The Last Piece Of The Colorado Rockies’ Ubaldo Jimenez Trade Has Washed Up

Mar 10, 2015; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Colorado Rockies first baseman M. McBride (7) flips the ball for an out in the second inning during a spring training game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Camelback Ranch. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports

When the Colorado Rockies traded their superstar righty back in 2011 to the Cleveland Indians, they got back four players. None of them have worked out. 

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The Colorado Rockies shipped Ubaldo Jimenez off to the Cleveland Indians at the trade deadline in 2011 for minor leaguer Joe Gardner, pitcher Alex White, utility man Matt McBride, and a player to be named later.

Two weeks later, that PTBNL became Drew Pomeranz, and the Colorado Rockies had moved a very good starting pitcher and got in return two of an organization’s best pitching prospects (Pomeranz and White), a minor leaguer (Gardner) and a slugger who could have become something special.

But now, with four years (!) of hindsight and second guessing and #analysis, it’s time to put to bed McBride’s Rockies career as the last player still with the original trading organization on either end of that deal.

UPDATE, September 4, 2:57 pm MT: Matt McBride has been designated for assignment with Justin Morneau returning to the Colorado Rockies:

This post still stands, so, yeah. Just didn’t expect McBride to be DFA’d seven hours after we published! Anyways, let’s go through the trade again here…

Next: White, Pomeranz, and Garnder

May 2, 2015; Arlington, TX, USA; Oakland Athletics starting pitcher D. Pomeranz (13) pitches against the Texas Rangers during the game at Globe Life Park in Arlington. The Rangers defeated the Athletics 8-7. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

White, Pomeranz, and Gardner

All three of these guys failed with the Colorado Rockies. Pomeranz and White were each part of that disastrous four-man rotation in 2012, and neither one proved anything during that time. (To be fair to them, 2012 was a dark period even as far as Colorado Rockies’ pitching is concerned.)

Joe Gardner never got close to the Rockies, staying in AA — the level he was at before the trade — in the organization. After one average year at AA Tulsa (2012) and one bad one (2013), he was cut loose, caught on with the Cubs, then the Braves. By 2015, he was getting his work in the independent Atlantic League, likely on his last legs in pro ball.

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We’ve written about Alex White before, and he was recently released by the Braves, potentially tripping his comeback. Thanks to both injury and ineffectiveness, he hasn’t thrown in the big leagues since 2012 (where he was 2-9 with a 5.51 ERA and 1.684 WHIP in 98 innings).

If there’s one thing in White’s favor, it’s that he just turned 27 (earlier this week!), so perhaps he — with 150 innings of big league experience — will get another shot somewhere in affiliated ball based on his history.

Pomeranz, at least, has had success in his big league career after the trade, though not with the Rockies. He’s re-invigorated his career as a reliever with the Athletics, where the Colorado Rockies traded him for Brett Anderson (!) after the 2013 season.

I’m happy for Pomeranz; he’s a good pitcher so it’s nice to see him figure things out in Oakland. It’s always nice to see guys adjust to the Major Leagues and establish a career. It’s just a shame it couldn’t have been in Denver.

Next: Ubaldo Jimenez

Aug 28, 2015; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates center fielder A. McCutchen (22) beats out an infield single as Colorado Rockies first baseman M. McBride (12) looks for the late throw during the fifth inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Matt McBride

And now, we get to the main point of this post, and the only non-pitcher involved in the trade, in Lehigh University’s Matt McBride. Entering Thursday’s game, McBride was hitting a paltry .199/.228/.305 in his Major League career — all with the Colorado Rockies — while walking only 3 times in 158 plate appearances.

He’s done a heap of nothing in the big leagues this year, going just 7-for-42 with a .353 OPS in a very short stint in Denver.And maybe the short stints are part of the problem. He hasn’t gotten significant chances to prove himself in Denver; 81 PAs in 2012, 34 more in 2014, and so far another 43 this season.

That’s unfortunate, considering how much he’s killed the ball in the minor leagues (he hit .328/.380/.549 in Albuquerque this year before his call-up). McBride has proven himself time and again to be better than AAA, and yet, like so many other players before him, he just can’t stick in the big leagues.

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But he’s 30 years old now, and it’s increasingly looking like he’s not going to be part of the long-term plan. Ben Paulsen has first base covered in Justin Morneau‘s absence, and the Colorado Rockies have a better right-handed option there in Wilin Rosario than they do in McBride (let’s just not talk about Wilin’s defensive… liabilities).

In the outfield, the club is similarly stacked — Corey Dickerson, Charlie Blackmon, Carlos Gonzalez, Matt Barnes and Kyle Parker all have conceivable short- or long-term futures in Denver, with more young outfielders coming up quickly like Raimel Tapia and David Dahl. There’s no place for McBride.

Next: So did the Rockies lose the trade?

Apr 1, 2015; Salt River Pima-Maricopa, AZ, USA; Colorado Rockies left fielder M. McBride (7) catches a ball hit by Texas Rangers left fielder S. Choo (not pictured) during the third inning at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

Everybody lost this trade

So does all this mean the Rockies lost the Ubaldo trade, especially now that we’ve seen McBride do nothing on top of the already-well-documented failures of White and Pomeranz? Well… kind of “yes,” and kind of “that’s not a fair thing to say of McBride.”

I’d argue both the Rockies and the Indians lost the Ubaldo trade. Neither team got what they expected in the deal, and McBride’s third-time-through struggles only highlight it right now, four years and a month after the trade was completed. This happens in trades, of course. There are sometimes two winners, sometimes two losers, and all this happens when you trade human beings between organizations.

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The other thing to remember here is that none of this is McBride’s fault. He wasn’t supposed to, like, make up for Ubaldo himself, or something. Pomeranz failed in Denver, White washed out, and Gardner never clicked. It wasn’t on McBride alone.

Now that McBride is up with the Colorado Rockies — again — and he’s not hitting for the Rockies — again — it made something click in my mind about how he (the last member of the deal still with the original trade club!) is the last failure of a pretty crappy trade for both teams.

Eh. It happens.

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