Report: Versatile Rockies bat ‘not going anywhere’ at trade deadline

The Colorado Rockies are famous for their inaction at MLB’s trade deadline which is what made last year’s activity of shipping off several veterans a shock. Still, the team doesn’t appear to be ready for a big swing as Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post reports that Ryan McMahon will still be wearing purple come fall.

McMahon is currently second on the team with a 1.6 fWAR this season even with a recent slump. On the year, the third baseman is slashing .265/.344/.458 with 12 home runs and 37 RBI in his 70 games played. A two-time Gold Glove finalist, McMahon has also played a season of second base and gotten intermittent starts at first in the big leagues. The former star quarterback in high school is a standout athlete and can play just about anywhere while also being a left-handed bat, a rare combo.

I’ve read a lot of speculation/opinion that #Rockies will/should trade Ryan McMahon. From everything I’ve been told, he’s not going anywhere.

— Patrick Saunders (@psaundersdp) June 18, 2024

Despite the desire of many competing teams across baseball that would love McMahon’s services the long-tenured Rockie who is on a team-friendly contract through the 2027 season will stay in Denver. Of course, his positive contributions aren’t helping the Rockies much right now or anytime soon, as the team is headed for a second-straight 100-loss season. Early in his career, McMahon had some clutch hits as a benchpiece for the 2017 and 2018 playoff teams.

Last year Colorado moved on from several veteran players at the deadline that they were less invested in both financially and emotionally. The team’s biggest move was trading an All-Star in a Rockies uniform in C.J. Cron as well as Randal Grichuk to the Angeles for prospects. An All-Star in 2022, Cron is still a free agent right now after a poor 15-game stint in SoCal. Grichuk also struggled but is having a strong 2024 for Arizona. The team also moved reliever Brad Hand, who is also out of the big leagues right now.

The Rockies are obvious sellers this summer if they want to be, but with most of their team’s more successful players now being younger players who will be part of the future like Ezequiel Tovar and Brenton Doyle, McMahon is one of the more obvious players who could be moved. So is last year’s All-Star Elias Diaz and fellow backstop Jacob Stallings and veteran outfielder Jake Cave, who has a similar profile to Grichuk. At 29, McMahon is the youngest of the bunch and maybe the Rockies hope for a quick enough turnaround where he will still be on the team when they compete again, whenever that is.

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