Predictable ending follows Colorado Rockies silence on final day of trades

Let’s play a quick game of “Guess The Recap.”

Here is the scenario: Kyle Kendrick is going up against Michal Wacha. If you guessed a 7-0 Cardinals victory with a lifeless Colorado Rockies team going through the motions for nine innings, congratulations, you are the winner.

The Rockies traded Troy Tulowitzki to the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday, in what set itself up to be an extremely busy week for Jeff Bridich and the Rockies front office. Instead, that was the only move that they made.

With teams in the American League looking to add power bats, Wilin Rosario remains in the Rockies organization. With teams overpaying for relief pitchers who can bolster their bullpens down the stretch, the Rockies held on to the struggling John Axford. With teams looking to add a bat off of the bench who can hit for power and play good defense, Drew Stubbs remains employed by the Rockies. With the Rockies mired in last place, they decided to sell, but only one guy, the one who happened to be the face of the franchise.

The reality is that the Rockies weren’t in a place where they had to sell. To trade Carlos Gonzalez just to get rid of him, and just because Tulowitzki was traded isn’t very logical. The reality is, despite CarGo’s phenomenal July, his injury history and home vs. road splits, coupled with his salary, probably left the Rockies in a place where they simply couldn’t get the value that they felt was worth trading him for. Frankly, that isn’t a horrible decision from the Rockies. Trading a bat like Gonzalez isn’t smart unless a team can get something of significant value back.

The reason why the Rockies should have traded Gonzalez is easy to see as well. There isn’t a ton of logic in paying a guy a significant salary when two of the five men taking starts on the mound are named Kyle Kendrick and Yohan Flande. While the Rockies got a decent return for Tulowitzki, even that trade isn’t enough to satisfy the immediate needs of the Rockies rotation. With Jeff Hoffman being the centerpiece of the trade for the Rockies, he joins Jon Gray as the top prospects that are awaiting their turn to make their debut with the big league club.

The problem is, those guys aren’t going to come up and dominate right away. They aren’t going to be the front-of-the-rotation starters that the Rockies need them to be any time soon.

Nothing being said is news to anyone who follows the Rockies. The talent pool at the big league level is shallow, and the talent pool at the upper-end of the minor league level is also defunct of the amount of talent that will be necessary to plug the holes in the rotation as quickly as the Rockies will need them to.

With the trade deadline in the rearview mirror, the Rockies could still make some moves. Guys like Drew Stubbs could still be dealt. Passing through waivers with a salary like his shouldn’t be a problem, especially considering that he passed through waivers unclaimed back in May. If a team wants to take a flyer on him, it wouldn’t be a huge surprise.

However, the club will probably not make any moves of significance. With the white flag raised and waving in the wind, the best thing that Rockies fans can do is turn their eyes towards Triple-A. What Trevor Story, the clear shortstop of the future, as well as Gray and Hoffman do on the mound is far more important than what happens on the big league field.

The reality is, it is a tough time to be a fan of the Rockies. Their direction isn’t clear. They looked like they were going to completely rebuild on Monday, but as of right now they look like they are only going to partially tear the team apart.

Whatever course the Rockies take, the road back to respectability is a long and windy one. It is also one that the Rockies have never traveled, so it will be tough for them to know if they are going in the right direction. It may take several years.