Rockies buy low on former top prospect, flip reliever

The Colorado Rockies have traded right-handed reliever Victor Vodnik to the Miami Marlins for utilityman Connor Norby and right-hander Aiden May, per ESPN’s Jeff Passan.

It’s the third deal of the day for Paul DePodesta’s front office, following trades of Brenton Doyle and Antonio Senzatela.

Norby is a buy-low play on a talented guy. The former Orioles second-round pick was once a top 100 prospect before being shipped to Miami in 2024 for All-Star Trevor Rogers. He has flat out hit in the minors, an .863 OPS over his six years in pro ball. Up in the bigs, though, the results haven’t followed. He’s striking out way too much — 70 times in 233 plate appearances this season — without the power to justify it, slashing just .205/.313/.325 with four home runs. That’s sent him back to Triple-A.

But Norby is only 25, pre-arbitration eligible and still has the bat-to-ball tools that made him a top prospect in the first place. There’s a plus WAR player in there if the Rockies can clean up the approach, and Colorado is the team that can afford to try to make it work.

Another nice thing with Norby is he’s played first, second and third in the bigs and has been playing the outfield in the minors. If the bat can rebound, there’s an option to slide his glove in many places.

May, the Marlins’ No. 27 prospect and a former second-round pick, is the secondary piece.

Vodnik has the raw stuff — a 98.6 mph average fastball and a groundball rate in the elite ranks of the league — but a 5.25 ERA and 10 earned runs over his last four appearances tell you where things were headed. He was under club control for three more years, which makes this a sell-low on paper, but the Rockies clearly decided to take the upside bat over the volatile arm.

It’s a day of three trades for DePodesta, adding six players to the organization — two of which in Norby and Mason Adams, who could be playing for the Rockies in matter of days.

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