Colorado Rockies trade rumors: odds and ends in the final hours

Within the past day, the Rockies has been connected to a few more players that they may acquire before the trade deadline.

The Colorado Rockies have already acquired reliever Pat Neshek of the Philadelphia Phillies but they are, most likely, not finished. Here are some of the players that they have been interested in lately.

Yu Darvish, Texas Rangers

Jon Heyman, in this article on FanRag Sports, mentioned that the Rockies have looked as Yu Darvish of the Texas Rangers to help their starting rotation. However, the Rockies are one of the ten teams on his no-trade list as a part of his contract so it would be hard to come to a deal for him.

Darvish was an All-Star this year and he has an ERA of 4.01. That number has risen a lot lately as in his last eight starts (which is since June 18), he has not recorded a win as he is 0-5 and he’s got an ERA OF 5.81 and a opponent’s batting average of .277 in that span. He’s also only signed through the end of this season.

Sonny Gray, Oakland Athletics

We have heard from Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post, on Twitter, that the Rockies have not looked at Sonny Gray but Heyman says, in the same article from above, that the Rockies might be interested.

He has a 6-5 record with a 3.43 ERA in 16 starts. However, in his past six starts, he is 4-2 with a sparkling 1.37 ERA and an opponent’s average of .164. In each of the past six starts, he has gone at least six innings and he hasn’t given up more than two earned runs. He is signed through the 2019 season.

Lance Lynn, St. Louis Cardinals

Heyman mentions that Lance Lynn could still be a target for the Rockies, which contradicts the Saunders tweet from above. In fact, Heyman lists the Rockies as the #2 option for Lynn.

He is 8-6 with a 3.21 ERA in 2017 in 21 starts. In his career, he has pitched well in Coors as in four starts, he has a 2.84 ERA and his opponent’s batting average is .247. He is only signed through the end of the season.

Justin Wilson, Detroit Tigers

As we have mentioned in numerous articles before, Justin Wilson would be a good target for the Rockies for the bullpen and Heyman mentions it in the same article from above. However, the Rockies are not in the top three in the list.

Wilson has a 2.75 ERA in 41 games and he has 12 saves (he became the Tigers closer in May). He is also signed through next season.

Jonathan Lucroy, Texas Rangers

Jonathan Lucroy is another target that we have mentioned before and Heyman also says this. In fact, he has the Rockies as the number one team to get him.

Lucroy has not had a good season in 2017, though. A .245 batting average, four home runs, 27 RBIs, a .300 on-base percentage, and a 69 OPS+. Defensively, he is the worst catcher in baseball as he has -11 Defensive Runs Saved and of the 85 catchers who qualify for the pitch framing metrics, he is dead last in all of baseball, according to Baseball Prospectus. The Rockies need to improve their defense and offense at catcher, not weaken it.

Lucroy has been great in past seasons, especially in 2016. He had 24 HRs, 81 RBIs, a .292 batting average, a .355 on-base percentage, a total of four DRS (three at catcher, one at first base), and the 6th best pitch-framing catcher in all of baseball according to Baseball Prospectus. He is only signed through the end of the season.

Alex Avila, Detroit Tigers

We mentioned Alex Avila as a potential target for the Rockies in this article from two days ago and Heyman also mentions him. He has the Rockies as the #1 team for him as well.

In 75 games (56 starts) this season, Avila has played well offensively. He has 59 hits, 29 runs, 11 doubles, 11 home runs, 32 RBIs, a .276 batting average, a .398 on-base percentage, and a .481 slugging percentage. His advanced numbers are also good as he has a .381 BABIP (Batting Average on Balls in Play) and he has a 136 OPS+.

Defensively, however, he hasn’t been good as he has -6 Defensive Runs Saved and he is ranked 77th in the pitch framing ranks by Baseball Reference of the 85 qualifiers.

Brad Hand, San Diego Padres

Heyman also mentions left-handed reliever Brad Hand as a possibility for the Rockies (as did we in this article).

This season, he has a 2.00 ERA in 49 games and 54 innings pitched. His WHIP is 0.963 and his strikeout to walk ratio is five to one (11.7 to 2.3).

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.

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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 signed for the 2018 and 2019 seasons so he would be a good, long term option for the Rockies.

Dan Straily, Miami Marlins

This morning, Clark Spencer, Miami Marlins beat writer for the Miami Herald, reported on Twitter that right-handed starter Dan Straily could be a target for the Rockies.

This is a point of departure from a report yesterday from USA Today’s Bob Nightengale on Twitter:

Straily is 7-6 with a 3.84 ERA in 21 starts this season. He has not pitched well in his past two starts, though, as he has an ERA of 10.00 and an opponent’s batting average of .452 (that’s not a typo) and he has only has nine innings pitched. However, in his six starts before that, he had 36 2/3 innings pitched and he had an ERA of 2.20 and an opponent’s batting average of .220.

Next: The Rockies World Series chances

Final Thoughts

The Rockies obviously are still in talks to acquire players before the deadline and by seeing these rumors, I would expect the Rockies to acquire two to three more players before the deadline. Also, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Rockies made a move in August during the waiver trade deadline.