Time For The Colorado Rockies To Own Up And Demote Drew Stubbs

The Colorado Rockies were fortunate enough to receive an above-average season from Drew Stubbs during the 2014 campaign, but his time in Denver should be diminishing by the second.

Colorado acquired Drew Stubbs in a trade from the Cleveland Indians in exchange for reliever Josh Outman — boy was that a steal at the time. During the 2014 season, Stubbs hit a career-high .289 with 22 doubles, 2 triples, 10 home runs and 45 RBI’s.

After a career-year thanks in large part to Coors Field, the Rockies extended the speedy outfielder to a one-year deal worth $5.8 million — avoiding arbitration with the 30-year-old. That turned out to be a bad move on Colorado’s part.

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In 22 games played this season, Stubbs is hitting at an atrocious line of .109/.180/.239 with five hits in 46 at-bats. Not to mention, Stubbs has struck out 27 times in those 46 at-bats — 59% if you will. Colorado’s management is sending a bad message to their fans by allowing this kind of mediocrity night-in and night-out.

I get it, Colorado wants to see if Stubbs can prove them otherwise by getting on a hot-streak and tell the fans, “I told you so!” More importantly, they want to wait it out before wasting that $5.8 million they invested in the veteran. Jeff Bridich needs to man up and designate Stubbs for assignment. Bridich made a move similar to this earlier in the season when the team let go of starter Jhoulys Chacin, who couldn’t get right after battling shoulder problems.

The fact of the matter is, Colorado has better options in their Minor League system to replace Drew Stubbs on the active roster. Brandon Barnes and Kyle Parker are just a few names that could fill the void. Barnes isn’t exactly hitting that well for the Albuquerque Isotopes, Colorado’s Triple-A affiliate. In 32 games played, the outfielder is hitting .198 with 6 doubles, 5 home runs, and 11 RBI’s.

You could say the same for Kyle Parker as well. In 34 games played, Kyle is hitting .200 with 5 double, 4 home runs, and 13 RBI’s. A potential Wild-Card could be Tim Wheeler, whom the Rockies were high on a few years back. Currently, Wheeler is hitting .250 with 4 doubles, 5 home runs, and 16 RBI’s.

As long as Colorado continues to put Drew Stubbs in their lineup, the results will stay the same. It’s time for Jeff Bridich to make a statement and cut ties with the slumping veteran, even if it means eating a hefty contract.