Colorado Rockies: 3 of the best trades in franchise history

When most people think of the Colorado Rockies’ trade history, there may not be too many exceptional deals that come to mind. In this article, we’re taking a deep dive into three of the best trades in Rockies history.

Colorado Rockies trade with the Oakland A’s in November 2008

This one is typically near the top of the list when it comes to good Rockies trades. The Rox received outfielder Carlos “CarGo” Gonzalez, relief pitcher Huston Street, and left-handed pitcher Greg Smith. In exchange, the Oakland A’s received outfielder Matt Holliday.

Though Carlos Gonzalez spent most of his 2009 season with the Rockies’ Triple-A club, the Colorado Springs Sky Sox, he was eventually called up due to several injuries sustained by the Rockies outfield. Gonzalez slowly found his rhythm as he and the Rockies faced off with the Philadelphia Phillies in the NLDS that October, in which Gonzalez tied the Rockies’ franchise record for most hits in an NLDS with 10. CarGo also led the league in playoff batting average with .588 over four games. Carlos Gonzalez was overall a good pickup for the Rockies — a solid hitter with good speed. Even though over his 10 seasons with Colorado he held a .287 batting average, his average OPS was more impressive at .858.

Huston Street is one of my personal favorite Rockies closing pitchers. In conversations of Rockies all-time great closers, his name isn’t in the mix nearly often enough. In his 2005 debut with Oakland, he took home the American League Rookie of the Year award. After being traded to the Rockies in 2008, Street was quick to be named closer of the following 2009 season after beating out Manny Corpas for the job. He finished that season with 35 saves out of 37 opportunities, carrying a 3.06 ERA and 70 strikeouts through 61.2 innings. Although, Street struggled in the playoffs that season and devastatingly blew Game 4 of the NLDS against the Philadelphia Phillies, giving up three runs with two outs in Philadelphia’s 5-4 win on their way to the series victory. C’est la baseball.

In his three seasons with the Rockies, Street held an above-average ERA of 3.51 and would go on to earn an even better career ERA of 2.95. When it comes to saves, Street is ranked third in Rockies franchise history with 84. He impressively holds the club record for walks per 9 innings with 1.8 and struck out an average of 9.1 hitters per 9 innings pitched.

After being traded to the San Diego Padres in 2011, Street went on to become a two-time All-Star in the 2012 and 2014 seasons before being traded to the Los Angeles Angels, where he would spend the last three-and-change seasons of his career with a painful average ERA of 7.04 before retiring after the 2017 season.

The southpaw pitcher Greg Smith didn’t bring much to the table during his time with the Rockies. Some consider Smith as more of a bonus chip in the trade — a little something extra to sweeten the deal. He missed the first half of the 2009 season with the Colorado Springs Sky Sox due to a shoulder injury and illness. Smith would end that season with only seven starts and 30 innings pitched. He made it to the club right out of spring training in 2010, but only ended up with seven starts on the season, carrying an ugly ERA of 6.23 through 39 innings pitched.

The Rockies club and fans alike had a hard time saying goodbye to outfielder Matt Holliday after his strong 2008 season. Holliday finished that year with an impressive batting average of .321 and an OPS of .947. He also hit 25 dingers and 88 RBI that season. On the upside, the Rockies were able to clear up $13.5 of cap space by shedding Holliday’s contract.

Colorado Rockies trade with the Tampa Bay Rays in January 2016

Last but certainly not least, the 2-for-2 swap between the Rockies and the Rays was perhaps one of the better pitching-focused trades in Rox history. The Rockies traded away slugging outfielder Corey Dickerson and high-ranked third base prospect Kevin Padlo for dominant relief pitcher Jake McGee and promising pitching prospect Germán Márquez.

Over his three seasons with the Rockies, outfielder Corey Dickerson made 854 plate appearances, logging 255 hits and 198 strikeouts, giving him a three-season average batting average of.293. During his two seasons with the Rays, Dickerson’s performance dropped holding an average batting average of .264 over those two seasons, recording 359 hits and 286 strikeouts. He was designated for assignment by the Rays before being traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates in February 2018.

Unfortunately for the Rays, high-ranked third base prospect Kevin Padlo did not live up to expectations. He spent a large majority of his time with the Rays in the farm system. In fact, he didn’t play in a big league game until the 2021 season, in which he had only 12 plate appearances with one hit, eight strikeouts, two walks, and a double for the Rays. After batting only .083 over those 12 at-bats, the Rays sent Padlo down to the Minors before the Seattle Mariners picked him up off waivers in August 2021.

During his four seasons with the Rockies, reliever Jake McGee unimpressively carried an average ERA of 4.50. Unfortunately for the Rockies, it seems McGee’s years in Colorado were among his worst. McGee carried a much nicer average ERA during his previous four seasons with Tampa Bay (2.57) and two seasons following departure from Colorado, with the Dodgers and Giants (2.69).

Last but certainly not least, the current Rockies ace, Germán Márquez, is arguably one of the better prospect pickups in Rockies history. Márquez’s career average ERA of 4.28 isn’t a good representation of his success in the Majors. In 2018, he tied an MLB record by striking out the first eight batters of a game before Phillies pitcher Nick Pivetta reached base on a fielding error on an 0-2 pitch. Márquez would also go on to receive the Silver Slugger Award as best hitting-pitcher in the National League that same season, the first Rockie to do so since 2002. Márquez has been a valuable asset to the Rockies over the years and is still the best arm in the rotation.

It’s no question that the Rockies have a few good trades under their belt, but we can all agree that there are some bad ones. Keep an eye out for three of the worst trades in Rox history, coming soon.