How the Colorado Rockies may have doomed trade returns for years to come

Colorado Rockies owner Dick Monfort — DENVER, CO – SEPTEMBER 15: Rockies owner/chairman and Chief Executive Officer Dick Monfort stands in the stands and looks on before a game between the Colorado Rockies and the Los Angeles Dodgers at Coors Field on September 15, 2014 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images)

There’s a reason why Monfort said in his opening statement that they “don’t discuss financial details.”

Simply put, they would get hammered even more by the media, fans, and the general public for allowing a heist to happen.

Had the money not been involved in the deal, it makes a lot more sense from a baseball perspective. Fans still wouldn’t be happy especially since Arenado didn’t want the opt-out and that’s what triggered this series of events but it would be more understandable. But you get rid of, arguably, the best player in franchise history for five mid- to low-level prospects and your payroll goes up? That’s bad business.

Our colleagues over at Blog Red Machine, FanSided’s site for the Cincinnati Reds, pitched a few trade ideas for Trevor Story and FanSided’s Chicago White Sox site, Southside Showdown, proposed three possible trades for the White Sox acquiring Rockies outfielder Charlie Blackmon.

On the surface, all six trade proposals, in my opinion, are around market value, even if the Rockies have to pay a small portion (I’d say $5 million or less) of Blackmon’s remaining contract, which could go up as high as $60.5 million if each of his two player options are exercised and he achieves all of his incentives.

But why would their front offices do those trades if they know that the Rockies will make a trade for either player if they can get them for half of that?

How are the Rockies going to replenish their farm system, one that is ranked as one of the worst in the game if they can’t acquire top minor league talent for their best major league players and the Amateur Draft was truncated to just five rounds in 2020 and between 20 and 30 in 2021 (previously, it was 40). The Rockies will have fewer teams to provide players for but it is a huge problem for them. What is the plan? Where is the light at the end of the tunnel?

At least for the foreseeable future, we don’t know and, frankly, we may not know the plan for months or even years, if at all.

How the Colorado Rockies may have doomed trade returns for years to come

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There’s a reason why Monfort said in his opening statement that they “don’t discuss financial details.”

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