Colorado Rockies: It's time to sign a first baseman

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WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 30: Mark Reynolds. Photo courtesy of Getty Images. /

On Feb. 5 the New York Mets signed Todd Frazier to a two-year deal. The Colorado Rockies were rumored to be looking into the former Yankees third basemen, even though they still have Nolan Arenado for a couple more years. With that all being said the Rockies do have a primary position they should be looking at: first base. In this article, I’ll analyze a few of the free agent first basemen that the Rockies could potentially sign. I’ll also be going over what they’re contracts should look like.

1. Mark Reynolds

Let’s just go ahead and get the obvious choice out the way. Mark Reynolds is the most likely candidate for the Rockies.

He made a big splash with the Rox with only signing to a minor league contract and a Spring Training invite. He put in real work putting up a .267 batting along with 30 homers and 97 RBIs. Arguably, that’s his best season since 2009 when he had 44 home runs and 102 RBI with the Diamondbacks.

That’s pretty good for a guy who the Rox had low expectations for. Defensive wise he did nothing, but add to the already amazing defense. Just last season he made 131 double plays while only making 6 errors. That’s pretty good if you ask me. Speaking on his contract, if you look at his contract from last year, it was a 1 year/$1.5 million. That seems to be a good deal for Reynolds.

I’d actually go over what I believe would be a sound deal for him in my past article. Right now with the free agent market how it is I’d say the max they should give him is $2 million and stick with the one year deal as Mark Reynolds is 34.

2. Logan Morrison

ARLINGTON, TX – MAY 31: Logan Morrison. Getty Images. /

Honestly, we’ve covered Logan Morrison in so many different articles here that it’s crazy. However, we’ve mainly discussed him in these four separate articles. If the Rockies aren’t able to sign Reynolds, Logan Morrison would be the next the best thing. He may actually be an upgrade from Reynolds. Morrison hit a whopping 38 home runs with 85 RBIs that led him to a .246 batting average.

These are Rockie caliber numbers. When you put his stats next to the other Rockies in the lineup, you’ve got someone that fits right in. Defensively, Morrison is good as well only committing 8 errors and turning 91 double plays. In advanced defensive stats, he is also rated well compared to other first basemen in the American League last season, according to Fangraphs. His salary was higher than Reynolds’ as Morrison’s contract came out to be $2.5 million for the 2017 season.

Since he’s only 30, I’d offer him a two or three year contract amounting to around $5.5 million (for two years). Even if you go a bit higher, Morrison would be worth it. He probably won’t be getting the money that some originally predicted, like MLB Trade Rumors predicting that he’d get 3 years and $39 million all the way back in November. But if the Rockies could work that down a lot, he’d be worth it.

3. Lucas Duda

TORONTO, ON – AUGUST 15: Lucas Duda. Getty Images. /

More from Rox Pile

This one may be a little bit off the beaten path but with baseball, out of the box thinking comes in handy. Lucas Duda is a clutch guy and there’s no way to tout that. Looking at his stats from last year his batting average was low (.217), but he hit 30 home runs.

To me, it sounds like you have a guy that can swing for power but could work on his contact. The 64 RBI isn’t too shabby either, but it’s understandable to want more out of him. Duda’s time was split due to trade between the Mets and Rays, but with both teams he only had 2 errors which lead to a total of 4 in all.

I’d be reaching out to him ASAP. I wouldn’t say the Rockies should drop a lot of money on him, but he’s worth more than some perceive. Since he’s 32 he probably has 2 good years left, but maybe have a club option in case not everything goes well. Let’s shoot for about $9.5 million for 2 years with a club option.

After all, if he can put up something similar (or better since he’d be playing half of his games at Coors Field) to what he averaged in 2014 and 2015 with the Mets (144 games, 70 runs, 30 doubles, 28 home runs, 82 RBI, a .249/.350/.483 slashline, and an OPS+ of 133, he would be well worth $9.5 million. With the OPS+, the only players on the Rockies last season who were close to that were Nolan Arenado (132 OPS+) and Charlie Blackmon (142).

4. Eric Hosmer

A slow shutter speed picture of Eric Hosmer running between first and second base. Getty Images. /

A girl can dream right? I truly think that if the Rockies did entertain the idea of signing Hosmer, all of Colorado would be in a frenzy. This would be a dream come true for some Rockies fans as I know that Hosmer would most likely have his best numbers at Coors. Hosmer isn’t really a huge power threat but good for contact. Even though he had only 25 homers, he came through with 192 hits and 94 RBIs, which lead him to a .318 batting average. Did I mention he won the Silver Slugger this year as well?

Defensively, Hosmer just took home his fourth career Gold Glove award. If he were to join the Rockies, it’d make him the third Gold Glove player in just the infield.

~~Truly, I can’t think of one bad thing when it comes to Hosmer.~~ Actually, yes, I can think of a bad thing: his agent Scott Boras. Now, when talking contract projections, Scott Boras completely wrecks some teams from wanting to even talking to Hosmer. When it comes to Hosmer, he’s good… really good.

That doesn’t mean I would hand out a $200 million contract. You’re out of your mind if you think Hosmer is worth that. He’s only 28 so with him it’d be okay going for more years. Since the Royals just offered him a deal, it’s nice to analyze. It was a 7-year deal for $147 million. I’d probably go for a 5-year deal for $100 million, but if the Rox did something like that they’d probably have to completely devote the next few seasons to upgrading the farm system. All it comes down to with Eric Hosmer is if he’s truly worth the extra cost.

SCOTTSDALE, AZ – FEBRUARY 23: Ryan McMahon #85 of the Colorado Rockies poses for a portrait during photo day at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick on February 23, 2017 in Scottsdale, Arizona. (Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images) /

Takeaways

These guys are all free agents, meaning I’m only looking at the current market and solving the first base situation via signing someone. There could be some options on the trade market as well.

The best bet for the Rox is to resign Mark Reynolds or sign Logan Morrison. In my opinion, Morrison would be the better choice looking at his age and his stats.

Now, I’m not forgetting that Ian Desmond is a possible choice if they choose to stay internal, but he’ll most likely be in the outfield. Ryan McMahon is the big name on campus for the job if they don’t sign a free agent. To me, it’s a questionable choice, but hopefully when Spring Training rolls around, they help develop him more and start him in the Cactus League games.

They could even let Rockies infielder Pat Valaika see some time at first base. It is something that I said that could potentially happen about a month ago in this article and something that Rockies manager Bud Black mentioned as a possibility as we mentioned in this article from two weeks ago. In addition, Black also mentioned that prospect Jordan Patterson could also see some time at first base.

There’s quite a lot of avenues the Rockies could go down, but as of now their best bet would be signing a first baseman.

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Colorado Rockies: It’s time to sign a first baseman