Colorado Rockies rumors: Reds reliever Jared Hughes to Denver?

Jon Morosi of FOX Sports and MLB.com was on MLB Network’s morning show MLB Central this morning and he has an intriguing hypothetical trade that would help out the Colorado Rockies bullpen.

The Cincinnati Reds, after firing their manager Bryan Price after a disastrous 3-15 start, have actually played better than .500 (38-37) under interim manager Jim Riggleman since. However, they still find themselves in the cellar of the NL Central with a 41-52 record.

As a result, they may be looking to trade some of their players for prospects. One of those may be reliever Jared Hughes.

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This season, in 41 games, Hughes has an ERA of 1.50 with six saves. He has a WHIP of 1.125, a FIP of 3.03, and he is striking out more than seven batters per nine innings compared to walking just 2.4.

Hughes is on a very team friendly contract with the Reds as he is making $2.125 million this season and next with an option for 2020 for $3 million. He signed it this past offseason when he was non-tendered by the Brewers. When the Brewers did that, we even made the case for the Rockies signing him then.

As Morosi also noted in his segment, Hughes is one of only eight relievers currently active that have five or more appearances in Coors Field without allowing an earned run. For Hughes himself, it is only six games, so it’s obviously a very small sample size, but it is still an interesting note.

Morosi also proposes that the Rockies send minor league reliever Ben Bowden back to the Reds. He was out for the entire season last year due to injury but this year, between Single-A Asheville and Advanced-A Lancaster, he has an ERA of 3.74 and he’s also striking out 15 batters per nine innings. According to MLB.com, he is the Rockies #22 prospect.

Next: Should the Rockies also look at some relievers from the Marlins?

Obviously, Hughes would provide the Rockies with another bullpen arm for a relatively inexpensive price, both in salary and in prospects. But the question remains on whether or not the Rockies will try to get some bullpen help before the deadline.