Colorado Rockies: The David Dahl move and the logic (or lack thereof) behind it

If Dahl wasn’t going to be a fit with the Rockies in the future, why not try to trade him and get some value for him?

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The Rockies are generally tight-lipped when it comes to trades and rumors, but you would hope that at some point Dahl’s name was put out there and we tried to get something for him. But based on what we’ve seen from Bridich’s limited public discussions on roster moves, it doesn’t appear that much effort was likely put into moving him elsewhere. You’d have to think that some team would be interested in a guy who is traditionally a 110 wRC+ hitter and a pretty decent fielder as well. Was there really no interest whatsoever? I don’t buy it.

This was an awful move that doesn’t make any sense from any angle unless you believe that the injury concerns outweigh everything else that Dahl brings to the table.

It doesn’t make the Rockies better as the players it opens up opportunities for aren’t better than Dahl. It doesn’t free up a ton of cash as the $2.6M he’d be due in arbitration isn’t a make-or-break amount for the roster and anyone they’ll be able to sign in free agency for that amount likely won’t give them more value than a normal Dahl year would. It doesn’t make them bad enough to where we can consider it a tank move that helps them with draft positioning. And it doesn’t feel like it’s the beginning move for a rebuild.

It makes no logical baseball sense and it doesn’t help to project what the Rockies will do with the rest of the offseason. Does this make them more likely to consider trading Arenado and starting a rebuild? Does that tip the scales to also trading Story to get value for him before his contract ends at the end of this season? Does it lean towards more salary shedding and we may be near the end of Blackmon’s days as a member of the Colorado Rockies?

Or more realistically, is this just a move where they think they’re honestly better off and more competitive without Dahl and we’re that much closer to the golden 94-win mark?

Only Bridich and owner Dick Monfort truly know. But unless we get answers in a press conference or an e-mail then, we’ll just be waiting for yet another likely underwhelming baseball season in 2021. And you don’t need a degree from Harvard to know it’s coming.