What if the Colorado Rockies had never traded Mark Canha to Oakland?

As Mark Canha leaves the Oakland A’s and prepares for a new life with the New York Mets, it’s hard to not wonder what would have happened had the Colorado Rockies not traded him to the A’s before the 2015 season.

Of all of the trades the Colorado Rockies have made in franchise history, sending Mark Canha to the Oakland A’s is among the biggest flops

Mark Canha recently signed a two-year deal with the New York Mets worth $26.5 million, further changing the look of the Mets heading into next season. The contract put an end to Canha’s seven-year stint in Oakland, where he made his Major League debut on April 8, 2015, with a 3-for-5 performance with four RBI in a rout of the Texas Rangers.

During his days in Oakland, Canha averaged 13 homers per season and put together a career slash line of .244/.344/.431 and OPS+ of 114.

However, all of that in an Oakland uniform would have never happened had the Colorado Rockies not selected him in the 2014 Rule 5 draft from the Miami Marlins and then immediately swapped him to the A’s in exchange for minor league pitcher Austin House and cash. The plan was to stock Colorado’s bullpen with arms who would miss bats (House averaged 12 strikeouts per nine innings in two minor league stops in 2014). However, the plan never worked that way.

House would have a solid season with Triple-A Albuquerque in 2017, going 8-2 with a 1.85 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, and .226 batting average against in 49 games. However, the wheels came off the bus in 2018, with House’s ERA skyrocketing to 8.48 in 34 games before being released on August 3 of that season.

He would never appear in a Major League game, with the closest to that coming with a 2018 spring training invitation.

Would Canha have flourished in Colorado as he did in Oakland? It seems he certainly could have had the opportunity to do that in left field, with Brandon Barnes, Corey Dickerson, and Kyle Parker each getting more than 20 starts in left for the Rockies during the 2015 season (the same year Canha made his debut) and Gerardo Parra signing a three-year deal prior to the 2016 season and holding down left field along with David Dahl the following season.

There were rumors before Canha signed with the Mets this offseason that the Rockies might be interested in reuniting with him on a deal, hoping to add some pop to their outfield. However, once again, Canha seems to be the one who got away.