Colorado Rockies trade rumors: Jake McGee to the Houston Astros?

Richard Justice of MLB.com recently discussed trade deadline proposals for 17 teams that are in the hunt for a playoff spot.

While the Colorado Rockies were not included in Justice’s article among the 17 contenders, he did mention a Rockie that could be traded to a contender.

The player is Rockies reliever Jake McGee and Justice believes that the Houston Astros are a good fit for the left-handed reliever.

Even though they have one of the best bullpens in baseball (4th in ERA at 3.83) latter statement is something that the current Astros roster doesn’t have on their 25-man roster: a left-handed reliever.

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In fact, the Astros haven’t used a left-hander in relief in nearly two weeks (July 15) and they don’t have a left-handed reliever with an ERA below 5.50 this season.

As Justice notes in his article, McGee has not allowed a home run to a left-handed hitter all season long so he could provide a good arm to face lefties for the Astros (or another contender, in general).

Overall in 2019, left-handed hitters facing McGee are hitting .211/.233/.263 with only two extra base hits (both doubles).

The main problem with McGee being traded is his contract, as he is owed roughly $3 million for the rest of this season as well as $9.5 million for next season and at least a $2 million buyout for 2021 (or a $9 million team option).

If the Rockies pay some of it (or almost all of it), they may be able to get a decent prospect(s) but if not, they won’t get much out of a trade for him, other than being out from underneath his contract.

This is really the first time that we’ve heard McGee’s name as part of any deal and after all, it is just a hypothetical trade but with being eight games under .500 and heading into a series with the Dodgers before the trade deadline, it may be a trade that the Rockies front office should consider to retool for next season and beyond.