’s not even a thing yet, for one. For another thing, it really doesn’t feel like the kind of move the A’s will make this off-season as they seemingly try to rebuild and contend at the same time.

What this shows

Billy Beane really is confusing the hell out of everybody this off-season.

Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports

Troy Tulowitzki will not be traded to the New York Yankees

Derek Jeter retired. Tulo loves Jeter. Now the Yankees need a shortstop. People have always presumed that the Rockies will have no choice but to trade Tulo to a big market team. Those are just some of the factors that have led people to connect the dots and suggest that Troy Tulowitzki will be traded to the Yankees.

Take, for example, this most report from Jon Heyman.

Meantime, a couple other teams — including the rival Yankees — are said to have checked in recently on Tulowitzki in the wake of the report here late last week that talks between the Mets and Rockies were ongoing… …The Yankees re-checked late last week on Tulo’s availability, and while there is significant question whether they could even match up with the Rockies, their trade for the hard-throwing Nate Eovaldi could possibly give them a slightly better chance.

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Why the Rockies shouldn’t want it

Because the Yankees don’t have the goods and because the Yankees…yes, those Yankees…would want the Rockies to eat salary to make the deal work.

If the Rockies traded Troy Tulowitzki to the Mets right now, they could get $0.75 on the dollar for him. If the Rockies traded Troy Tulowitzki to the Yankees right now, they could get $0.30 on the dollar for him.

No thanks.

Why it won’t happen

Honestly, this won’t happen because the Yankees won’t do it. They made long commitments to Brian McCann and Jacoby Ellsbury last winter, they still have an ARod problem, and if they are going to add a big name this winter it’s going to be in an effort to bolster their potentially horrendous rotation.

The Yankees claim that they are going to move away from long-term, overpaying deals because they have learned their lesson from mistakes like ARod and Mark Teixeira. They’re probably lying, but they are probably going to sign Max Scherzer, not attempt to trade for Tulowitzki and all the years left on his otherwise reasonable deal.

Oh, and did we mention that they have nothing close to the prospects to make a deal work?

What this shows

Almost always, this speculation follows a familiar arc: “The Yankees might want to trade for Troy Tulowitzki, they might have even asked, so wow, what if Troy Tulowitzki replaced Derek Jeter? Oh by the way, the Yankees aren’t actually that interested and the Rockies probably won’t trade him, so this definitely won’t happen. But hey, Tulo to the Yankees, what a thought, hey?”

People really want this to be a thing because it would be an interesting and nationally relevant story. But it’s just not a thing, and it probably never will be.

Next: Keeping Troy Tulowitzki Is The Bold Move

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