Colorado Rockies: Projecting the roster for the 2020 season

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DENVER, CO – AUGUST 30: Manager Bud Black #10 of the Colorado Rockies watches his team against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Coors Field on August 30, 2019 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Joe Mahoney/Getty Images) /

Thankfully the 40-man roster is going to be eliminated for the 2020 season to restore some integrity of the last month of the season for the Colorado Rockies and every other Major League team and bring some competition to arguably the most important month of the regular season.

The Los Angeles Dodgers certainly don’t need any more help winning the division while smaller market teams sometimes don’t even expand rosters. For that and for the sake of the length of this article, we will explore the prospect of what a 26-man roster would look like for the upcoming season. Especially from the perspective of the bullpen.

Bullpen

While the bullpen wasn’t the biggest culprit of the decline in 2019, the group declined in many ways. First the ERA spiked from 4.62 ERA in 2018 to 5.05 ERA this year (as of the time of this writing). Adam Ottavino’s beautiful slider was certainly missed but the absence of his veteran presence, as one of the greatest Rockies relievers of all time, was hurting more. Wade Davis with his 7.02 ERA will make $18 million in the last year of his contract next season with only Nolan Arenado and Charlie Blackmon making more. In ’18, he had a career high 43 saves compared to 15 in ’19. He will start the 2020 season as the closer solely because of the money he is owed. He has already not justified his contract even if he has a bounceback season next year. This is likely to be Davis’s final year in Denver.

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Thankfully Scott Oberg picked up the slack and over the past two years does not have an ERA over 2.50. He should eventually become the closer. He is signed through 2019 and the Rockies could sign him to a team-friendly deal and use the savings to sign a first baseman. More on that later.

Chad Bettis’ ERA increased a point in the bullpen and his transition didn’t seem to work. His contract expires at the end of the season and may very likely not be back in 2020. Seunghwan Oh was important for the run to the 2018 playoffs but with a 9.33 ERA signed back with his original team the Samsung Lion in South Korea.

Jake McGee may not be worth the $9.5 million he will make next year but he was hardly the problem and the Rockies desperately need more lefties in the pen. Especially since Harrison Musgrave is gone too. He will need to become an even more integral piece to this bullpen next year.

Expect Chris Rusin to make it back next year but these aren’t the fundamental changes that the bullpen needs to be a bright spot. The sentiment and effort put into investing in the bullpen is much appreciated by a majority of fans. It was spent strategically and even on great candidates. That effort has ultimately failed and it is time for retooling.

Will Smith of the likely-to-rebuild Giants would be a tremendous addition to the pen who has 32 saves, a 3.00 ERA and made his first All-Star appearance in 2019 at the age of 30. He would command a lot of money but not even half of what Davis is making next year and gives the Rockies the legitimate lefty that they so desperately need. Sean Doolittle, who admittedly doesn’t have the best ERA of his career in 2019, may be a nice alternative if the Nationals do buyout his contract.

As far as righties go, Will Harris (originally a Rockie with a 8.15 ERA) will be a free agent and would be a dream with a 1.62 ERA in 2019 but the World Series front-runner Houston Astros are likely to resign him. While not an exactly inexpensive option, Yusmeiro Petit of the Oakland A’s with a team option is a stable righty. He never throws above 90 MPH but he doesn’t need to as he has ranked in the top two for innings pitched for a reliever in the last three seasons. He can eat the innings that this young starting rotation needs to be effective. Investing more in the bullpen is what proved to help extend the effectiveness of this young staff. It might be time to do it once again before there is no room to salvage any of the pitching.

DENVER, COLORADO – APRIL 18: Manager Bud Black and catcher Tony Wolters #14 of the Colorado Rockies confer on the mound while changing pitchers in the seventh inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Coors Field on April 18, 2019 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images) /

Battery

The core should absolutely come back next season. There needs to be further development for these young pitchers and many of them went down to injury in 2019. Expect to see Kyle Freeland, German Marquez, Jon Gray and Tyler Anderson back. The Rockies need a veteran starter that can eat up innings. It doesn’t have to be a top of the rotation guy but one that legitimately brings a veteran presence to a core that needs any help they can get.

Marcus Stroman seemed to be a great candidate last offseason but was ultimately traded to the New York Mets at the trade deadline. Here are some upcoming free agents that might fill a similar role of what Stroman could have been with the Rockies.

Starting Outfield

Remember how bad it looked for Ian Desmond in 2017 and only playing 95 games in an injury-riddled season? Well 2019 has been even worse. He’s never posted a positive WAR with the club and he is sitting at -1.6 WAR through 126 games played this season. He was benched in favor of getting Raimel Tapia some playing time. Expect the outfield to be aligned with hopefully a healthy David Dahl in center, Tapia in left and Charlie Blackmon in right. Thankfully, the Desmond deal is one season closer to being done.

Starting Infield

For the infield, expect the stable anchor we’ve come to expect on the left side in Nolan Arenado and Trevor Story. Expect Garrett Hampson to still be on the roster but I wouldn’t make any guarantees he will start like he did at the beginning of 2019. Brendan Rodgers showed he wasn’t ready for the call-up and might have been sent up too soon with DJ LeMahieu’s departure (maybe one day the thought of not re-signing him will fade). Rodgers is rehabbing from a season-ending shoulder injury but it will be imperative to get him more experience if he is going to be the future of this organization.

Daniel Murphy, unfortunately, is not a viable option anywhere in the infield and the Rockies should eat the contract if necessary. It is long past due for this club to invest in a legitimate first baseman. Paul Goldschmidt would have been the perfect answer in the offseason if he weren’t in the division and the Cardinals in due part are benefitting all the way to the top of the NL Central. Jose Abreu is the biggest name in upcoming free agency at the position and he has rebounded his career appearing in the last two All-Star games driving in 112 RBI through publication. Joey Votto would be a dream even for a year or two and even at 35 and the fact that he’ll retire on the only team he’s ever known.

If money and age is a concern, Matt Olson is a rising star. He doesn’t hit for the best average but specializes in the long ball, hitting 31 homers in 111 games this season. He is signed through the rest of the season for just over $1 million and is just 25. His Gold Glove caliber play is better than all of this and would be the best addition in the offseason. All of this to say, expect Murphy to be the Rockies 2020 first baseman.

Next. What will the Colorado Rockies do at first base in 2020?. dark

Projected Colorado Rockies 2020 Opening Day Roster

Right-handed Pitchers (9): Wade Davis, Jon Gray, German Marquez, Scott Oberg, Bryan Shaw, Tim Melville, Wes Parsons, [Add veteran starter like Jake Odorizzi], [Add righty reliever possibly Yusmeiro Petit]

Left-handed Pitchers (4): Kyle Freeland, Jake McGee, Chris Rusin, [Add quality lefty, preferably Will Smith]

Catchers (2): Tony Wolters, [Should have been Realmuto, probably won’t get Grandal, Alex Avila seems like a happy medium but don’t be surprised if it is Drew Butera].

Infielders (6): Daniel Murphy [Hopefully Matt Olson], Nolan Arenado, Garrett Hampson, Ryan McMahon, Trevor Story, Brendan Rodgers

Outfielders (5): Charlie Blackmon, David Dahl, Raimel Tapia, [Marcell Ozuna would be a luxury or just make our hearts not ache anymore and bring CarGo back. Even if it’s just to keep that club house together], [another backup outfielder, in the likes of a Gerardo Parra, Curtis Granderson, Jon Jay, Cameron Maybin, etc).

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