The Colorado Rockies are about to make a huge mistake with Bryan Shaw

You would think that with the Colorado Rockies well out of the National League Wild Card race, that they would be making decisions that would benefit them for the future.

If not, you would think that at least the Colorado Rockies would make decisions to try to win games in the present. The last thing you would expect is for them to make a decision that hurts them now AND in the future. But that is exactly what they are about to do.

You would be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn’t think the Bryan Shaw signing was a mistake, but despite that, it appears the Rockies are about to repeat the same mistake all over again.

Shaw has only one year left on his contract, but he has an option for 2021 that automatically vests if he has 60 appearances this season (please see note at bottom of article). He is currently sitting at 56.

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If he reaches the 60-appearance threshold, not only will Rockies fans have to endure another season of abysmal pitching, but the team will have to dish out another $9 million in 2021 that could instead go to a player who is helping the team win.

Allowing an overpaid veteran to vest an option would be one thing if the player was contributing to the team in any way, but in his two seasons with the Rockies, Shaw has posted ERAs of 5.93 and 5.25.  That includes an 8.31 ERA in the second half of 2019.

Why would the Rockies ever want to waste that kind of money for another year of terrible pitching when they have a clear way out? Especially considering Shaw is in the middle of a stretch where he’s given up about a run per inning since the All-Star break.

At this point, the Rockies might just be further ahead to designate Shaw because right now, bringing him in to pitch doesn’t just hurt their chances of winning that particular game, it hurts their chances of winning in 2021.

Editor’s Note: There are differing opinions on the wording of Shaw’s contract. However, Cot’s Baseball Contract says the 2021 option for Shaw kicks in if he has 110 combined pitching appearances in 2019 and 2020. There is no yearly limit according to this site, so if Shaw hits 60 appearances in 2019, the option would not automatically vest.