Colorado Rockies trade rumors: relief pitcher edition

Another spot where the Rockies can bolster themselves before the trade deadline is in the bullpen.

Yesterday, we discussed some starting pitchers that the Rockies may be interested in and may, potentially, acquire in this article. One of those pitchers, Jose Quintana, has already been traded to the Cubs this morning.  Thus far in the month of July, the bullpen has improved as, in 21 innings of work, they have an ERA of 3.86. However, in June, in 92 innings of work, the bullpen’s ERA was 5.18. For the whole season, the bullpen ERA is 4.39, which is 21st out of the 30 MLB teams so it is a place for some improvement before the deadline.

For relievers Scott Oberg, Adam Ottavino, Jordan Lyles, and Mike Dunn, none of them have ERA’s lower than 5.35. For relievers Greg Holland, Jake McGee, and Chris Rusin, none of their ERA’s are higher than 2.70 so there is a clear divide between them.

Here are some of the options that the Rockies will have for the bullpen before the deadline.

Right-handed pitcher Addison Reed of the New York Mets is a reliever that we’ve discussed before as we discussed him last week in this article.

In 2017, he’s pitched very well as his ERA is 2.53 of 41 games and he has 15 saves. His strikeout to walk rate is very good as it is nearly nine to one and his ERA+ is 167 (100 is league average) and his WHIP is 1.08 (a 1.1 or under, for relievers, is excellent). His opponent’s average is .247 on the season.

His 2016 was very good as well as, in 80 games, he had an ERA of 1.97. His strikeout rate was seven to one and his ERA+ was 206 and his WHIP was 0.94. His opponent’s batting average was .210, their on-base percentage was .246, and their slugging percentage was .294.

In his career at Coors Field, he’s pitched in six games and he has two saves but his ERA is a tad high at 4.76 but it’s not atrocious. Also, his opponent’s batting average and on-base percentage is very good as they are .227 and .261, respectively.

The Mets are eight games under .500 and are in fourth place in the National League, twelve games behind of the Washington Nationals.

In postseason play, he has struggled in it as he has allowed six runs (five earned) and seven hits in eight innings pitched between 2015 and 2016 for an ERA of 5.63.

Reed is owed around $3.5 million for the rest of 2017 and he’s a free agent at season’s end.

Left-handed pitcher Jerry Blevins, also of the Mets, could be another potential target of the Rockies and has been mentioned as a potential target before.

In 2017, Blevins is 4-0 with a 3.54 ERA and he leads the National League in appearances with 44 but he’s only logged 28 innings of work (because he’s primarily a LOOGY, a Lefty One Out Guy). His strikeout rate is very good as its 12.5 per nine innings but his walk rate is a bit too high as he walks 4.5 per nine innings and his opponent’s batting average of .224.

In 2016, he pitched in 73 games and he had an ERA of 2.79. His strikeout and walk rates were a bit lower as they were 11.1 and 3.2 per nine innings. His opponent’s average was .229.

He’s also pitched very well in Coors Field as his opponent’s average is only .190 and their on-base percentage is only .227 in five games and six innings. In fact, he’s only allowed four hits and hasn’t allowed a run in Coors.

He has pitched masterfully in postseason play as he has appeared in six games (combined between 2012 and 2014) and in seven innings, he’s only allowed one hit and zero runs.

He is owed about $3 million for the rest of the season and he’s a free agent at the end of the season if the team option on his contract, of $7 million, isn’t exercised.

On to the next reliever and he’s one of the best in baseball.

Zach Britton of the Baltimore Orioles is one of the best relievers in all of baseball…if he’s healthy.

He’s only pitched in 11 games and only has five saves but he has a good ERA of 2.25. He’s spent the vast majority of the season in the disabled list as he only made two appearances (on May 2 and May 4) between April 14th and July 5th.

However, when healthy, he is one of the top five best relievers in baseball. He hasn’t blown a save since September 20, 2015. He’s had 54 straight saves since then. Since becoming a full-time reliever in 2014, his ERA of 1.43. His WHIP is 0.955 and ERA+ of 295.

Particularly in 2016, in 69 appearances, he led the American League with 47 saves, and only allowed four earned runs all season, good enough for an ERA of 0.54, or an ERA+ of 795 (100 is league average). He was an All-Star, 4th in the American League Cy Young Award voting, and 11th in the AL MVP voting. His opponent’s batting average was .162, on-base percentage of .221, and their slugging percentage was .209.

In six games of postseason action in 2014, he pitched 4 2/3 innings allowing five hits and two runs for an ERA of 3.86.

He is owed about $5.5 million for the rest of the season and he’s still arbitration eligible for next season. After that, he will become a free agent.

Left-handed reliever Tony Watson of the Pittsburgh Pirates is yet another potential target for the Rockies and we’ve mentioned him as a target before.

In 2017, Watson’s 4-2 with a 3.86 ERA and he’s had 10 saves. However, he has blown seven saves this season. He blew five saves in 2016 as well but he still had a good ERA of 3.06 in 70 games.

If he were to be acquired by Colorado, he would serve in a set-up role and he is best in that role. He spent 2014 and 2015 in that role as his average between those two seasons was a 1.74 ERA in 78 games and only 15 earned runs.

In Coors Field, his opponent’s have a batting average of .235 and an on-base percentage of .278 in eight appearances and pitched in nine innings. In that span, he’s only allowed eight hits and two runs at Coors.

In postseason play, Watson has appeared in five games and five innings and he has also four hits and one run for an ERA of 1.80.

He’s owed about $1.1 million for the rest of the 2017 season. He’s owed $5.6 million in 2018 and after the season, he will become a free agent.

David Robertson has pitched very well for the Chicago White Sox this season and he’s yet another person who we’ve discussed before.

In 29 games, he has a 2.87 ERA with 13 saves. He’s had a fantastic strikeout to walk ratio of more than four to one (13.2 to 3.2). He’s never had an ERA above 3.47 since 2010 and he’s never had an ERA higher than 3.82 in a full season in his career. He’s also not had a season in the past three with less than 34 saves.

In his career at Coors Field, which is four games and 3 2/3 innings and he’s only allowed one hit and he’s not allowed a run. His opponent’s have only hit .083, with a .283 on-base percentage, and a .167 slugging percentage.

He would bring a decent amount of postseason experience to Denver as he has pitched in 19 postseason games and he’s allowed 15 hits and seven runs in 17 innings of work, good enough for an ERA of 3.71.

He is owed a little bit less than $6 million for the rest of the season. He’s owed $13 million next season before becoming a free agent.

Justin Wilson of the Detroit Tigers is another potential bullpen target for the Rockies that we mentioned in our bullpen article last week.

Wilson is having a career year for the Tigers as since they released Francisco Rodriguez, Wilson has become the closer for the team. He has a 3-3 record with a 2.36 ERA in 36 games with 10 saves. His WHIP is 0.932 and he’s only averaging five hits allowed, a little over three walks, and a little under than 13 strikeouts per nine innings.

Wilson has only had two career appearances in Coors Field and his opponent’s have only hit .167 (one hit) with an on-base percentage of .286 and a slugging percentage of .167 in two innings of work.

He also brings postseason experience to the table as in four games and 4 1/3 innings pitched, he has an ERA of 2.08 as he’s allowed three hits and one run.

Wilson is owed about $1.25 million for the rest of 2017. He’s arbitration eligible for next season and he will become a free agent after the 2018 season.

Brad Hand was the only All-Star for the San Diego Padres this season and he was able to do it in Miami, the place where he previously played.

This season, he has a 2.30 ERA in 42 games and 47 innings pitched. His WHIP is 1.00 and his strikeout to walk ratio is nearly five to one (11.5 to 2.5).

In 2016, he was 4-4 with a 2.92 ERA and he led the National League in appearances with 82 and had 89 1/3 innings pitched in his first year as a full-time relief pitcher.

His career ERA and opponent’s batting is a bit high in his career at Coors Field (.258 and 5.87) but in the past two seasons in (the best two seasons of his career), he’s pitched in four games at Coors and in 3 1/3 innings pitched, he’s allowed one run and only one hit for an opponent’s batting average of .083 and an ERA of 2.70.

He is only owed about $600,000 for the rest of 2017 and he’s arbitration eligible for the following two seasons and he will become a free agent after the 2019 season.

Ryan Madson of the Oakland A’s is yet another reliever that we have discussed before as a potential reliever for the Rockies to acquire.

He’s appeared in 38 games in 2017 with a 2.17 ERA. His WHIP is 0.804 and his strikeout to walk ratio is nearly six to one (8.4 to 1.4) per nine innings.

He has not had a season since 2007 that he has had an ERA above 3.62 (granted, he did not pitch from 2012-14).

He has pitched very well at Coors Field before in his career as he has a 3-0 record with a 1.47 ERA in 10 appearances. In that span, he’s pitched 18 1/3 innings and he has two saves, an opponent’s batting average of .246, and an on-base percentage of .288.

He’s also had an extensive postseason career and in 42 games pitched, he’s allowed 45 hits but only 14 runs so his ERA is only 2.91.

We are coming to the end of the list and for the final player, we stay in Oakland.

Sean Doolittle, also of the Oakland Athletics, is another potential target for the Rockies.

In 2017, he has a 3.54 ERA in 22 games and he has an impeccable WHIP of 0.689. This is slow low because he’s only walked two in 20 1/3 innings pitched. Also, his strikeout to walk ratio is 14.5 to 0.9 (29:2).

In his career, he’s never had an ERA higher than the 3.95 he had in 2015 so he has been a very effective pitcher throughout his career spanning back to his rookie season of 2012.

He has very little experience at Coors Field as he has only pitched in one game and in one inning. he allowed one hit and did not allow a runner.

In postseason play, he has an ERA of 4.00 in eight games as in nine innings in the postseason, he’s allowed 10 hits and four earned runs.

He’s owed around $1.25 million for the remainder of 2017. For 2018, he’s owed $4.38 million and for 2019 and 2020, his contract has two team options for $6 million and $6.5 million.

Next: The Debate for and against Nolan Arenado

Final Thoughts

It usually doesn’t cost as much for a team to acquire a reliever so I suspect that the Rockies might get two before the deadline.

If I were to guess who the two would be, I would suspect Madson and Ramos. However, with Ramos, he may not be the only piece of a deal (some other potential pieces from the Marlins are mentioned in this article).