Colorado Rockies: who should they target in free agency?

J.D. Martinez is the biggest name on the outfielder market. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.

Outfield

The position that is the Rockies next priority is the outfield. They have nothing to worry about when it comes to centerfield, but what about right and left, especially with Carlos Gonzalez becoming a free agent.

The Rockies do have some young talent that could fill those vacancies. Raimel Tapia is a speedy outfielder who hit .288 for the Rockies last season. He doesn’t have much power (only hit 16 home runs), but is a great contact hitter with tremendous speed.

The Rockies also have David Dahl who many forget about because he was hurt all last year with a back injury. In 2016, his rookie season, he had a great year hitting .315 in 63 games. It will be interesting to see if he has the same production coming off of a year-long back injury.

A veteran option the Rockies can also turn to is Gerardo Parra who had a great 2017 season hitting .309, but his value came defensively in the outfield as he always seemed to make great plays.

Let’s say the Rockies sign a first baseman, but they don’t want to waste the money they spent on Desmond. Luckily, Desmond has experience in the outfield so the Rockies could always move him there.

None of these players have consistently proved themselves as starting outfielders, so it would be smart for the Rockies to look at the free agent market.

Outfield Free Agents

There are two free agents that the Rockies should target. The first the Rockies are very familiar with coming from the NL West, J.D. Martinez of the Arizona Diamondbacks. Martinez is probably one of the hottest free agents and definitely the biggest outfield name. Last year, Martinez hit .303 with 104 RBI and 45 home runs, which was third in the MLB. He would bring power to a lineup in dire need of some pop.

The other free agent option is Jay Bruce who played for the New York Mets and the Cleveland Indians last year. He hit .254 with 101 RBI and 36 home runs.

Both Bruce and Martinez would bring power to the Rockies lineup. Martinez would come at a high cost, but the Rockies would be getting him in his prime. As for Bruce, he wouldn’t be as efficient but would be more of a discount.

Again, it comes down to whether the Rockies feel the need to go out and spend money when they already have players who can fill the role. However, those players have yet to prove themselves.