Colorado Rockies: An uncertain future lying ahead

It was not a surprise to see DJ LeMahieu leave but he signed a smaller contract compared to what many thought he could command, and again it seemed as though the Rockies had very little interest in retaining his services, even with the rival Dodgers heavily in the mix.

I would be okay with the DJ thing if we knew who the opening day second baseman was going to be. If Brendan Rodgers was the out-and-out favorite, I wouldn’t have thought twice about DJ, but it doesn’t look like that will happen. Is it Garrett Hampson, Ryan McMahon, or maybe someone else, like Rodgers?

We don’t know, and that could be a problem for two reasons. One, defense. DJ is the reigning Gold Glove winner at second base in the National League and two of those other three options are playing out of position at second. McMahon especially. The Rockies are a team that cannot be giving up extra outs in the field, and a regression on defense at the second base position was expected with DJ’s departure, but with uncertainty at the position in general, it could be a big blow to the Rockies infield.

Second is the offense. I trust McMahon’s bat, but only if it’s playing everyday, and if Hampson and McMahon are both on the opening day roster, I don’t at all expect him to get everyday at-bats. And they likely both will be on the roster because they both deserve to be on the roster. Rodgers, I think, will be the only player at second base that will be a 145+ game player if he wins the job out of Spring Training, and that seems unlikely as of today.