Rockies have ‘limited’ options with struggling Desmond, says Gomez

Apr 10, 2019, 8:20 PM Updated: Apr 11, 2019, 8:24 am

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Whether fair or not, the face of the Colorado Rockies early struggles, at least on the offensive side of things, has been centerfielder Ian Desmond.

Desmond, who is currently on year three of a five-year, $70 million deal with the Rockies, has the second-lowest batting average (.150), on-base percentage (.209), and slugging percentage (.200) for qualified players on the roster.

But without eating a large portion of a hefty contract, ESPN’s Pedro Gomez told “Stokley and Zach” the Rockies have few courses of action in regard to Desmond.

“Well, you cannot send him to the minors without him agreeing to go. So, that is not really going to happen,” Gomez said. “You have two options. You bench him and you hope that, maybe, that snaps him out of it, or you release him and you just eat the money.”

So-call big-money franchises like the Boston Red Sox, Gomez said, routinely opt to just cut bait with highly-paid yet slumping players, like Pablo Sandoval or Hanley Ramirez.

“They just said you know what, we’re better off without these guys on our roster,” Gomez said.

But, the Rockies aren’t a franchise that can “easily sustain eating $40 million or so of a dead contract,” Gomez said.

“The options are very, very limited,” Gomez said regarding Desmond.

Follow digital content producer Johnny Hart on Twitter: @JohnnyHart7.