The Rockies May Have Lost Second Baseman Brendan Rodgers for a Very Long Time
Among the teams out there that REALLY DO NOT need bad injury news in Spring Training – if they want to keep verrrry slim competitive hopes alive – the Colorado Rockies would be up there. They’ll need every capable player busting out into a great season if they want to have any kind of chance at shocking in the NL West. Heck, I’m not even sure that would be enough …
Anyway, the point is, the Rockies may have just lost their starting second baseman for a long time. Maybe even the whole season:
It’s the non-throwing shoulder for Brendan Rodgers, which helps a little I’m sure, but shoulder capsule damage that requires surgery? If it goes that route, it’s a really major procedure and rehab, with uncertain results. A terrible bit of news for the Rockies, and for Rodgers, a 26-year-old former top prospect who just reached his arbitration years, and who hit .274/.326/.434/95 wRC+ over the last two years, with solid defense at second. I am sure the hopes were high for a breakout this year.
Because of the Cubs’ glut of second-and-third-base-capable options, yes, this topic is going to come up any time there is an injury around baseball at second or third base this spring.
The Cubs aren’t the ONLY team with extra, fringe-roster guys with whom they could part, so you shouldn’t assume that teams like the Rockies (or Dodgers) are going to come sprinting for a deal. Nor should you assume that, if a deal did come together, the value proposition would wildly favor the Cubs. The players with whom the Cubs could part would be available for a reason. Keep those expectations in check.
All that said, it’s not that hard to imagine some fits with the Rockies. Maybe they see Nick Madrigal’s hyper-contact, spray-the-ball-everywhere approach as playing particularly well in the spacious confines of Coors Field – there’s a lottttta BABIP to go around in that park. Or maybe they see David Bote’s power and want to give him a chance to break out as a regular. Or maybe they just really like Zach McKinstry, who happens to be the only guy in this mix for the Cubs who cannot be sent to Iowa to open the season (he is out of options and would have to clear waivers).
Again, the trade returns in these scenarios would not be significant, and the Rockies may well be content to fill the spot internally, and/or wait for the inevitable flow of waiver wire options in late March. Buuuuut I do think Bote makes a ton of sense for both sides. He’s never gotten that full on starting chance, and if you’re the Rockies, facing a total hole at second base now for the full season, it kinda seems like a perfect opportunity to land Bote for virtually nothing (the Cubs, I’m sure, would do the deal for just a little cost savings (Bote is under contract for the next two seasons at around $10 million total)). If he does break out, you control him for next year, too, probably at a super cheap price tag.
For the Cubs, it’s not clear that Bote will get much of a chance to get back on the 40-man roster any time soon, much less onto the big league bench. Yet they owe him that money either way, so maybe they decide they’d rather give him a chance to actually start somewhere, and save a million or two in the process.
Just thinking out loud here as the news breaks.
