Colorado Rockies: Should they trade Daniel Bard to the Boston Red Sox?

MINNEAPOLIS – Colorado Rockies closer Daniel Bard is celebrating his 37th birthday on Saturday while the team is in Minneapolis and with the way he is pitching, he could be the club’s only All-Star here in a few weeks when the All-Star Game is played in Los Angeles next month.

By the August 2 trade deadline, Bard could find himself in a new uniform or, perhaps, in an old uniform: a Boston Red Sox uniform.

Could the Boston Red Sox trade for Rockies closer Daniel Bard?

Rockies closer Daniel Bard was drafted by the Boston Red Sox all the way back in 2006. He appeared in the majors for them from 2009 through 2013, which is when he developed the “yips.”

Turn the clock ahead nine years and Daniel Bard is one of the more dominant closers in baseball … and the Red Sox desperately need one.

Bard enters Saturday with 15 saves in 28 innings with a 1.88 ERA, a 0.942 WHIP, and 11 strikeouts per nine innings.

The Red Sox have gone with a “closer by committee” for most of the season, as seven players have at least one save entering Saturday. The player with the most saves (Tanner Houck) has been good … but he has also been a spot starter for them (three starts).

Also, as NESN recently said, the “bridge to (Houck) remains very much under construction.”

The Rockies, for the right price, should trade Bard to a winner if things don’t turn around for them very soon. GM Bill Schmidt indicated that the Rockies might do that when he spoke to Patrick Saunders of The Denver Post this weekend (subscription required) but, as Saunders noted, the Rockies could decide to extend Bard to be the anchor of the bullpen.

These next few weeks will be a big indicator for the team but, as things stand, the Rockies should be sellers at the trade deadline and, for the right price, Bard should be traded to a team with a chance to win.

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