The Colorado Rockies 2024 Trade Deadline…..(Crickets)

The MLB trade deadline is a milestone day of every Major League Baseball season. It’s a day on which all 30 teams officially clarify whether they’re buyers or sellers. For buyers, it’s a time for them to acquire talented major league players from sellers to improve their team with the hopes of making a deep playoff run in October. For sellers, it's a time to acquire minor league prospects with the hopes of improving their farm system to build a contending Major League team in future seasons. At the end of July, there were nine AL teams and nine NL teams with an above .500 record. Among those teams, there are a few very talented rosters that are considered “clear favorites” for the World Series. But as history has taught us, every team that makes the playoffs has a chance to reach the Fall Classic.

The Rockies are obviously in the midst of a rebuild. Therefore, we can characterize them as sellers for this season’s trade deadline, and they have several players who could help any of the contending teams. Typically, buyers will acquire players with contracts that will expire at the end of the current or the following season. Several factors determine whether or not a trade is made for any of those players. In the end, it comes down to the price that’s willing to be agreed to.

Charlie Blackmon, Daniel Bard, Jalen Beeks, and Elias Díaz will become free agents at the end of this season. Jacob Stallings has a $1 million mutual option for 2025. Germán Márquez, Cal Quantrill, Brendan Rodgers, Austin Gomber, and Jake Cave are free agents after the 2025 season.

Out of the seven players mentioned above, Germán Márquez and Daniel Bard weren’t going to get traded at the deadline. Márquez has pitched 24.0 MLB innings in the last two seasons because he’s been recovering from Tommy John surgery. Bard hasn’t pitched this season and will miss the entire season after having surgery on his left knee. Due to their lack of activity in the MLB, no team inquired about trading for either of them.

Charlie Blackmon has solidified himself as a Rockies legend in his fourteen-year career. He’s having a nice season (.737 OPS / 101 OPS+), but he’s 38 years old, and he’s been an everyday player since July 2013. There was a thought that teams could trade for him to add a veteran to their bench, but I ultimately don’t think he was getting traded. As his career comes to an end, I think we should all enjoy it and celebrate one of the great careers in the franchise’s history.

The Rockies organization has invested in Brendan Rodgers with the hopes that he’d grow into an elite player for them. He was ranked as their number-one prospect for five consecutive seasons (2016-2020). Since his debut in 2019, he has struggled with a few injuries. He has been solid defensively (Winning a gold glove in 2022), but he’s been an average offensive player (.724 OPS / 90 OPS+ in 411 MLB games). I don’t believe there was a trade market for him. Heading into his final season before free agency, he’s got A LOT to prove!

I believe that there was little interest in Jacob Stallings (.820 OPS / 123 OPS+) and Elias Díaz (.700 OPS / 91 OPS+) because it’s tough to trade a catcher at the trade deadline. A new catcher has to quickly get acquainted with his new pitching staff by learning their pitch sequences, gaining their trust, etc. It doesn’t seem like Díaz will return next season. Stallings likely will be back, and we could see a prospect promotion (Drew Romo?).

Pitching is always in demand at the trade deadline, so the Rockies were engaged in trade talks for a few of their pitchers. Given contract status and performance on the mound, Quantrill (1.9 WAR / 450 ERA / 101 ERA+ / 118.00 IP) and Gomber (1.6 WAR / 4.66 ERA / 97 ERA+ / 116.00 IP) were the most likely starting pitchers to be traded. However, I believe that they were going to be moved only if the Rockies’ asking price was met. That’s understandable, considering the organization’s difficulty to add pitching from outside the organization, and they don’t have a top pitching prospect on the verge of a promotion this season. On a contending team, both pitchers would be a solid option as a fourth or fifth starter. Barring an offseason trade, they’ll both be in the Rockies’ starting rotation next season.

In the end, the Rockies traded two relief pitchers. They sent Nick Mears to the Milwaukee Brewers and Jalen Beeks to the Pittsburgh Pirates. In return, they received Bradley Blalock (Brewers #18 Prospect), Yujanyer Herrera, and Luis Peralta (Pirates #24 Prospect). All three pitchers are now ranked in the Rockies top 30 prospects. Regardless of their ranking, they add pitching options to the organization’s farm system.

According to MLB Pipeline, the Rockies had the 21st-ranked farm system heading into the 2024 season. As of today, eleven of their top fifteen prospects are position players so you would think the Rockies would ideally look to acquire pitching prospects at this year’s trade deadline. They made trades with two teams that have farm systems ranked in the top five and added three pitchers. Realistically, the Rockies didn’t have the assets that would’ve given them the ability to acquire any organization’s top ten prospect. I give the Rockies trade deadline a D-. They added to a position of need, but their overall activity was underwhelming and apathetic. If they want to get out of the basement of the NL West, they need to take some serious developmental steps forward and be aggressive with outside acquisitions. Perhaps they should take a good “swing for the fence!”