March 15: Colome is guaranteed $4.1MM on the contract, tweets MLB Network’s Jon Heyman.
March 12: The Rockies have agreed to a one-year deal with Alex Colome, ESPN’s Enrique Rojas reports (via Twitter). The contract will become official when Colome passes a physical. Colome is represented by the Wasserman Agency.
Daniel Bard and Carlos Estevez combined for 31 of the Rockies’ 33 total saves in 2021, though Colome’s more established track record as a closer could make him the top ninth-inning choice for the Rox next year. Bard and Estevez could be moved back into set-up roles, or manager Bud Black could simply take a committee approach with his closer’s role.
Colome is coming off something of an unusual season that saw him post a respectable 4.15 ERA over 65 innings with the Twins, despite a swath of unfavorable Statcast metrics. While Colome’s bottom-line numbers have generally been much better than his advanced metrics over his career, Minnesota still declined its end of a $5.5MM mutual option on Colome’s services for 2022, instead buying the reliever out for $1.25MM.
Apart from the 22 1/3-inning outlier of the shortened 2020 season, Colome has always posted below-average hard-hit ball rates over his career. While his whiff rate has remained above average, Colome’s strikeout rates have been mediocre since the start of the 2019 season, while his walk rates have hovered around the league average mark. A .211 BABIP was of great help to Colome during his 2019-20 seasons with the White Sox, as his 2.27 ERA was far below his 4.52 xFIP and 4.42 SIERA over those two years.
Generating grounders has become an increasingly large part of Colome’s gameplan as his strikeouts have been on the wane, and the 53.4% grounder rate he has posted over the last two seasons will be of great help at Coors Field. After spending all nine of his MLB seasons in the American League, the 33-year-old has only a single appearance at Coors Field over his 393 career games.
So based on last year’s standings in the NL 83 wins is good enough to make the playoffs but in the AL it’s 91
This is a good signing by the Rockies because Colome can still do it
No way the Rockies are trying to make the playoffs
Why would they they’re in a rebuild situation. If Colome does well then they’ve got a deadline trade piece
They’re always trying. Usually with blinders on, but everyone always says they want more teams trying and fewer teams tanking … and yet here’s a team that does it come heck or high water and no one respects it.
So points to the Rockies. This is entertainment in the end. Tanking isn’t entertaining.
Exactly, @seamaholic.
Everyone wants to hang on to their homegrown players too. Rockies try to do that as well. If their template worked, baseball would be better off, serious.
Him and Iglesias are the first major league FA signings in a couple years.
They’ve snuck in several times before
That’s not good for either party
This is called wins for LA
You haven’t seen the rest of the Rockies bullpen then.
Oh trust me the only one that I fear in that pen is Bard cause for some reason LA can’t hit the guy
Colome was great a couple of years back? The rockies Def aren’t making the playoffs lol… story is history… turned aeranado into a cardinal forever… Blackmon will go soon. It has Marlins fire sale written all over it……
Rox don’t fire sale. Never have. Still have a solid rotation and they’ll win some games, and they’ll be top 5 in ticket sales, as always, and they’ll make money, as always, and they’ll finish 4th or 5th, as usual. They are playing a different game than superfans imagine baseball teams do.
Exactly…top 5 in ticket sales. Fill the seats that’s all Monfort really cares about. It’s a huge social event at Coors Field.
Such a beautiful stadium! I’ve always wanted to goto their treehouse or whatever it’s called. Those Rocky Mountain View’s! Saw a game in a Colorado once but it was long ago when they played at mile high. That was a beautiful stadium as well, just not meant for baseball!
It is a beautiful stadium and the employees are great. For the amount of fan support though I wish they would make this a contending team.
As a White Sox fan, I watched him put up good ERAs and save a bunch of games, but often as not, he made it an adventure. His luck just ran out with the Twins.
I like the pickup for Rox.
Bard looked done the 2nd half of 2021, and Estevez is at best a decent setup man. If Colome can generate grounders and avoid walking people, he’ll be a significant improvement. And a good piece to trade at the deadline when they are below .500 and in 4th place in the division.
As a Twins fan who also saw him pitch for the White Sox in 2020,I can tell you that Colome’s stuff was nowhere near the same last year. By July he was shell shocked and he mostly spent the second half with that deer in the headlights look when he was called upon.
I hope he bounces back, but Coors Field hardly seems like a good fit for a guy who was very hittable.1
RIP.
The Horse is in the Rockies! Nice signing by Colorado. I think he has something left to deal. Would like to see him with the Birds on the Bat.
Colome is cutter forward closer. Cutters are weird in that they hide the production from the underlying metrics typically checked to confirm reliability. Colome has had a decline in command and gets into trouble, at least last season he did. However quick trouble appears, there seems to be an equal switch he can shut down in the worst situations. He is one of the guys that can be traded midseason if he performs well, or he is a solution to losing your closer to injuries.
Rockies aren’t going anywhere but Colome is a good pickup, especially if he can regain his control, which has always been an issue.
They didn’t give him a 3 year $30 million contract. That’s progress for the Rockies.
Not a bad signing IMO