Colorado Rockies podcast: Reaction to Antonio Senzatela, C.J. Cron contracts, a look at minor league depth

The Colorado Rockies made some news on Tuesday as they announced that they extended starting pitcher Antonio Senzatela to a five-year contract (worth more than $50 million) plus a club option for a sixth-year (2027). They also announced a two-year contract to re-sign first baseman C.J. Cron for $14.5 million.

On this episode of the Rox Pile Rockies Report, Kevin Henry and I analyze the contracts and what they mean for the Rockies. Does the Senzatela contract mean that the Rockies can’t re-sign Jon Gray? For Cron, what does it mean for their first base prospects, like Michael Toglia and Grant Lavigne?

We also talk about the Colorado Rockies and their depth (or lack thereof) in the upper minor leagues. At the Triple-A level, the Rockies only had one pitcher with more than two starts that has an ERA below 6.00. That starter, Frank Duncan, had an ERA of 3.92 in 16 games (15 starts) in Albuquerque. But he will turn 30 years of age before Spring Training next season.

After all, there’s a reason why the Rockies, when they needed a starting pitcher in September, the Rockies turned to Ryan Feltner, who was in Double-A Hartford.

That Hartford team went 39-79 on the season and had a team ERA of 5.50. As a team, they also only hit .228 with a sub-.700 OPS.

In other words, while the two moves by newly-minted GM Bill Schmidt are good signs, there is still a lot that is (or should be) on the agenda for the Rockies this offseason.

You can check out the podcast above.

Kevin is at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles to cover the NL Wild Card game for our sister site, Call To The Pen, so make sure you check out his stuff throughout the postseason as he will be at a few postseason sites throughout the playoffs.

We will continue to have podcasts at least once a week throughout the offseason and daily coverage here on the site throughout the offseason.