6 realistic free agent outfield options for the Colorado Rockies

The Colorado Rockies are in desperate need of offensive help entering the 2022 season. The area where they can make the biggest offensive upgrade is in the outfield as no person with at least 40 games played in the outfield had an OPS+ above 96 and an rWAR above 1.0 for the Rockies in 2021.

There are a lot of free agent options out there for the Rockies to address the situation but a lot of them either a) won’t want to come to Colorado or b) will be out of Colorado’s price range. Those include Nick Castellanos, Kyle Schwarber, and Kris Bryant (who’s an infielder and outfielder). That’s not to say that they won’t sign with the Rockies (as they say, never say never) but they are more unlikely to happen.

So here are six outfield options for the Rockies on the free agent market that are a bit more realistic.

Former San Diego Padres outfielder Tommy Pham could be a good fit for the Colorado Rockies

Tommy Pham has not been a huge power threat in lineups in his career but he could give the Colorado Rockies something else they need: an outfielder that gets on base.

Pham, who turns 34 on March 8, has been with the San Diego Padres since the 2020 season and he had a decent season for them in 2021. He played in 155 games and he hit .229/.340/.383 with an OPS+ of 103. He had 15 homers, 49 RBI, 24 doubles, and an rWAR of 1.4.

He struggled in 2020 but in 2019 for Tampa Bay, he hit .273/.369/.450 with 21 homers, 68 RBI, and 33 doubles in 145 games. He had an OPS+ of 120 and an rWAR of 3.9.

Pham said in September that he didn’t think he played well in 2021 and that he was “fully prepared to take a one-year deal and reestablish my market” so the Rockies could get him on a cheap deal.