Colorado Rockies: Who will step up after cuts of Jake McGee, Bryan Shaw?

On Friday, the Colorado Rockies announced that they have released relievers Jake McGee and Bryan Shaw. Who will replace them?

The Colorado Rockies announced before their Friday intrasquad game that they were releasing relievers Jake McGee and Bryan Shaw. Both were signed to be part of the “super bullpen” that never came to fruition before the 2018 season.

Both general manager Jeff Bridich and manager Bud Black spoke with the media, including Rox Pile, about releasing those two players on Friday, among other things.

Both of them said that it was a combination of things that led to their release.

“Well, we thought that it was a combination of a few things,” said manager Bud Black. “I think where those guys were this spring and where they were the last 10 days looked similar to what we’ve seen [in] the last couple of years … [T]heir stuff was similar to what we’ve seen and we just felt as though the direction of our pitching staff, for this season … [would] give us the best chance [to win] over the next 60 games…”

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With the expanded rosters (to start the season), the Rockies will have an expanded bullpen so with that and McGee and Shaw being released, there could be some new names in the bullpen.

While nothing has been decided yet, Black said he “feels good about our [bullpen] options moving forward.” He also said that Jeff Hoffman and Chi Chi Gonzalez to “might be in the bullpen to start the year.” He also said he expects Carlos Estevez, Jairo Diaz, and Scott Oberg to play “a real prominent role” in the bullpen this year.

Non-roster invitee Daniel Bard was informed on Friday that he will make the team. He last made an MLB appearance in 2013 for the Red Sox.

Black specifically mentioned that he expects Tyler Kinley, Phillip Diehl, and Tim Collins to “be in the mix” for those bullpen spots. Others may include Jesus Tinoco, Jose Mujica, and Ashton Goudeau and, perhaps, even Ryan Castellani and Antonio Santos could contribute in 2020 as well.

The Rockies bullpen picture will be more clear after this weekend as they will play intrasquad games on both Saturday and Sunday after their game on Friday. Then, they will travel to Dallas to take on the other Rangers for exhibition games and, next Friday, Opening Day.