Colorado Rockies: Five takeaways from Bill Schmidt's Ryan McMahon/shortstop comments

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Aug 14, 2021; San Francisco, California, USA; Colorado Rockies third baseman Ryan McMahon (24) fields a grounder off the bat of San Francisco Giants first baseman Darin Ruf during the ninth inning at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: D. Ross Cameron-USA TODAY Sports /

Patrick Saunders of The Denver Post reported on Tuesday a rather surprising development after talking with GM Bill Schmidt: The Colorado Rockies are considering using Ryan McMahon as a shortstop next season.

That is rather surprising considering that McMahon has played three innings in his professional career at shortstop (all in 2020). Also, McMahon is a Gold Glove-caliber player at both second and third base.

“It’s something we have discussed,” Schmidt told Saunders. “Ryan has good range and that’s something we saw last year when he played third base with the shift on (to left-handed hitters).”

While the latter part of the statement is true, it is still odd that the Colorado Rockies are thinking of using him there. For what it’s worth, it seems to be in the early stage of discussions as McMahon told Saunders that he had not been told about that, at least yet. However, as he has said in the past, McMahon is open to playing any position as long as he’s on the field.

“I’d like to think that I could work at any (position) and become at least a solid defender there,” McMahon told Saunders.

But even entertaining that thought from the Rockies front office signifies five different things for the Rockies this offseason and in the infield in 2022.

Aug 5, 2021; Denver, Colorado, USA; Colorado Rockies shortstop Trevor Story (27) reacts after hitting a two run home run against the Chicago Cubs in the fifth inning at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports /

1) If the Colorado Rockies are thinking of playing Ryan McMahon at shortstop, Trevor Story isn’t coming back.

This is not breaking news as long as you haven’t been in a coma for two years (and if you have, boy, have you missed a lot): Trevor Story is almost definitely not returning to the Colorado Rockies.

Trevor Story was not going to accept the qualifying offer as he will likely get a five- to six-year deal on the free-agent market for $25 million or so per season. Saunders reported on Twitter that Story was going to reject the qualifying offer and test the free-agent market but he also reported that as many as eight teams have checked in on Story so far. The Rockies are not one of those teams.

As Schmidt told Saunders, you can “never assume anything” in baseball but the chances that Trevor Story returns to the Rockies are negligible … at best.

2) The Colorado Rockies want to utilize Brendan Rodgers at second base.

Bill Schmidt admitted as much when he spoke with Saunders: The Rockies view Brendan Rodgers as their primary second baseman.

“I’m not saying Brendan can’t play short, and we’ll give him a look,” Schmidt said to Saunders. “But we think what’s probably best for him is to play second.”

In a small sample size, most defensive metrics actually suggest that Rodgers is actually best at shortstop and McMahon is best at second, not second and third, which were the primary positions the two played last year.

Apr 7, 2021; Denver, Colorado, USA; Colorado Rockies center fielder Garrett Hampson (1) runs to third after stealing second base in the first inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports /

3) The Colorado Rockies don’t trust the bats of their potential shortstop replacements

Long-term, the Colorado Rockies are looking at Ezequiel Tovar to play shortstop but he hasn’t even played in Double-A yet. So he is likely two years away from being in the majors.

But they do have some other options in the higher minors or in the majors. The problem is that the Rockies know that they have to have more offense and replacing Trevor Story is going to be difficult in and of itself but adding to the offense will be another big task.

So bats like Garrett Hampson and Alan Trejo aren’t going to cut it. One or both might make the team but until that they show that they can get on base at a decent clip, the Rockies know that those two aren’t going to cut it to replace Story.

4) If they are exploring Ryan McMahon playing shortstop, the Colorado Rockies are not a big fan of the free-agent shortstop market (in their price range).

The Rockies, like every team, know that there are some great shortstops in this free agent class. Arguably, it’s the best shortstop free agent class ever. It includes Story, Carlos Correa, Corey Seager, Marcus Semien, Javier Baez, and Chris Taylor. Francisco Lindor was also going to be in that class if he didn’t get an extension from the Mets.

The Rockies are not going to be in play for any of them with the exception of Taylor. We made the case for the Rockies to sign Taylor in late October.

The Rockies probably think that McMahon would have the best bat for them at short and for good reason because the numbers show that McMahon is a better hitter than all of them not named above.

Instead, the Rockies could do something else.

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON – OCTOBER 03: Kyle Seager #15 of the Seattle Mariners reacts as he was pulled from the game during the ninth inning against the Los Angeles Angels at T-Mobile Park on October 03, 2021 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images) /

5) The Colorado Rockies could be more in on the third base market

If the Rockies are thinking of moving McMahon to shortstop, he won’t be playing third base.

The Rockies could turn to players like Colton Welker or even top prospect Elehuris Montero but the Rockies have questions about both of them at third base. And even if they don’t have issues, they probably won’t be as good as McMahon was defensively.

That means that the Rockies could be bigger players in the third base market than the shortstop market.

The third base free agent options don’t have as sexy of names out there but they could be the stop gap that the Rockies would likely want. They include Kyle Seager, Eduardo Escobar, and Travis Shaw. Kris Bryant is the top free agent third baseman on the market but, again, the Rockies won’t spend that much money to get him.

Recently, we talked about how the Rockies could go to the trade market for a third baseman and that third baseman would be Oakland’s Matt Chapman. We discussed the possibility that if the Rockies acquired Chapman, Rodgers would play short and McMahon would play second but maybe those two would flip instead.

We also discussed the case for and against Seager in this article this past weekend.

Next. Five potential assistant hitting coach candidates for 2022. dark

Throughout the offseason, obviously, things could and will change. Perhaps, shortstop could be a position that Ryan McMahon could add to his repertoire, and maybe he won’t play shortstop at all. But if he becomes the everyday shortstop for the Rockies, that would be something that would have been a surprise to a lot of people just a few short weeks ago.

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Colorado Rockies: Five takeaways from Bill Schmidt’s Ryan McMahon/shortstop comments

1) If the Colorado Rockies are thinking of playing Ryan McMahon at shortstop, Trevor Story isn’t coming back.

2) The Colorado Rockies want to utilize Brendan Rodgers at second base.

3) The Colorado Rockies don’t trust the bats of their potential shortstop replacements

4) If they are exploring Ryan McMahon playing shortstop, the Colorado Rockies are not a big fan of the free-agent shortstop market (in their price range).

5) The Colorado Rockies could be more in on the third base market

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