Colorado Rockies: Is former Chicago Cubs outfielder Kyle Schwarber a perfect fit?

The Colorado Rockies could be a fit for former Chicago Cubs outfielder Kyle Schwarber.

One of the more surprising non-tenders this offseason was outfielder Kyle Schwarber by the Chicago Cubs. Yesterday, our colleagues over at Cubbies Crib, FanSided’s site for the Cubs, pondered the fit with the Colorado Rockies. While he may not be a “perfect fit” for the Rockies, he would be a welcome addition to the Rockies’ anemic offense. There are a few issues with Schwarber. The biggest? Money.

After all, one of the other more surprising non-tenders this offseason was by the Rockies themselves when they non-tendered outfielder David Dahl who, when healthy, was the Rockies’ third-best bat. The “when healthy” part is what got him non-tendered, in all likelihood, as he missed most of the 2020 season due to injury and he missed the last two months of 2019 due to injury. He was slated to make around $2.6 million in arbitration this offseason and shortly after the Rockies non-tendered him, he signed a one-year deal with Texas for $3 million.

The Cubs non-tendered Schwarber after a sub-par 2020 season, due in large part, to his salary. He would have made more than $7 million last season had salaries not been pro-rated. Entering 2021, he will likely get $8 million or higher. Schwarber does have much less of an injury history than Dahl and he has had seasons that were better than Dahl offensively but there’s another potential issue with Schwarber: his defense.

While he has played a much better left field for the Cubs since he first came up to the majors, he still is below league average (-3 DRS in the last three seasons combined). If he were to become a Rockie, he would be patrolling part of the biggest outfield in the entire sport. Even if the DH were to come to the NL (which it looks like it will not, as of now), the Rockies also have Charlie Blackmon in the outfield and, while he believes defensive metrics are “worthless” and “garbage,” the defensive metrics say that he is a poor outfielder.

The Rockies will have someone who can cover a lot of ground in center field, whether that is Garrett Hampson, Sam Hilliard, Raimel Tapia, or Yonathan Daza but Schwarber’s defense is a thing to look at as well.

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One positive from the Rockies’ perspective is that he can also catch. He was a catcher in the minor leagues and has caught for the Cubs in a pinch as recently as 2019. Rockies manager Bud Black loves to have three catchers on the roster and at least one of them be able to play other positions (e.g. Tony Wolters could play second and shortstop and Drew Butera could play first base). In 2019, for a period, the Rockies carried three catchers on their roster when they only had a four- or (for a few games) a three-man bench.

Offensively, Schwarber’s best season was in 2019 when, in 155 games, he hit .250/.339/.531 with 38 home runs, 92 RBI, and an OPS+ of 122. That single-season OPS+ is exactly what Trevor Story has averaged in the last three seasons. Do the Rockies need another Story-like bat in the lineup to contend? Absolutely. If the Rockies got that kind of numbers, that would definitely qualify as the “big bat” that Bud Black said that the team is hoping to acquire this offseason.

In 2020, though, Schwarber only hit .188/.308/.393 with an OPS+ of 88. Even with that down season, that would have been tied for fourth-best among Rockies who appeared in more than half of the games with only Story, Blackmon, Tapia, and Matt Kemp (tied) being higher.

Schwarber would not be a “perfect fit” for the Rockies but he is a lot better fit than some of the “fits” that the Rockies have made via free agency in recent years so the Rockies should, at least, check in on signing him this offseason.