Colorado Rockies: The Five Worst Players of the 2016 Season

No. 1: Gerardo Parra

For me, the clear disappointment in 2016 for the team was outfielder-turned-first baseman Gerardo Parra.

Parra was signed to a three-year, $27.5 million free agent contract in the offseason. There was a lot of hope he could bring extra pop to the lineup and improve the outfield defense.

Let’s be honest – his season was ruined by the ankle injury he suffered when he collided with shortstop Trevor Story, forcing him to miss significant time. But when he was on the field, his output was simply not good enough.

His slash line for 2016 was .253/.271/.671. This compares with his career slash line of .274/.321/.724. Last season he hit 14 HRs, this year he hit seven. Additionally, he walked 28 times in 2015, this year he walked only nine times.

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Parra showed poor plate discipline, swinging early in the count and bailing out pitchers who were struggling to throw strikes. He continued to swing early in the count even when the team had runners in scoring position and the situation was begging for pitch selection and working the count in his favor.

In 368 at-bats he struck out 73 times versus in 2015 when he struck out only 92 times in 547 at-bats. He grounded into 16 double plays which was his worst mark since his rookie year in 2009.

Connor Farrell of Purple Row explains his season in a nutshell:

"What he brought instead was one of the worst individual seasons in team history. Parra’s -2.8 bWAR was so bad, fans began to practically beg the team to leave him on the bench near the end of the year. Parra’s defense wasn’t abysmal by any means, but his bat and more specifically his eye was among the worst anyone who has even watched an inning of baseball has ever seen."

No matter which way you look at it, his salary didn’t get anywhere near matching his on-field production.

The Rockies need to have a serious think during this offseason and determine whether Parra’s scheduled $8,000,000 2017 salary is worth the investment. Hopefully he can turn things around, but the team can ill-afford another repeat of 2016, especially with the team perhaps on the verge of contending.

Next: Gerardo Parra: Issue for Colorado Rockies Next Manager?

It wouldn’t be a shock to see none of these listed players to be in a Rockies uniform in 2017. On-field production and their salaries are not matching up. No doubt whoever is the next manager will get to have a say in their respective futures.

It’s going to be an interesting, but also important, offseason for the Colorado Rockies.