Colorado Rockies: Which 2016 Player Could Haunt the Team in 2017?

There’s an old saying that states you should be careful when you take a trip down memory lane because you might run into a ghost or two from your past. The Colorado Rockies will be doing that exact thing this year … and the ghosts of Rockies past keep finding new homes as spring training gears up.

Earlier today, Ryan Raburn was signed to a minor league deal by the Cincinnati Reds with an invite to big league spring training camp. It marks the fourth Colorado player from last year who has now signed with another team.

Certainly there are plenty of players from Colorado teams in the past who are now with other teams. However, we thought for this article we would look at the six players who were free agents at the end of last season and which one could be the biggest pain for the Rockies this season.

As a recap, you can look at the six players here as well as our predictions for what we thought each player would do in the offseason (come back to the Rockies or go to another team) in this article.

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So who are the six players we highlighted in that article and where are they now? Boone Logan is now with the Cleveland Indians, Nick Hundley is with the San Francisco Giants, Daniel Descalso is with the Arizona Diamondbacks and Raburn is with the Reds. Mark Reynolds, who was one of the six free agents at the end of last season, is back with the Rockies this season on (for now) a minor league deal. Jorge De La Rosa is the only one of the six players who has not signed with another team.

So which of the four former 2016 Rockies currently on another team could do the most damage against the Rockies this season? It’s very likely that Colorado will see Logan when the Indians visit Coors Field in June and the Rockies pay a return visit to Cleveland in August. However, he’s the only one of the four now in the American League.

Based on situations, it appears that Descalso could be the player who comes back to haunt the Rockies the most in 2017. Now 30, Descalso is coming off a year where he played everywhere from first base to left field for the Rockies. He was the definition of utility player for the team last season. He also put together a .264 average in 289 plate appearances. That tied for his second-highest career average in a season.

Descalso’s versatility will pay dividends for the Diamondbacks … just like it did in Colorado last season. Unlike Hundley (who will add depth behind Buster Posey) and Raburn (who will need to prove he can bounce back from his .220 average last season), Descalso will have plenty of opportunities to fit into the Arizona lineup. You can read some of the possibilities in this article from our sister site that covers the Diamondbacks, VenomStrikes.com

Next: 3 Non-Roster Players Who Could Impact Colorado This Season

Also, with Descalso now with Arizona, that’s plenty of chances for the Rockies to see him in the opposing dugout. It will be interesting to see, at the end of the season, how Descalso fared against the Rockies. It will also be interesting to see if Alexi Amarista can take up some of the slack left behind in Descalso’s absence.