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.

Under contract until the end of the 2023 season, Randal Grichuck provides strong defense and a little bit of pop for a team looking for an outfielder. Yonathan Daza won’t be arbitration eligible until 2024 and won’t be a free agent until 2027, but I don’t necessarily see him fitting into the Rockies’ long-term plans.

Daza won’t hit the ball over the fence often, but in a league where batting averages are down a guy who can hit around .300 could provide value as a fourth outfielder or a bat off the bench. If teams are interested, the Rockies should listen.

The guys who are question marks to me are Chad Kuhl and C.J. Cron. Kuhl is a free agent at the end of the year but he has shown enough in his time here and pitching has been a hard hole for the Rockies to fill that if they could sign him to a multiyear extension, it might not be a bad idea. But considering his contract situation and the fact that there’s no guarantee they reach an agreement with him, it probably makes sense to see what the team can get for him at the deadline.

Cron seems to have found a home in Colorado and he’s under contract for one more season so the team doesn’t have to move him right now, but his price might never be higher than it is right now. If the Rockies make him available and play this right, they could land quite a return for the slugger. If the team thinks he’s a part of the future, they could hold onto him, but he is 32 so the chances of him still being around or this productive the next time the team is competitive seem slim.

If the Rockies are going to be competitive any time soon, they need to make some moves this deadline. Those decisions won’t only help the team in the future by bringing back prospects, but they will also clear roadblocks from the paths of prospects like Ezequiel Tovar and Elehuris Montero. It’s those players who will be the future of the team. If there is any hope of this team being competitive any time soon, they need to stop thinking about the present and focus on the future.

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