Colorado Rockies: Four trade targets from the Tampa Bay Rays

We continue our series of trade targets from each and every MLB team for the Colorado Rockies. We have already covered the Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, and New York Yankees thus far and today, we discuss the Tampa Bay Rays. The Tampa Bay Rays, despite being a small market team, are frequently in the playoff hunt.

In each of the last four seasons, they have won 90+ games (or equivalent to in the shortened 2020 season) and from 2008 through 2013, the Rays had 90+ wins all but one season (2009, when they won 84 games).

However, they are constantly trading their players to other teams because after three seasons or so, the Rays determine that they can’t afford them so they, through trades and excellent drafting, have been able to stay fairly competitive. One of the few times in recent years where they lost a trade was in 2016, when they traded a minor league starting pitcher by the name of Germán Márquez to the Colorado Rockies for outfielder Corey Dickerson.

The two clubs have not had a trade since and from Tampa’s perspective, it’s understandable. Tampa has had some great pitching over the years and but they still would love to have Márquez in their rotation, especially since many of their starters have been injured in recent years.

But in the opposite of what that trade was, we are looking at four trade candidates from the Rays 40-man roster that the Rockies should (or could) look into acquiring from the Rays.

So let’s dive in.

Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Kevin Kiermaier would be great in center field for the Colorado Rockies

Three weeks ago, MLB Trade Rumors was looking to try and find a match for Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Kevin Kiermaier in a trade and they mentioned the Colorado Rockies as a possible fit and we offered our thoughts on the idea in this article.

As we said at the time, Kiermaier, who turns 32 in April, is the most tenured Rays player and he is entering the final season of his seven-year deal with Tampa so they could look to trade him this offseason to a) free up some payroll and b) get something in return for him

He is a fit for the Rockies because the Rockies need an outfielder and he’s one of the best defensive center fielders in baseball. He has had at least 10 Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) in each full season he has been in the majors (including 2020). Having him patrol center field at Coors Field would be a Rockies pitcher’s dream.

Those defensive numbers are even more staggering when you consider that Kiermaier has only averaged 98 games per season since 2016. That is problematic as if he is having those issues at sea level every season (he hasn’t played more than 129 games in a season since 2015), how would it be any better going between sea level and altitude?

Additionally, his offense is nothing to write home about. Since the beginning of his extension (start of 2017), Kiermaier has hit .243/.307/.399 with an OPS+ of 94. Part of the reason why his offense isn’t great is that he has an extremely high groundball rate. Since 2019 among batters with at least 1000 plate appearances, Kiermaier has the third-highest groundball percentage at 55.2 percent, per FanGraphs (more on that in a little bit).

On a good team, that means he’s hitting eighth or ninth, not in the middle of the order, which is what the Rockies need, not a bottom of the order bat. They already have plenty of those.

Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Manuel Margot would also be a defensive wizard for the Colorado Rockies.

Manuel Margot has spent the last two seasons with the Tampa Bay Rays but Colorado Rockies fans probably remember him best as a member of the San Diego Padres, which is the team that originally signed him and the team that he made his MLB debut for. He played three-plus years with the San Diego Padres before the Rays acquired him before the 2020 season.

Margot, 27, is, essentially, a younger and healthier version of Kiermaier. In the last three seasons, he has hit .248/.311/.380 with an OPS+ of 91 so he is not the power bat that the Rockies are looking for.

However, like Kiermaier, he is a very good defender. Margot can play all three outfield positions but if he was with the Rockies, he would play center field because of his defense. Since 2017 (his first full season in the majors), he has 37 DRS total and at least 6 DRS in each full season (he had 3 DRS in 46 games in 2020).

Margot, again like Kiermaier, is a free agent after this coming season so the Rays may look to unload him to get some salary relief and something in return for him before free agency.

Tampa Bay Rays reliever Andrew Kittredge could provide the Colorado Rockies with some much needed bullpen help

Andrew Kittredge was one of the better relievers in all of baseball in 2021 as he was an All-Star for the Tampa Bay Rays despite being a set-up man. If Kittredge could repeat that success, he would be one of, if not, the best relievers in the Colorado Rockies bullpen.

In 2021, Kittredge appeared in 57 games and had a 1.88 ERA (3.04 FIP) with a sub-1.00 WHIP with a great strikeout rate (9.7 K/9) and a great walk rate (1.9 BB/9).

Kittredge, who turns 32 in March, is eligible for arbitration for the first time this offseason so with his salary starting to rise, the Rays may look to unload his salary and sell high on him.

For the Rockies, he could have some success at Coors Field as he has a high groundball rate. Since 2019, he has a groundball rate of 53.4 percent, which is the 19th-highest among relievers with at least 100 innings pitched since then.

If the Rockies got Kittredge, he shouldn’t be the only reliever that they sign via free agency or trade for but he would definitely be a start.

The next team on our list is the Toronto Blue Jays as that will wrap up the AL East before we move on to the AL Central.