Countdown to Trade Deadline: Thirteen Days

In the last few days, reports from other media outlets have dropped into the public domain a couple of significant names in which the Rockies allegedly have/had interest. JP Morosi of Fox Sports reported on interest in JD Martinez. Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post made a clear connection to AJ Ramos, and confirmed Bob Nightengale’s claim of interest in David Phelps. Jeff Passan added a tidbit regarding the Rockies asking about rotation options such as Dylan Bundy and Kevin Gausman.

Only one of these set of rumors aligns with what the BSN Rockies writing contingent has been suggesting all along, and only one of these sets of rumors aligns with what GM Jeff Bridich emphasized as a deadline priority this morning:

Jeff Bridich told us if he acquired one thing at the deadline it would be “some kind of assistance to our bullpen” #Rockies @SiriusXMFantasy

— Jim Bowden (@Jim_BowdenSXM) July 18, 2017

As someone who has consistently warned of the dangers of mortgaging the farm for only a slightly better shot to win the Wild Card game, a rental of JD Martinez makes zero sense in terms of fit or value. And just as this article is being published, it has come out that he has been traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks, though that has not been confirmed at this time. The rumored prospects the Detroit Tigers got in return were the Diamondbacks’ fourth, 15th, and a third, unranked in the system according to MLBPipeline.com. A direct comparison is unfair since the Rockies’ system is much higher rated, but their fourth and 15th prospects according to the same evaluators are Ryan McMahon and Jordan Patterson.

The point still stands that that type of move is not in the Rockies’ best interest.

And sure, Bundy and Gausman are at least investments for future seasons, but either would require quite the haul headed back to Baltimore, for talent that is not even guaranteed to be an upgrade over the starting pitchers the Rockies already have.

Kudos to Saunders for lending credence to locally-sourced rumors, as opposed to yet another series of whiffs by national media regarding drama on Blake Street. We fully expect the Rockies to get in on the action at some point, but you can’t believe everything — or maybe even most of the things — you read on the rumor mill.

Tomorrow’s column will aim to provide better context for a potential reliever upgrade.