Colorado Rockies: A simulated trade with the Philadelphia Phillies

As the FanSided Fake Winter Meetings roll on, we have been on a quest to dump some of the big and unproductive contracts for the Colorado Rockies. Today, we continued that mission.

Yesterday, we found a trade partner in the Chicago White Sox for first baseman Daniel Murphy (see the article here) and in the New York Mets for reliever Wade Davis (see the article here). In today’s simulated move, the Colorado Rockies and Philadelphia Phillies came together in a deal that sent reliever Bryan Shaw to the National League East.

In our latest trade, we sent Shaw to the Phillies in exchange for southpaw minor league pitcher Taylor Lehman. Shaw’s $9 million salary for 2020 would be split between the Rockies and Phillies and any options that would vest for 2021 or beyond would become Philadelphia’s responsibility.

In his two seasons since signing a three-year, $27 million deal with the Rockies, Shaw has posted a 5.61 ERA and given up a career-high 9.9 homers per 9 innings (you can “Coors” all you want here). Additionally, his strikeout to walk ratio is the lowest it’s been at 1.96 and his FIP has risen to 5.07 while in a Rockies uniform.

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Signed as part of the “super bullpen” along with Davis and Jake McGee before the 2018 campaign, Shaw simply hasn’t been the pitcher the Rockies were hoping to see after Shaw’s successful five-season run in Cleveland where he was both durable and successful.

Lehman is a 23-year-old southpaw who went 2-2 with a 2.78 ERA in 32.1 innings at Class A Lakewood last season. Opposing batters hit .214 against him in those frames.

Like the Daniel Murphy trade, we were looking to dump some salary and an underperforming player and were willing to do that in exchange for a prospect. The salary being dumped is being put back into the Rockies in pitching and catching and you will read about that in upcoming articles so stay tuned.

So what do you think of the simulated (again, not real-life) deal? Let us know in the comments below or reach us through Twitter (@RoxPileFS).