Colorado Rockies: Are More Offseason Moves Coming?
The calendar may have flipped to 2017, but there are still plenty of people wondering if the Colorado Rockies are finished making major moves heading into next season.
In all, the Rockies have made three 40-man-roster-changing signings this offseason. First, Colorado inked Ian Desmond to a five-year, $70 million deal to play first base. Next, the Rockies bolstered their bullpen by signing Mike Dunn to a three-year, $19-million contract. Finally, Colorado has reportedly signed Alexi Amarista to a one-year deal with a club option for 2018.
The moves have been met with some head-scratching by the public and the media. Our friends at Purple Row put together a very in-depth article on why the Desmond signing doesn’t make sense. The comparisons between Desmond, Mark Trumbo, Jose Abreu and Chris Carter are quite interesting.
One of the more interesting quotes of the article comes at its start where Eric Garcia McKinley says, “That’s not to say that I don’t believe Desmond will ultimately be the Rockies’ first baseman. Rather, it’s to say that if he is, it won’t be by design, but because of a failure of plans to come together.”
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Most people seem to believe that the Desmond signing was the first in a series of moves that would ultimately end up with Desmond moving to the outfield and Charlie Blackmon or Carlos Gonzalez likely being traded. Those beliefs have been around since the Desmond deal was announced … and here we are at the start of January still wondering if a move is coming.
Without that move, is the Colorado offseason a flop? Some, including this article from Bleacher Report, say yes. It’s an interesting question to consider.
We talked about the Amarista move in this article and how it didn’t seem to impact the team greatly, considering that players such as Rafael Ynoa and Cristhian Adames have filled this role in the past.
Is Dunn a better fit in the bullpen as a left-handed specialist than Boone Logan, a player the Rockies didn’t re-sign? Time will tell. We outlined what Dunn would bring to the Rockies in this article. By the way, it’s not the first time Dunn and Logan have been linked together. In late 2009, Atlanta sent Javier Vazquez and Logan to the New York Yankees for Melky Cabrera, Arodys Vizcaino … and Dunn.
Will the Rockies still make a move? It’s been rumored that Colorado has offered Greg Holland a multi-year deal. Trumbo, who has been linked to the Rockies even before he was sent to the Baltimore Orioles in December of 2015, will be brought up until he lands somewhere through free agency. Neftali Feliz and many other solid free agents are available to boost the bullpen.
Colorado may not be done dealing just yet. After all, it was almost mid-January last year when the Rockies signed Gerardo Parra to a three-year deal. A couple of weeks later, Corey Dickerson was sent to Tampa Bay to help make room for Parra.
Will Colorado’s offseason be a bust if another deal isn’t made? Speculation will run rampant, but no one will know for sure until the 2017 season is well underway.