Report: Rockies letting other teams know that several players are available at deadline

MILWAUKEE — The Rockies are open for business at the trade deadline.

According to a report from USA Today‘s Bob Nightengale, the team is making it clear that a slow of key contributors are available for potential deals in advance of the trade deadline, which arrives Aug. 3 at 4 p.m. MDT.

Those players include:

• IF Willi Castro
• LHP Kyle Freeland
• RHP Michael Lorenzen
• OF Jake McCarthy
• OF Mickey Moniak
• RHP Antonio Senzatela
• RHP Tomoyuki Sugano

That includes three of the team’s primary everyday players and 60 percent of their current rotation.

Castro, McCarthy and Moniak are all in Sunday’s lineup for the Rockies’ series finale at Milwaukee, with McCarthy and Moniak in the 1-2 spots in the order. The three players rank fourth, sixth and 10th in plate appearances for the team this season (Castro 353, McCarthy 344 and Moniak 251), with Moniak only held back from a higher rank because of his stint on the injured list and his splits; he has a .944 OPS against right-handed pitchers and a .621 figure against lefties.

Castro is enjoying a solid season, with a .256/.323/.388 line. A 2024 All-Star while with the Minnesota Twins, his versatility should make him attractive; he’s played every infield position at some point this year and has also aligned at both corner-outfield spots.

McCarthy is enjoying the best season of his career, posting an .852 OPS — 118 points over his career average and a massive improvement from the .591 OPS he posted last year with the Arizona Diamondbacks. He has a .925 OPS at home, but also a respectable .769 OPS and .279 batting average away from Coors Field.

Moniak has more extreme home-road splits than McCarthy this season — a 1.033 OPS at Coors Field and a .658 figure on the road.

Senzatela, who was moved to the bullpen full-time this season after being guided out of the rotation last year, ranks second among Colorado relievers in innings (51.0). He also is second in wins, trailing only Sugano, who on Friday became the first Colorado pitcher since Germán Márquez in 2021 to reach the 10-win plateau.

Freeland and Senzatela have been mainstays since making their major-league debuts in 2017; they’ve known no other MLB club than the Rockies. And Lorenzen, Sugano and Freeland are 1-2-3 in pitching starts for the team this season, collectively starting more than half — 58 — of Colorado’s 106 games heading into Sunday’s play.

Among the current rotation, Sugano is one of just two starters with a sub-5.00 ERA; Gabriel Hughes is the other, with just three major-league starts to his name after making his Rockies and MLB debut out of the bullpen on July 3.

ROCKIES STILL GIVING NO INDICATION THAT HUNTER GOODMAN CAN BE HAD

In Major League Baseball, every player — even the elite — has a price tag. But there remains little indication that catcher. Hunter Goodman, the team’s lone All-Star in the last two seasons, is available.

It hasn’t stopped speculation from percolating about potential trades, and any deal would certainly have to include at least one upper-tier pitching prospect.

Should the Rockies deal heavily from their rotation, they would need some major-league ready pitching coming back in some deals to fill the void. Chase Dollander was lost for the season in May and underwent internal brace surgery, and Jose Quintana is currently on the 60-day injured list.

It’s unlikely that they would deal all seven players mentioned in the USA Today report; at some point, the Rockies still have to field a major-league team. But with outfielders Charlie Condon and Zac Veen continuing to mash at AAA Albuquerque — they boast OPS figures of .976 and .950, respectively — McCarthy and Moniak are prime candidates to be traded.

Sugano’s ability to consistently go five-to-six innings and Senzatela’s versatility to go between the bullpen and rotation should make them valuable options to other clubs, too — even though Senzatela has slumped since the start of June.

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