Colorado Rockies: the 2017 Winter Meetings wish list

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CHICAGO, IL – OCTOBER 18: Wade Davis #71 of the Chicago Cubs pitches in the eighth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers during game four of the National League Championship Series at Wrigley Field on October 18, 2017 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) /

With the 2018 MLB Winter Meetings set to kick off next week and moves already being made, here’s what moves should be at the top of the Colorado Rockies’ priorities.

The stove is already heating up. The Chicago Cubs signed former Rockie Tyler Chatwood to a 3 year contract worth $38 million and the Mariners traded for former NL Batting Champion Dee Gordon on Wednesday and the Winter Meetings haven’t even started yet.

The time has come for Jeff Bridich and the Rockies front office to start becoming more active on the free-agent front, in effort to shore up the holes left by Chatwood, Jake McGee, Carlos Gonzalez, Pat Neshek, Greg Holland, and Jonathan Lucroy.

Getting the $20 million and $22 million the Rockies are currently paying Gonzalez and Jose Reyes, respectively, off of the payroll will help tremendously in the Rockies’ ability to sign players during the coming weeks that they need to still be in the playoff hunt in 2018.

Colorado’s biggest need is in the bullpen, where the Rockies will have lost up to four of their top pitchers from 2017 by the time the first pitch of Spring Training 2018 is thrown. The first problem the Rockies are facing is the question of who will replace Holland as the closer in 2018.

DENVER, CO – SEPTEMBER 6: Relief pitcher Carlos Estevez #54 of the Colorado Rockies delivers to home plate during the fourth inning against the San Francisco Giants at Coors Field on September 6, 2017 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Justin Edmonds/Getty Images) /

The idea of the Rockies bringing in former Diamondbacks closer Fernando Rodney has been kicked around, as well as the idea of Carlos Estevez earning the promotion to the 9th inning.

The prospect of signing former Cubs closer Wade Davis has also gained traction the past couple of weeks. Davis is coming off of his third straight All-Star season, in which he posted a 2.30 ERA in 59 games, striking out 79 hitters and allowing 28 walks in 58.2 innings. He also converted 32 out of 33 save opportunities.

Rodney is coming off of a shaky 2017 season, posting a 4.23 ERA in 61 appearances. He struck out 65 hitters and walked 26 in 55.1 innings. He also converted 39 out of 45 save opportunities.

The X-Factor in this situation is current Rockies pitching coach Steve Foster, who also coached with the Kansas City Royals during Davis’ time with the club. A reunion with Foster may make the idea of coming to Colorado more attractive for Davis.

Estevez is a tricky one. He had an unsightly 5.57 ERA in 35 appearances, surrendering 39 hits and 14 walks in just 32.1 innings in 2017. Not what you want to see out of a potential closer.

The average speed of his fastball, though, was 96.93 mph in 2017, according to MLB.com. The velocity is there; if Estevez can develop better control and work at limiting hard contact, he can be a dangerous weapon out of the bullpen.

Another interesting move could be to acquire Lance Lynn from the Cardinals. Lynn had a 3.43 ERA in 33 starts with 153 strikeouts in 2017. Lynn could be a strong veteran presence in the rotation, which would give one of the Rockies’ standout rookie pitchers time to develop more in the bullpen.

We also discussed the possibility of the Rockies signing free agent starter Jake Arrieta nearly two weeks ago.

Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post noted a few days ago in this article that Rockies GM Jeff Bridich said that one of the Rockies’ young pitchers could be moved to the bullpen.

PHOENIX, AZ – SEPTEMBER 12: Catcher Jonathan Lucroy #21 of the Colorado Rockies walks off the field during the MLB game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on September 12, 2017 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /

Priority Two: Catcher

The Rockies made a shrewd move at the trade deadline last season, acquiring a slumping Jonathan Lucroy from the Texas Rangers.

Lucroy made an immediate and significant impact for the Rockies behind the plate. Before the trade, Lucroy hit .242/.297/.338 in 77 games with the Rangers. After the change of scenery, Lucroy hit .310/.429/.437 in 46 games with the Rockies.

Not only did Lucroy give the Rockies an offensive boost behind the plate for the Rockies, he provided the intangibles as well, bringing past postseason experience to a very young team and providing a veteran presence behind the plate for a rotation led by 26-year-old Jon Gray and two rookies.

Re-signing Lucroy would be a good move by the Rockies, and he already expressed possible interest in returning to Denver next season.

He now has experience catching the Rockies pitchers, and it would also give Colorado’s young catchers, Tony Wolters and Tom Murphy, someone to learn from.

Another option could be to bring in former Tigers and Cubs catcher Alex Avila. The Rockies were rumored to be in on Avila around the 2017 trade deadline, but the Tigers eventually dealt him to the Chicago Cubs.

Avila didn’t perform as well in Chicago after the trade, hitting just .239 after starting off the year hitting .274 with Detroit. Like Lucroy, though, a change of scenery to baseball’s best hitter’s park could be lucrative.

PHOENIX, AZ – JUNE 30: Raimel Tapia #7 of the Colorado Rockies breaks his bat as he hits a RBI on a ground ball out during the thirdi inning of the MLB game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on June 30, 2017 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /

Priority Three: Outfield

Fan-favorite and longtime Rockie Carlos Gonzalez had a very disappointing season in his possibly-final year in Denver. The Rockies will likely opt not to resign him and look elsewhere to replace his valuable defense and bat in right field.

The best option to replace Gonzalez already exists in the Rockies organization, and will be making a comeback from an injury suffered early in Spring Training this past season.

David Dahl did not appear in a game for the Rockies in 2017, but performed very well in an abbreviated stint in the big leagues in 2016. Dahl slashed .315/.359/.500 with 7 home runs and 24 RBIs in 63 games two seasons ago. With Gerardo Parra likely to hang on to the starting job in left field, that leaves Desmond and Raimel Tapia as backup/emergency outfield options.

Next: Could Nolan Arenado sign with the Rockies long term?

Final Thoughts

Overall, Colorado’s shopping list this holiday season is full of needs. With an already strong core that made the playoffs last season to build off of, look for the Rockies to make some moves to shore up the bullpen and make some progress behind the dish as well as they push toward making it deeper in the playoffs next October.

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Colorado Rockies: the 2017 Winter Meetings wish list

With the 2018 MLB Winter Meetings set to kick off next week and moves already being made, here’s what moves should be at the top of the Colorado Rockies’ priorities.

Priority Two: Catcher

More from Rox Pile

Priority Three: Outfield

Final Thoughts

Schedule