The best non-tendered pitchers who could help the Colorado Rockies in 2020

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CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – SEPTEMBER 16: Starting pitcher Kevin Gausman #46 of the Cincinnati Reds delivers the ball in the first inning against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on September 16, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Quinn Harris/Getty Images) /

There were plenty of players that were non-tendered by their respective teams on Monday and while we already discussed some of the position players, today, we will take a look at some of the pitchers.

The 2019 season was a season that saw the depths of the Colorado Rockies pitching staff put to the ultimate test and while there was some growth in some players, overall, it was a massive disappointment for the Rockies and it was the main reason why they lost 20 more games in 2019 than they did in 2018.

With that being said, the Rockies don’t have a ton of money to spend so by looking at the non-tendered pitchers, they can find some adequate pitchers for not an exorbitant amount of money. Let’s take a look at some of the best of the non-tenders.

Kevin Gausman

The Rockies have been tied to the Colorado native in the past when he was with the Baltimore Orioles but after pitching well in 2018, Kevin Gausman did not have as good of results in 2019.

The thing to notice, though, is that he seemed to be a bit unlucky in 2019 as even though his ERA skyrocketed by nearly two full runs, his FIP actually dropped more than a third of a run.

Standard Pitching
Year	W	L	ERA	G	GS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA+	FIP	WHIP	H9	HR9	BB9	SO9
2018	10	11	3.92	31	31	183.2	189	85	80	26	50	148	108	4.32	1.301	9.3	1.3	2.5	7.3
2019	3	9	5.72	31	17	102.1	113	71	65	15	32	114	80	3.98	1.417	9.9	1.3	2.8	10.0

Even with that being said, he was projected to make $10.6 million in arbitration. If the Rockies could get him for less than that, he could be a good addition to the back-end of the rotation or even in the bullpen.

Rico Garcia

The former Rockies pitcher was claimed by the Giants and a month later, he was non-tendered.

Rico Garcia, who will be 26 next month, made his MLB debut with the Rockies in 2019 as he made two appearances (one start) but he did not pitch well (10.50 ERA).

However, with the amount of injuries that the Rockies had to their pitching staff by August when Garcia made his debut, he realistically should have been a September call-up, at best, since he struggled with Albuquerque after being promoted there after pitching to a 1.85 ERA in 13 starts with Double-A Hartford.

If he were to return to the Rockies, the Rockies obviously already know him and he would be a cheap depth option in Triple-A. For him, a minor league deal with an invite to spring training would be perfect.

Junior Guerra

The Milwaukee Brewers non-tendered a lot of players and one of them was Junior Guerra.

While struggling a bit as a starter for the Brewers, Guerra, 34, found his coming for the Brewers last year exclusively out of the bullpen.

He went 9-5 with a 3.55 ERA in 72 games for the Brewers in long relief (83 2/3 IP). He had a WHIP of 1.124 and struck out more than eight batters per nine innings. His Statcast numbers also show that he is in the top third in fastball velocity as well as fastball and curveball spin rate but he is in the 94th percentile in exit velocity.

He was projected to make $3.5 million in arbitration so he could be a relatively cheap bullpen arm for the Rockies.

Jimmy Nelson

If not for injuries, Jimmy Nelson would probably be the ace of the Milwaukee Brewers but, alas, they non-tendered him.

He only made 10 appearances in 2019 and he completely missed the 2018 season due to arm injuries. In 2017, he came in 9th in the NL Cy Young voting as he went 12-6 with a 3.49 ERA (3.05 FIP) in 29 starts. He also had a better than 4:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio with striking out 199 batters and walking only 48 in 175 1/3 innings.

He was projected to make $3.5 million in arbitration so an incentive-laden, short-term contract could be good for the Rockies and for Nelson to go back on the open market in the near future and prove that he’s healthy.

Yimi Garcia

Between 2018 and 2019, Yimi Garcia allowed 22 homers in 84 2/3 innings but he struck out more than a batter per inning and averaged less than two walks per nine innings.

In 2019, he allowed only 40 hits (5.8 per nine innings) but 37.5 percent of those hits were home runs, which is something that might not fare well at Coors Field.

However, his 2019 ERA was 3.61 so he mainly gave up runs on the long ball.

Considering that he was only projected to make $1.1 million in arbitration, he would be a cheap option if the Rockies want to take a flyer on him.

Blake Treinen

The biggest and, perhaps, best name on this list is reliever Blake Treinen. He was non-tendered because he, essentially, had what Kyle Freeland had: a significant drop in results after a phenomenal 2018 season.

In 2018, Treinen was Oakland’s closer and he pitched to a 9-2 record with a 0.78 ERA in 68 games with 38 saves. He struck out 100 batters and only walked 21 in 80 1/3 innings and he also only allowed two home runs. Those numbers put him in historical levels considering that was the lowest ERA by any pitcher ever with at least 80 innings pitched and he became the first pitcher in MLB history to record 30+ saves, 100+ strikeouts, and a sub-1.00 ERA in the same season.

He was an All-Star, came in 6th in the AL Cy Young Award voting, and even came in 15th in AL MVP voting.

But in 2019, his walk rate more than doubled, his home run rate multiplied seven-fold (from 0.2 to 1.4 per nine innings), and he nearly doubled his hits allowed per nine innings. That resulted in a 4.91 ERA (5.14 FIP) and being removed from the closer’s role and, ultimately, being non-tendered.

Next. Is Charlie Blackmon really a trade candidate?. dark

He was projected to make $7.8 million in arbitration so he would be fairly expensive but if he could return to his 2018 form, that salary would be peanuts compared to what he’d be worth.

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