Charlie Blackmon Named to All-Trade-Speculation Team

It may not exactly be a list that a player wants to make, but Charlie Blackmon of the Colorado Rockies was recently named to MLB.com’s All-Trade-Speculation Team.

It’s not much of a surprise to find Blackmon’s name on the list. Since the winter meetings began, he’s been linked to potential trades with the Toronto Blue Jays, Baltimore Orioles, Texas Rangers and St. Louis Cardinals. Now, with the New York Mets looking to upgrade their outfield, guess who’s name has come in the rumor mill? Yep, it’s Chuck Nazty.

Pushing Blackmon into the trade frenzy so much in recent weeks are two things.

First, the Rockies signing Ian Desmond to play first base has generated a lot of buzz that that transaction may be the first of several for the Rockies, including signing another first baseman such as Mark Trumbo or Edwin Encarnacion. With that in mind, Colorado may be looking for Desmond, the former Texas Rangers outfielder, to patrol the outfield at Coors Field. This would make Blackmon or Carlos Gonzalez more attractive as “trade bait” for the Rockies to grab another starting pitcher.

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Second, let’s not forget the incredible season Blackmon had last year. Batting .324 with 29 homers and 82 RBI helped him earn his first-ever Silver Slugger award. He’s also stolen 88 bases over the past three seasons. With a rare combination of power and speed, Blackmon has become one of the league’s most talked about and feared leadoff hitters.

However, as much as Blackmon belongs on MLB.com’s list for all of the buzz he’s generated, Colorado general manager Jeff Bridich has repeatedly said that he’s not actively looking to trade Blackmon or Gonzalez.

He’s also told reporters that he has spoken directly to Blackmon about the number of rumors with his name in them and to take them all “with a grain of salt.”