Colorado Rockies: which free agents could return in 2018?

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Jake McGee, Pat Neshek, and Greg Holland (if he doesn’t exercise his player option) will all be free agents. The Rockies obviously relied on all three of them a lot during their stretch run (especially the latter two).

Even though they each struggled at one point or another, they were all key cogs in the Rox bullpen. Both Holland and McGee had an ERA of 3.61 in 61 and 62 games, respectively.

Neshek was acquired by the Rockies just before the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline from the Philadelphia Phillies. With the Rockies, he had an ERA of 2.45 in 28 games. Overall, he had an ERA of 1.59 in 71 games on the season.

Often, great teams that make the postseason have great bullpens (the top six teams in bullpen ERA all made the Division Series this season) so it will definitely be something that the Rockies should invest in. However, it may not be with these three relievers.

Another pitcher that will be a free agent will be Tyler Chatwood. He pitched really well down the stretch for the Rockies. However, he may fall into the same case as Carlos Gonzalez: too inconsistent throughout the season.

Chance of McGee resigning with the Rockies: 15 percent

Chance of Neshek resigning with the Rockies: Less than 10 percent

Chance of Holland exercising his player option: One percent (I can’t completely rule it out)

Chance of Holland resigning with the Rockies: Five percent

Final Thoughts

Either way, it will be interesting to see how the Rockies offseason unravels. Also, of note, the Rockies will have a lot of money coming off the table after this season. They will have $33.375 million coming off the books in dead money (Jose Reyes, Jason Motte, Jordan Lyles, and Chad Qualls) as noted by Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post in this article from earlier today.

Next: Who could the Rockies next closer be?

Also, more than $20 million will be off the books with CarGo so the Rockies so the Rockies should have a lot of room for to make some moves in the offseason…and make the team even better than it was this year.