Rockies find treasure in the trash

The Colorado Rockies have the worst player in MLB according to fWAR (Fangraphs Wins Above Replacement) in right fielder Carlos Gonzalez who comes in at -1.7. On Sunday they acquired one of the worst rWAR (Baseball Reference Wins Above Replacement) players in catcher Jonathan Lucroy at -0.5.

That might be the narrative according to some but it’s not the one you should see.

The Rockies traded for a two-time All-Star, eight-year veteran catcher, who has finished top five in MVP voting as recently as 2014.

Since 2011 only two players in baseball, Yadier Molina and Buster Posey, have accumulated more WAR at catcher than Lucroy. Not only has Lucroy been one of the foremost players at his position for this entire decade, but he joins a team that desperately needed an upgrade to their backstop.

Colorado’s catchers rank dead last in hitting. Their thought-to-be starting platoon of Tony Wolters and Tom Murphy has not quite fit the bill. Wolters, splitting time with minor league free agent signing Ryan Hanigan, has a wRC+ of 52 and pitchers’ ERA in games he’s caught has gone up from last season.

Meanwhile, Murphy is in Triple-A still working on the defensive aspects of his position. This has led to Hanigan, who has failed to hit above .250 since 2012, to a lot of playing time. Hanigan may have those veteran catcher aspects working for him but the numbers don’t agree and neither do our sources.

The Rockies so clearly needed a catcher and they got one who has been so very good over the course of his lengthy career. So what’s the catch?

The right-handed hitting Lucroy is having by far the worst year of his terrific career, down to .242/.297/.338 with four HR and 27 RBI. The numbers also don’t like his defense this year either.

But walk it back.

It was his first full season in the American League, having come up and playing six-and-a-half seasons with the Brewers.

To say he’s had an extreme decline in 2017 would be selling it short, but there’s more reason for hope than worry. And there are more than fleeting excuses to show he’s due to bust back.

At 31-years-old, a catcher with two separate years worth of postseason experience has clout at a position in which you need it, especially in the fall. This position is one that is naturally connected to leadership. To those worried about the Rockies young staff, this is the solution. To those worried about a lack of big game experience from Nolan Arenado, Lucroy played right alongside him on Team USA earlier this year and is one of a handful of Rockies to play in the fall.

A career .280 hitter in the final season of a six-year $15.5 million contract, there are many reasons to believe his numbers are about to shoot up. Though his groundball rate is at a career high, his BABIP is shockingly low at .259. He’s also had a career best strikeout rate at 10.5 percent. Essentially, he’s hitting more balls in play than ever but his average is the lowest it has ever been. I’m not one to usually say Coors Field is a fix but this is somewhat of the perfect recipe for Coors Field to help out the University of Louisiana at Lafayette alumni.

Behind the dish Lucroy is by far the best defensive catcher the Rockies have had in years. His command of Milwaukee staff in 2011 in what was just his sophomore season was masterful. The Brew Crew’s best pitcher that season was either Shaun Marcum, Yovani Gallardo or Randy Wolf. Not exactly Clayton Kershaw, and they took the eventual champion Cardinals to six games in the NLCS.

There’s one huge benefit to Lucroy’s situation both in contract and playing. All the Rockies had to give up in the deal was a player to be named later. Except in very rare instances, these PTBNL are not top prospects.

In sum, the Rockies got a rental catcher with a dazzling resume, who is going to be a free agent in a few months. He didn’t cost much to trade for or in terms of pay. The Rockies didn’t mortgage the future and got better, for the second time this week. They’ve tabbed Lucroy from Texas and may have found a treasure in a spot others have confused for trash.