Rockies Say They Won’t Trade Charlie Blackmon – That Means They Will
It’s always strange when a team like the Colorado Rockies feels like they have to make a splash by telling a player, “We love you,” when everyone, including the player himself, knows that the team is having an affair on the side and the marriage is about to crumble. The Rockies probably do love Charlie Blackmon, but his head is still on the block to be traded.
Remember the scene in The Godfather Part II when Michael kisses his brother Fredo and then tells him that it’s a beautiful night to “go fishing” on the lake. And then, while Michael is sipping a glass of cognac, you hear a single blast from a shotgun… well, that’s what the Colorado Rockies did yesterday with their well-choreographed show of allegiance to Charlie Blackmon.
Here’s a little snippet of what general manager Jeff Bridich had to say:
"“But we have never come out and said, ‘We want or need to trade Charlie Blackmon.’ I felt like he needed to hear it from me. Unless he saw something directly attributed to me, he could take everything else with a grain of salt.”"
So understand, Charlie, we’re fielding calls on you only because other teams are just doing their “due diligence.” We’re just being polite in answering these calls. That’s all there is to these rumors you’ve been hearing, Charlie. Sure, and Freddie didn’t know what was going to happen as he got in that boat.
And why talk to the press directly about the situation? The Rockies couldn’t have simply done this privately with Blackmon? Quietly and with no fanfare. No, the Rockies did it because they had reason to. And notice, by the way, at no time did the Rockies say that they would no longer be taking calls on Charlie Blackmon. No, instead the message received on the other end for interested teams is to keep those calls coming.
The Rockies Do Need to Trade an Outfielder
Look, ever since the Rockies signed Ian Desmond to a contract, it’s been perfectly clear to everyone that they now have a glut of outfielders, and that someone has to go. And it might even make sense that Blackmon is the one who should go. But if that’s the case, maybe the Rockies need to do their own “due diligence” as well by making the trade in the best interest of the organization.
Charlie Blackmon has been around long enough to know that baseball is a business. And he doesn’t need his hand held. Even if the Rockies in fact do love him enough to not trade him, he shouldn’t expect to hear that either. And the Rockies shouldn’t feel like they need to say it.
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Good intentions gone wrong? Maybe, but yesterday has to go down as a head-scratching moment of the Rockies’ offseason.