Time For Colorado Rockies GM Jeff Bridich To Shine As Trade Deadline Looms

Jun 25, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; Colorado Rockies first baseman W. Rosario (20) in the eighth inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Coors Field. The Rockies defeated the Diamondbacks 6-4. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

With the trade deadline just over a month away, Colorado Rockies’ general manager Jeff Bridich will see his second big test as the head of a new front office in Denver.

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Now that the Colorado Rockies and general manager Jeff Bridich have been through their first amateur draft as a new front office — and by all accounts, came away with one of the best drafts in baseball — it’s time to concentrate on an important and far more immediate impact for the club: the trade deadline.

With just a month to go until the trade deadline (July 31), things are going to start moving very fast around baseball, as the teams who are in it make moves to win it, and the teams who are out of it start selling off assets to the highest bidder.

Obviously, the Colorado Rockies must recognize that they are in that second group; even with the extra Wild Card spots in the playoffs, no team that sits at 32-40 — with the rotation the Rockies have — is going to contend this year. Sorry.

With that, Bridich must plan for the future. Would the Rockies move Wilin Rosario to an AL team seeking a designated hitter or backup catcher?

Could the Rockies get anything back for Justin Morneau, assuming he recovers from concussion-related issues?

Will the Rockies move a pitcher or two, knowing teams will need both rotation and bullpen depth and the Rockies have younger pitchers coming quickly to replace guys like Kyle Kendrick, or even Jorge De La Rosa?

And, oh yeah, Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez. What’s the deal?

There’s something to be said for a team that doesn’t want to make a move just to make a move. It’s dumb to trade Tulo, for example, if you can’t get the best possible return. You don’t have to move guys, and a general manager who feels the need to make a move just to “prove” himself probably shouldn’t be running your team.

But… the Rockies have excess pieces all around the roster that aren’t going to be here next season (consider Morneau, Rosario, Kendrick, Rafael Betancourt, Boone Logan) — and/or guys the club could flip for younger, cheaper, and better players to remake the future (consider Tulo, CarGo, De La Rosa, John Axford, etc.). It’s time for Bridich to put his stamp on this club.

Obviously, there will be quite a bit more from us over the next four weeks about trades the Rockies do (or don’t) make; but start judging Bridich on his work done during this deadline period. We’ve argued before that it isn’t fair to bash Bridich over the first couple months of the season. Now that he’s been through a draft, though, and is going through a trade deadline, the time for analysis is here.

Congratulations to the Rockies and Bridich on a solid draft. Test number two begins now, and the trade deadline is an opportunity for Bridich to put his trademark on a Rockies club for years to come — or misfire during an important time for the Rockies.

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