Colorado Rockies: 10 Biggest Trades in Franchise History: 10-8

As sports fans, we love to analyze trades, but picking winners and losers right after a deal goes down can be tricky, especially in baseball. Luckily, we have the benefit of hindsight as we put together the 10 biggest trades in Colorado Rockies history.

Before we dive into the list, I wanted to mention two moves that didn’t crack the list this year, but could easily end up making it at soon as next year, depending on how things go in 2017.

Chris Iannetta to the Los Angeles Angels for Tyler Chatwood

On one hand, Iannetta never really became the every-day starting catcher that Los Angeles acquired him to be. In four seasons with the Angels, Iannetta never topped 325 at-bats, and he left in free agency after the 2015 season. Iannetta will be back in the National League West this season as a member of the Arizona Diamondbacks, where he may eventually face the man he was traded for.

So, chalk this up as a win for the Rockies, right? Sort of. Chatwood has been reasonably effective for Colorado, going 26-20 over the course of four seasons. But just staying on the field has been an issue for the young right-hander. He’s averaged just under 90 innings per year since joining the Rockies. That would be a lot of work for a reliever, but it’s not nearly enough for a starter.

Colorado Rockies

Colorado still stands as “the winner” of this trade, but the gains have been somewhat muted. That being said, Chatwood threw a career-high 158.0 innings last season, so things seem to be trending in the right direction for the Rockies.

Corey Dickerson and Kevin Padlo to the Tampa Bay Rays for Jake McGee and German Marquez

The first year after this trade was largely a wash at the major league level. McGee was disappointing in his first season with Colorado as he battled injuries and ineffectiveness. But while McGee struggled with the Rockies, Dickerson was (somewhat surprisingly) arguably even worse in Tampa, posting a meager .245/.293/.469 slash line.

Of course, trades don’t just last for one year. McGee and Dickerson will both look to bounce back in 2017, and provided they’re healthy, both have the talent to do so. What will eventually swing this trade is the development of the other two players involved.

In that regard, Colorado is ahead at the moment. We’ve written about Marquez a few times on this site already, and he should push Jeff Hoffman for the last spot in the Rockies starting rotation this year. Padlo is a 19-year old who hit .229 in A-ball last year. It’s too soon to say he won’t make it, but certainly given the choice, Marquez is the much more attractive prospect.

Now that we’ve got the honorable mentions out of the way, let’s dive into the list with a move that sent a Rockies legend to another city.