Colorado Rockies Countdown: Top Five Shortstops

25 years of Major League baseball in the Rocky Mountains is nearly upon us. In celebration, Rox Pile is taking a journey through Colorado Rockies history and taking a look at the best players at every position. Our next stop? Shortstop.

In our last countdown, we featured the Colorado Rockies’ greatest third basemen, which featured some of the more offensively talented Rockies to ever sport the uniform. Moving over to short, we see the offensive production drop off quite a bit (especially in the power department); which is understandable considering shortstop is traditionally considered a defense-first position. Before the arrival of Cal Ripken Jr., shortstops were generally small and considered offensive liabilities, more like Ozzie Smith. The Rockies are no different as only one player in club history has posted a positive offense runs above average score.

To compile our rankings, we used FanGraphs‘ list for career Wins Above Replacement (fWAR), which serves as a great guideline for positional players. The fWAR statistic allows one to evaluate a player’s contribution over time with a specific team. Therefore, fWAR allows us to completely negate what a player has done in their career while not wearing the purple and black.

Also as a general rule, this list consists of players that have at least 500 plate appearances with the club. The 500 PA rule gives a large enough sample size for accurate evaluation. As an added stipulation, the players on our list needed to have played a majority of their innings in the field at the position being evaluated. Interesting enough, current Rockies shortstop Trevor Story has based an fWAR of 1.7, which would have been good enough for fourth on our list, but because of the PA limit, he was left out of our evaluation.

Without further ado, here is Rox Pile’s list of the top shortstops to ever sport purple pinstripes. Let us know in the comments section what you think!

Next: Show Me The Rankings!

5.  Juan Uribe (2001-2003, fWAR 0.2)

A Rockies’ homegrown product, the seemingly ageless Juan Uribe is currently in his 16th season in the Major Leagues. Uribe signed with Colorado as an international free agent in 1997 and would make his Major League debut only four years later. In his rookie season, Uribe would play 72 games while batting .300.

In his first full season with the club, Uribe wouldn’t come close to matching his rookie season output batting a meager .240 while also leading the team in errors. In response, the club tested Uribe in center field but ultimately returned him to shortstop. Juan would last only one more in Colorado. At age 38, Uribe is still in the league and has spent time with seven different organizations. In that time, Uribe has only managed to hit for .300 or more twice in his career but has managed to slug 20-plus homer runs on four different occasions.

With a fWAR of 0.2, it’s obvious that Uribe is your typical average big leaguer. When Uribe was with the Rockies, the club was losing a lot of games and there is no wonder why he has moved between organizations with some frequency. On the defensive side of the ball, Uribe is the lowest on our list with .971 fielding percentage and second lowest with .258 average.

Next: The Veteran

4.  Royce Clayton (2004, fWAR 1.2)

Royce Clayton is the shortest tenured Rockie to make it on our list. At age 34, Colorado signed the veteran in 2004 as a free agent. In 146 games played, Clayton batted .279 with 95 runs scored, 54 runs batted in while also leading the league in sacrifice bunts. In his lone season with Colorado, Clayton would post a fWAR above one for the last time in his career.

Royce enjoyed a 17 year major league career, but much like Juan Uribe he has primarily always been an average major leaguer. Defensively speaking Clayton was much than Uribe in comparison as he posted a .986 fielding percentage which was one of the better defensive years of his career.

Clayton’s best individual year came in 1997 when he was selected to the All-Star Game as a member of the Cardinals. Interestingly enough, in 2007 Clayton would be released late in the season by the Toronto Blue Jays only to be picked up by the eventual World Series champs Boston Red Rox. In case you’re forgetting, yeah 2007 was the year they won it in downtown Denver. On an interesting note, Royce Clayton played Miguel Tejada in the movie Moneyball.

Next: The Skipper

3.  Walt Weiss (1994-1997, fWAR 2.8)

The current Rockies skipper lands number three on our rankings. Before he was the leading man on Blake Street, Weiss was a highly touted prospect out of the University of North Carolina. Drafted 11th overall by the Oakland Athletics in 1985, Weiss burst onto the scene to win the 1988 Rookie of the Year Award. Weiss was never a very talented offensive player but fits that defense- first prototype perfectly.

Despite never hitting for a high average, Weiss built a career out of defense and reaching base. In 523 games played with Colorado, Weiss mashed only 14 home runs while hitting a .266 average but enjoyed a Rockies shortstop best .375 on-base percentage. Weiss’ large OBP can be attributed to his high walk rate (leads all Rockies shortstops at a 14.2%) and low strike-out rate (leads this list at 11.8%).

As the Rockies skipper, Weiss has been at the helm since 2013. In that time, Weiss has managed a 248-326 record which is a pedestrian .432 winning percentage. Weiss has been referred to as a players manager while also being criticized for the management of the team’s pitching staff. Weiss has shown great temperament as a manager, very rarely being ejected but willing to back up his players on the field.

Next: Barmey

1.  Troy Tulowitzki (2006-2015, fWAR 34.1)

We know you must be awfully surprised to see Troy Tulowitzki as our Rockies’ G.O.A.T. at short. The truth is that no-one even comes close to the greatness that was Troy Tulowitzki. Just as we talked about Walt Weiss fitting the Ozzie Smith prototype discussed in the introduction, Tulo fits that rare and highly sought after Cal Ripken Jr. prototype.

Standing at 6-foot-3, Tulo was by far away the greatest offensive and defensive shortstop Colorado has ever had. In a decade with the club, Tulo made five All-Star games, won two Gold Gloves, two Sliver Sluggers, and finished fifth in the MVP vote twice. The scary part is that this list could be even longer if not for major injuries.

Tulo leads all Rockies’ shortstops in every major category. Tulo ranks first in home runs (188), runs (660), RBIs (657), stolen bases (55), average (.299), and isolated power (.215). In regards to fielding percentage, Tulo ranks second to Royce Clayton, .985 to .986. Forgetting stats altogether, Troy was perhaps the greatest Rockie to ever watch play. The fierce competitiveness and leadership that he brought to the field every day made major impacts on teammates and fans alike. Troy was one of the great defensive wizards, and watching him field a ground ball in the hole, fire a jump-throw throw falling away from first base and nailing runners was one of the most mesmerizing feats in baseball.

Next: Walt Weiss Quotes Before Homestand

Tulo’s departure to Toronto is well documented. Making the playoffs only twice in ten years obviously took a toll on Tulo and led to the front office dealing the star for much-needed pitching prospects. Troy was very unhappy with the deal as he felt betrayed by the Rockies organization, but has recently changed his tone. The jury is still out on the Tulo trade, but it is clear that Troy will always be a part of Rockies fans.