Three players the Colorado Rockies should extend right now

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Colorado Rockies infielder Ryan McMahon

Ryan McMahon is another player that the Colorado Rockies should seriously look into extending a contract extension to.

By WAR, he has been the best position player for the Rockies in 2021 and it’s easy to see why. He has had phenomenal defense at both second and third as he leads all of baseball with 20 Defensive Runs Saved (DRS).

Additionally, he has been much better at the plate in recent weeks (.326 AVG and a .904 OPS since the beginning of July through Monday) after having a long slump (.198 AVG and a .655 OPS from May 29 through the end of June). He has made a lot of improvements at the plate overall between 2019/2020 and 2021.

In 2021, entering Wednesday, he is hitting .266/.337/.477 with an OPS+ of 108. That OPS of .814 is exactly 100 points higher than he had in 2020 and 35 points higher than he was in 2019.

His strikeout rate has also dropped from 30 percent in 2019 and 34 percent in 2020 to 26 percent.

If he can keep improving at the plate, McMahon will be one of, if not, the biggest pieces in the Rockies offense for the next few seasons. This is the perfect time to extend him as he has two years remaining before free agency.

The Rockies also have a few other players that they should into building around. It does take two to tango as we don’t know for sure if they a) want to be Rockies for the long haul or b) if the Rockies will offer them the money that it will take to lock them up for a while but it is definitely something that should be towards the top of the Rockies to-do list in the coming weeks and months.