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Colorado Rockies: Revisiting a 2018 trade proposal with the Chicago White Sox

By Noah Yingling |
DENVER, CO - AUGUST 31: Ryan McMahon #24 of the Colorado Rockies walks off the field after striking out during the seventh inning against the San Diego Padres at Coors Field on August 31, 2020 in Denver, Colorado. The Padres defeated the Rockies 6-0. (Photo by Justin Edmonds/Getty Images)
DENVER, CO - AUGUST 31: Ryan McMahon #24 of the Colorado Rockies walks off the field after striking out during the seventh inning against the San Diego Padres at Coors Field on August 31, 2020 in Denver, Colorado. The Padres defeated the Rockies 6-0. (Photo by Justin Edmonds/Getty Images)
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ARLINGTON, TEXAS – JULY 21: Ryan McMahon #24 of the Colorado Rockies during a MLB exhibition game at Globe Life Field on July 21, 2020 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
ARLINGTON, TEXAS – JULY 21: Ryan McMahon #24 of the Colorado Rockies during a MLB exhibition game at Globe Life Field on July 21, 2020 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /

A hypothetical trade proposal from two years ago would have been a huge steal for the Colorado Rockies had the trade actually happened.

Two years ago, Jon Heyman of MLB Network floated out some trade proposals before the trade deadline. One involved the Colorado Rockies and Chicago White Sox in a trade proposal and we discussed the trade proposal that Heyman made at the time.

Here’s what it looked like:

In retrospect, this trade would have been a huge win for the Rockies. The White Sox would have received infielder Ryan McMahon and right-handed pitcher Riley Pint.

McMahon, now 25, entered Monday hitting .211/.311/.412 with an OPS+ of 80. In his last eight games before Monday, he was hitting .167/.259/.167 with a wRC+ of 10 and in his last 24 games, he is hitting .190/.289/.405 with a wRC+ of 71.

Going back to last September, he has hit .204/.295/.408 with a wRC+ of 71. In other words, he hasn’t been hitting well for a long time. That’s partially due to his strikeout rate that is nearly 36 percent (which is in the bottom three percent in baseball) and a whiff rate that is 10 percent higher than the league average of 24.5 percent in 2020, according to Statcast.

Riley Pint, now 22, has been one of the biggest draft busts in Rockies history. In his minor league career, the former #51 overall prospect according to MLB.com has a record of 3-20 with an ERA of 5.71 and he has not been above the Single-A level. He was out for much of 2018 and 2019 with oblique and forearm injuries but his stats are some of the worst you will see, particularly with control.

In 2018, he walked 11.9 batters per nine innings and in 2019, he walked 15.8 per nine innings in a combined 26 innings between the two seasons. Previously, he walked nearly six batters per nine innings. That is a big part of why Pint has fallen from that #51 overall prospect ranking to the Rockies #29 prospect.

CINCINNATI, OH – SEPTEMBER 01: Nate Jones #57 of the Cincinnati Reds pitches against the St Louis Cardinals at Great American Ball Park on September 1, 2020 in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Cardinals defeated the Reds 16-2. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
CINCINNATI, OH – SEPTEMBER 01: Nate Jones #57 of the Cincinnati Reds pitches against the St Louis Cardinals at Great American Ball Park on September 1, 2020 in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Cardinals defeated the Reds 16-2. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /

On the receiving end for Colorado, Nate Jones, now 34 and with the Reds, has struggled a bit out of their bullpen as he an ERA of 5.93. He has struggled with injuries for much of his career but when he did pitch, he pitched well as he did not have an ERA above 3.48 from 2015 through 2019.

The key name that would have come back to the Rockies in the deal would have been Jose Abreu and he would have been a huge addition for many reasons, including some reasons that developed after Heyman floated this proposal out there.

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First off, Abreu would have provided the Rockies with a big offensive bat. He made his debut in 2014 and he had more than 100 RBI in all but one season (2018, where he only played in 128 games due to injury). In 2019, he led the American League in RBI with 123, hitting 33 home runs, 38 doubles, and hitting to a .284/.330/.503 slash line.

In 2020, though, he has been one of the most under the radar players in the American League. Entering Monday, he led the league in games played (41), plate appearances (180), at-bats (168), hits (53), RBI (40), total bases (104), and bWAR (2.2).

He also entered Monday hitting .315, which is sixth in the AL, with an OBP of .361, a slugging percentage of .619, and an OPS+ of 162.

Abreu is also in the top 10 percent in exit velocity, hard hit percentage, expected batting average, expected slugging percentage, and expected weighted on-base average (xwOBA) as well as in the top 20 percent in barrel percentage, according to Statcast.

CHICAGO – AUGUST 30: Jose Abreu #79 of the Chicago White Sox bats against the Kansas City Royals on August 30, 2020 at Guaranteed Rate Field in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Ron Vesely/Getty Images)
CHICAGO – AUGUST 30: Jose Abreu #79 of the Chicago White Sox bats against the Kansas City Royals on August 30, 2020 at Guaranteed Rate Field in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Ron Vesely/Getty Images) /

Since 2018, when Heyman proposed this trade, Abreu would have become an even bigger fit for the Rockies. If they would have traded for him, the Rockies could have moved Ian Desmond to the bench earlier. Also, the Rockies would not have signed Daniel Murphy, who has been struggling himself.

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Abreu would have become a free agent after 2019 but the White Sox offered and Abreu accepted the qualifying offer to stay with the White Sox. Later in the offseason, Abreu and the White Sox agreed upon a three-year deal for $50 million, superseding the qualifying offer.

Especially without Murphy’s contract, that is something that the Rockies could have been able to afford.

Before 2020, Abreu’s biggest was consistently his defense as he was below league average in Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) every season. However, both FanGraphs and Baseball-Reference have him well above league average in 2020 at 6 DRS. But still, in 2020, the Rockies have the DH due to the new rules after the season was put on hold.

dark. Next. What the Rockies lineup should look like for the rest of 2020

Who knows if the two teams even spoke with each other on a possible trade. However, if that trade were to have happened, it very well could have been one of the biggest trades in franchise history.

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