Ian Desmond looking like a rebuilt $70 million man

DENVER – We can rebuild him. We have the technology. He’s the $70 million man.

Ian Desmond came to the Colorado Rockies before the 2017 season amid a chorus of questions. There were questions about one of Jeff Bridich’s boldest moves being a long-term deal for a now-32-year-old whose last couple of years had seen him struggle with consistency, ultimately needing to prove himself in a one-year stint with the Texas Rangers.

Though there were still some ups and downs, Desmond put up his fourth 20-20 (homers/stolen bases) season in five years. The one year he fell short? It was 2015 when he hit 19 home runs and stole 13 bases. There were still plenty of questions but there was also a reliability in the bat and versatility in the glove.

Arguably the best athlete on the team, Desmond has played shortstop and even center field at times, including each briefly for Colorado last year, but now serves as a left-fielder and first baseman with far more tools than you typically see at those positions.

His tenure for his new club—and in front of his new fans—could not have begun more disastrously. One of his defining attributes had been his ability to stay healthy, making his versatility a huge weapon in the manager’s arsenal.

So, naturally, he got hurt in spring training.

Taking a fastball on the forearm in March would haunt Desmond through October. He did everything he could to get back out onto the field, but when he did, he didn’t look like himself. Then he would experience a setback, going to the DL three different times, and playing in just 95 games. That was the lowest total of his career other than the 21 games he played as a rookie. The next lowest was 130 games in 2012.

By every measure, it was an aberrational season for Desmond. But for those who never saw him in Washington or Texas—or perhaps just via the nature of the “what-have-you-done-for-me-lately” sports culture—or maybe, just maybe, because of a long-festering, ever-growing and mostly false narrative about the Monforts being cheap leading to a hyper-focus on Desmond’s contract for fear that it might mean this team was definitely saying goodbye to Charlie Blackmon and/or Nolan Arenado… this is who Ian Desmond was now.

That is until he proves them wrong.

It’s way too early in 2018 to be declaring much of anything. But it is still worth noting that so far, Desmond has been arguably Colorado’s second-best hitter and at worst, their fourth-best.

With eight hits in 27 at-bats (.296) leading to seven RBI and two longballs, “Desi” has been at the heart of an offense that powered a winning road trip inside the toughest division in baseball.

He has also shown off his athleticism in the outfield and at first, looking more comfortable in all aspects of the game than he did a year ago. Well, he hasn’t stolen a base yet—a category he led the team (15) in a year ago—but he will.

I asked manager Bud Black about this production and whether it was because of improved health, a bit of early-season randomness, or some changes he made to his game.

“In spring training, he made a slight adjustment with his hand position in his stance,” Black replied. “His hands are a little bit lower, the bat path is a little shorter to the ball, I think that’s helping. There’s been an at-bat to at-bat approach that’s different. Certain at-bats, you see him try to push the ball to the right side of the diamond or up the middle. Other at-bats he looks to be wanting to get the head out and pull the ball. It’s a situational approach that I think is a good one.”

It has certainly been a more successful one thus far.

“And, he’s healthy, he feels good physically,” Black added. “We’ve talked about it a lot this year; the interrupted spring training. That’s awful tough for a player to try to get into Major League season mode on rehab assignments. So, a full spring training under his belt, a lot of repetitions in the cage… he was ready for the season.”

But all of this really is the wrong framing for this conversation. We use stats to help us be objective about on-field production but Desmond has been absolutely clear since coming to Colorado—and presumably long before that—that his job is to help win baseball games.

“I feel good. I just wanna win. The rest of that stuff really doesn’t matter,” he said answering a question about how locked in he has been at the plate.

He could go 4-for-4, all home runs, and if the Rockies lose, you will get some variation of that same answer. If he goes 0-for-5 with five strikeouts but the Rockies win big, he will be as happy as anyone in the clubhouse.

This is why “versatility” has practically become his name. And it doesn’t just refer to his on-field work.

One day, he might contribute with his legs, another his glove or his bat. On a day when he doesn’t contribute in those ways, he contributes with his leadership. He does that every day.

Whether it’s moving the couches around in the clubhouse to spark a late-season rally to hold onto that Wild Card spot, or growing an amazing new mustache, or all the small, daily conversations and mentorship, Ian Desmond says his goal is to be a “winning baseball player.”

Colorado GM Jeff Bridich has rightfully been credited with instilling a culture change around a baseball team that has gone from afterthought to contender under his watch. And a big part of that is bringing in players like Desmond who acts as a living example of how this club expects their players to conduct themselves as professionals.

That has always been an important element of Desmond’s presence on a roster, but as the team’s most expensive free agent position player signing, he knows he will need to get it done between the lines. The $70 million man will need to truly be rebuilt.

And the way the Colorado Rockies are constructed, with a desperate need for Nolan Arenado protection and multiple intriguing young players that need to be given chances in spots that most benefit their development, they are going to need Ian Desmond to be as great a player as he has been a leader.