Colorado Rockies: It’s time to let some players go

Baseball fans are counting down the days till the trade deadline on August 2. For most teams, this is a time of constant change–with players and prospects coming and going between teams on opposite ends of the competitive spectrum. But for the Colorado Rockies, it has generally been just another week in a long baseball schedule. That needs to change.

This deadline is new GM Bill Schmidt’s chance to define his era as different from his predecessors. Historically, the Rockies have stood pat and let the deadline come and go without so much as a second thought. It was agonizing for fans in the rare instances the team was competitive, but it has become inexcusable in the team’s consistent losing seasons–particularly with pending free agents like Jon Gray and Trevor Story.

Last year’s deadline was Schmidt’s first big test and to most Rockies fans, he failed. But there has been speculation that he did not truly have as much control of the decision-making process during his term as interim GM as he does now, and if that is the case, this is his chance to prove it. It’s time to let some players go.

The Rockies are not a competitive team right now. They’ve developed a bad habit of doing everything they can to stay as close to .500 as possible and have held onto players who can help them “win now” even when those wins mean nothing and arguably hurt the team in the long term as far as draft position is concerned.