Rockies drawing trade interest on multiple players ahead of deadline

Monday, August 3, at 4 pm MT is the MLB trade deadline and it could be one of the most impactful trade deadlines in Colorado Rockies history.

Not only have the Rockies shown a dramatic improvement from last season to this season, but they’ve shown that they have players that can play and be attractive to other teams.

According to Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon of The Athletic, the Rockies are fielding interest in starting pitchers Kyle Freeland, Michael Lorenzen, and Tomoyuki Sugano. Freeland and Lorenzen have been some of the worst starting pitchers in all of baseball this season. Freeland has an ERA of 7.28 and Lorenzen has an ERA of 6.53. Neither pitcher is pitching well at Coors Field or even away from Denver.

Sugano on the other hand has been the best Rockies starting pitcher this season with an ERA of 4.76.

The one thing that makes all three of those players attractive to other teams is that they’re all on expiring contracts.

Rosenthal and Sammon also named Mickey Moniak, Jake McCarthy, and Willi Castro as players that are drawing interest from other teams.

Moniak is hitting .280 with 16 home runs and 42 RBI. He also has an on base percentage of .325. With Moniak turning 29 in May, the Rockies might be willing to move on from Moniak for some above average pitching prospects.

Castro can be a bit of a wild card-type player because he can play all over the field defensively. At the age of 29 already, Castro is hitting .263 with just 9 home runs and 43 RBI. If a team is looking for a utility player to fill some holes in their roster heading into the postseason Castor could be a good option for most teams.

McCarthy is leading the Rockies in batting average this season (.307). The speedster also has hit 10 home runs and has the second most RBI (56) on the team behind Hunter Goodman.

Another pitcher that teams could call on that might be able to bring a lot back to Colorado is Antonio Senzatela.

This year Senzatela is not in the rotation as a starting pitcher, but he’s been a middle reliever and has played really well. Senzatela owns a 3.60 ERA in his 50 innings pitched and he has a $14 million club option for next season.

The three non pitchers are attractive to some teams because they are under contract beyond this season.

Per Jeff Passan and Kileyof ESPN, six Rockies made their list of the top 100 tradable candidates.

8. Hunter Goodman C

35. Jake McCarthy OF

39. Mickey Moniak OF

67. Antonio Senzatela RHP

78. Brennan Bernardio LHP

88. Willi Castro UT

Passan and Olney have made it known that the Rockies are on a short list of teams that are willing to sell a good amount of players. If teams are unwilling to unload some of their players or prospects, there’s a chance that there could more of a strong market for the Rockies.

With two weeks to go before the deadline, the Dodgers, White Sox, Cubs, Brewers, Braves, Phillies, Yankees, Rays, Orioles, and Mariners are expected to be the most aggressive ahead of the trade deadline.

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Latest on Hunter Goodman

According to writer and reporter Rosenthal of The Athletic, the Rockies are not in a rush to move Hunter Goodman.

“The Rockies are telling teams they spent the first part of the season trying to figure out which players can be part of their next 90-win team,” per Rosenthal. The Rockies haven’t won 90 games since their 2018 season.

Can the Rockies get to 90 wins with their superstar catcher before his contract is up in 2029?

Right now, the Rockies have some promising young talent already up in the big leagues like TJ Rumfield, Cole Carrigg, Kyle Karros, and Troy Johnston. Three of the four youngsters are hitting close to .300 except for Karros, but he’s been a late bloomer this season by hitting just .260 along with nine home runs. All four have an on base percentage .355 and above with Rumfield leading the way at .379 as a rookie.

The Rockies also have some potential super star power in the minors right now with Charlie Condon, Ethan Holliday, and Boldy Brito. All three are the Rockies’ top three prospects and should be called up before 2029.

There’s also the argument that the Rockies should trade their top hitter right now because he’ll be older by 2029 and he might not hit as many home runs as he’s hitting now. There’s some evidence to debunk that argument.

In 2013, the Rockies had Michael Cuddyer in their lineup at the age of 34. He went on to hit 20 home runs and won the batting title by hitting .331 over 130 games.

Even in 2017, the Rockies put veteran Mark Reynolds into the lineup and he hit 30 home runs at the age of 33. Another example was CJ Cron who hit 28 and 29 long shots at 31 and 32-years-old.

At the age of 29, Carlos Gonzalez hit 40 and 25 more the following season. When Charlie Blackmon went from 29-years-old to 32, he was hitting his age each season.

Right now, Hunter Goodman is on pace to hit 48 home runs which would be the second-most in a single season for the Rockies behind Todd Helton and Larry Walker who both hit 49.

Currently it doesn’t sound like the Rockies will move Goodman, but things can change within the next week or two.

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