Colorado Rockies: Could selling big contracts make them better?

Major League Baseball’s trade deadline is a mere three weeks away and the Colorado Rockies have some serious decisions to make.

Recently, I wrote that if the Colorado Rockies were going to be buyers, they better do it while there are still attractive moves left to be made. However, instead of buying, what if the Rockies could get better at the trade-deadline by selling? They go about doing this by moving some of their underperforming high-priced contracts that, believe it or not, still have some value.

Here are a few candidates:

Ian Desmond (5 years/$70 million, 2 years/$25 million remaining)

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After two seasons of being the most criticized players on the roster, Desmond is finally hitting a respectable .274/.328/.498 with 11 homers and 45 RBI. These numbers plus his versatility could attract some trade interest as long as the Rockies would be willing to eat some of his contract.

Moving Desmond makes sense for the Rockies as it makes a path to the Majors for some of the younger players in Triple-A who have put up some solid stats such as Yonathan Daza, Sam Hilliard and Noel Cuevas.

Daniel Murphy (2 years/$24 million, 1 year/$12 million remaining)

Injuries, bad defense, and a partial platoon role has defined Murphy’s lone half of a season in a Rockies’ uniform. His lack of success has only been magnified due to DJ LeMahieu‘s stellar play in New York (who Murphy replaced on the roster with a matching contract). It is no wonder many are regretting the addition of the 34-year-old Murphy.

Trading Murphy would allow the Rockies to move Ryan McMahon over to first base permanently and bring Brendan Rodgers back up to man second with Garrett Hampson/Pat Valaika.

Wade Davis (3 years/$52 million, 1 year/$17 million remaining)

After signing the biggest contract ever for a reliever, Davis has been uneven as the Rockies’ closer. This season, he has struggled especially at Coors Field where he has two blown saves, three losses and a 9.20 ERA. However, his prior postseason success including a World Series ring with the Royals in 2015 and his 0.79 road ERA could bring a lot of suitors to the table and fetch a solid return for the Rockies if they are willing to part ways. A Davis departure would give Scott Oberg a much deserved opportunity at closer.

Bryan Shaw (3 years/$27 million, 1 year/$9 million remaining)

Much like Davis, Shaw has struggled during his time in Denver but he still has a solid past track record. Add in a somewhat bounce back season from a terrible ’18 with Coors Field playing like the pre-humidor days, a contending team could offer the Rockies a deal thinking that Shaw just needs a change of scenery.

If the Rockies were to move one if not all of these players it would not be considered as giving up on the season. In fact, it could be exactly the opposite and be more of an addition by subtraction move for a few reasons:

The bullpen can’t get much worse than it already is. Desmond has been better but the Rockies get younger with a Triple-A call-up. It removes a defensive hole at first. Finally, a move creates a lot of room for payroll this offseason and for the future.

Next. Why Bud Black believes the Rockies will be buyers at the deadline. dark

The Rockies could find themselves in a odd situation where being sellers at the trade deadline could make them a stronger playoff contender. It will be fascinating to see what Jeff Bridrich will do in the coming weeks.

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