Colorado Rockies: offseason strategy should target 5 players

The offseason strategy for every team started yesterday, November 4, 2017 – exactly three days beyond the subtle finish to one of Major League Baseballs greatest World Series ever. On Wednesday evening, we all witnessed the Houston Astros beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-1 in Los Angeles to win the World Series, 4-3, and be crowned 2017 World Champions.

Today, there are one hundred forty-three days left before Opening Day arrives on Wednesday March 29, 2018. This season, marks the first time that EVERY Major League Baseball Team will play together, on Opening Day, since 1968! Between, now and then, there are plenty of dates and important events going on that will make this  off-season one for the ages.

That being said, all thirty (30) teams are planning their off-season strategy, looking to be 2018’s version of the Houston Astros. Many of these teams will be pursuing free agents and scouring the league for any trade acquisitions who could improve the teams roster, their farm system depth, and the overall franchise performance.

With one hundred forty-nine (149) players hitting free agency early morning Thursday, the league is preparing for the Hot Stove Season to begin now, in preparation for the Major League Baseball Winter Meetings, taking place December 10-14 in Orlando, Florida.

As a Contributor for RoxPile, we already know I will be contributing my piece to the Colorado Rockies, a team, who many predicted would be a postseason team in 2017, but they all believed the Rockies had to see everything go right, as our very own Bobby Mueller shows us in his piece. As we all remember, very little did go right in Spring Training, and the Rockies organizational depth was put to the test from the early beginning.

What nobody expected was the preparedness of the young arms in the farm system, and the talent they brought to the Major League Level in 2017, as they cleared the way for the Veterans to get healthy, by stepping in nicely, and holding down the fort en route to an 87-75 overall record, and the second Wild Card Spot.

In looking at their current roster, the free agent departures of: Greg Holland, Jonathan Lucroy, Carlos Gonzalez, Mark Reynolds, Tyler Chatwood, Jake McGee, and Pat Neshek, will be difficult to fill. Each of these Rockies, outside of Carlos Gonzalez, will be earning some hefty pay raises, and they could and, very likely, could sign elsewhere.

So, the Colorado Rockies find themselves in need of several key position players, and a few new strong members to the bullpen.

Those holes are:

• Catcher
• First Base
• Closer
• Set-Up Man
• Middle Relief

Lets take a look at each position, and I will identify the five members I believe Colorado needs to target, why they need to target them, and the method I believe they should be acquired by. Moving on, let’s take a look at what I believe should be the Rockies offseason strategy.