Colorado Rockies: Is It Time to Buy or Sell?

Stuck between playoff hopes and mediocrity, the Colorado Rockies will have a difficult decision to make before Monday’s trade deadline.

Trade season is now upon us, and within the next day or so, teams on the edge will need to decide whether they are going to try to get better now or in the future. There are teams that will be selling and there are teams that will be buying. There are also teams that are not sure what to do.

In the National League West, the San Francisco Giants are an elite team. The Los Angeles Dodgers are only two games back of those Giants. From there, the division falls off the rail. The Colorado Rockies are nine games out of the lead, but only five games out of the Wild Card. However, there are two very good teams ahead of them in the race, the Pittsburgh Pirates and the New York Mets.

Colorado falls into a situation that often causes turmoil inside an organization. The team is one game under .500 and is having a much better season than anticipated. After finishing 68-94 last season, 2016 was supposed to be another downer for the Rockies. The front office and management are now caught in a predicament because they were not expecting to have to make this tough decision. The Rockies could trade Carlos Gonzalez. They could trade Nolan Arenado, and they could probably get top prospects in baseball. They could acquire some assets that would help them to possibly make the playoffs. They could go for the gold. Will they?

Colorado has had little taste of postseason action. As a franchise, they have played five series including one World Series which ended in defeat. For the first time since 2009, it appears there is a glimmer of hope for the Rockies to make the playoffs, albeit there is no guarantee they will finish over .500. Sounds strange at first, but the utter confusion of the Rockies’ fight for the postseason makes perfect sense because the decisions they will have to make over the next couple of days will be equally difficult and confusing.

Colorado is 7-1 over its last eight games. Winning before the trade deadline is the exact way to make the front office’s decision more difficult. Let’s examine the two intricate paths the Rockies could take very soon.

Nolan Arenado and Carlos Gonzalez make the Rockies go round. Both have stellar defense and both hit extremely well. Without either or both of those players, the Rockies are in no way a playoff contender. However, there have been little rumors about the Rockies in the trade market. Either way, the player most likely to go first would be Gonzalez because he has had trade speculation around him for years.

Gonzalez is hitting well over .300 with 20 home runs. He is also playing a Gold Glove caliber outfield. Arenado is hitting .282 with 26 home runs, and is probably going to win the Gold Glove at third base this year.

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You may be asking why the Rockies would sell. It sounds pretty good, right? They are in a playoff race, they have two of the best players in the NL along with a great supporting cast that includes Trevor Story. There is one reason the Rockies might sell, which is that they may be good but not good enough. They may be a solid team statistics and metrics wise, but when it comes to playing the game, they may be lagging behind others. A lot of teams fall into the same kind of situation year after year; good but not good enough. If the front office feels there is hope to make the playoffs but not go all the way, they may sell.

Looking at the alternative, the Rockies could acquire pieces that could help them go further than they ever imagined. Some of the most notable and likely pieces they could acquire are Jay Bruce and David Robertson. Both make sense on the Rockies because they each have unique skills that would be extremely useful, especially in that particular playing environment. That said, the Rockies would most likely have to give up a lot of prospects to get both of those players, which may include Jon Gray. This would certainly scare Colorado, and probably cause them to back out.

The Rockies are in a common situation for the first time as a franchise. There are two possible main plans of attack, buy or sell. There is another plan, but it is more of a cop-out than anything: do not make any moves. If the Rockies think they can compete but do not want to trade prospects, they will stay put with the roster they have and hope it is good enough.

Next: Reds talking Bruce blockbuster

Is it the Rockies’ time? It should be; they have the necessary pieces and prospects to get more pieces. Will it actually be their time? Probably not. Expect the Rockies to not do anything major at the trade deadline because their second-year general manager will panic, and not completely evaluate his options.

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