Jurickson Profar made his Rockies debut in today’s 3-1 loss to the Padres, and as fate would have it, Profar’s first game with his new team happened to be against his former team. Playing with the Padres “was everything to me,” Profar told Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune, and seemed to express some regret over opting out of his $7.5MM player option to stay with the Padres in 2023. “If I was a normal free agent, not opting out, it’s different. Opting out and free agency taking that long, I always wanted to stay….I didn’t want to (opt out), but I did,” Profar said.
The entry into free agency took a long time to resolve, as Profar didn’t reach an agreement with Colorado until March 19 on a one-year, $7.75MM deal. Rockies hitting coach Hensley Meulens was a key recruiter in the process, as Meulens has been a longtime mentor to Profar dating back to the earliest days of his baseball career in Curacao, and Meulens managed Profar as part of the Netherlands’ team in the World Baseball Classic. Profar is looking forward to now joining Meulens in the majors, and getting off a fresh start with his new organization.
More from the Mile High City, as the Rockies are 2-2 following their split of the season-opening series with the Padres…
- Manager Bud Black told media (including MLB.com) that Daniel Bard threw a bullpen on Saturday, and hit 96mph during the session. It’s a positive sign for the veteran reliever, who began the 2023 campaign on the 15-day injured list due to a return of the anxiety issues that put Bard’s career on hold for several seasons. There isn’t yet any timetable for Bard’s return, as naturally the Rockies will give him all the time he needs.
- The Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes placed Gavin Hollowell on the 10-day minor league IL today, and Danielle Allentuck of the Denver Gazette (Twitter link) reports that the right-hander is dealing with forearm tightness. While the severity of the injury isn’t yet known, any sort of forearm issue is naturally troubling for a pitcher, and it adds to a tough week of news for Hollowell — Allentuck notes that he just missed out on a spot in Colorado’s Opening Day bullpen. A sixth-round pick for the Rockies in the 2019 draft, Hollowell made his MLB debut last season, posting a 7.71 ERA in seven innings over six appearances. MLB Pipeline ranks Hollowell as the 24th-best prospect in the Rockies’ farm system, and feels the 6’7″ reliever’s strikeout potential gives him promise, though his control is a work in progress.
Well I can take heart that the Rockies split the series on the road with a WS contender and didn’t look bad in the two losses, well one of the two anyway. And CJ Cron hit three homers and was about 10 feet total away from having 3 additional homers in that series. He clobbered three balls that died right on the warning track. Good start for the Rockies and I continue to believe they are going to surprise people this year unless injuries pile up.
I was at the first 3 games and it made me wish Cron was still with the Angels 🙂 he was crushing in warmup too.
hi – there is nothing incorrect about your post yet I do offer a relevant fact to put this split in context. The Padres used their 3,4,5 & 6 against the Rockies 1-4. The games are played on the field with all things being what they are and yes, 2-2 how it shook out.
If you have been a Rockies fan for awhile, you know Marquez seems to have the Padres number no doubt. I always count that as a probable loss, but hopefully next time it will be Joe or Yu to keep the score down.
Every team battles injuries, and if you compare overall salaries of those who played…SD should have won the series, on paper. But they didn’t. They split a series w a team most feel will lose 100 games.
Still, first series of the year, no big. But save the excuses for when you really need them.
Sideline – try reading. I said “no excuses”. I was merely stating facts.
Except you didn’t write “no excuses” and offered up several excuses. What are you even talking about?
For real, pitch Yu and Joe vs their 1+2 then Snell and Martinez would probably have been .uch better off vs their 3+4
Though Lugo and Wacha looked amazing imho
Every Colorado pitcher in his right mind is going to deal with anxiety.
A mental health joke in one comment section following a baseless steroid accusation in the previous post? You’re on quite a roll.
I may be wrong, but didn’t he suffer from anxiety well before his time in Colorado?
Plz don’t minimize mental health issues…my goodness, with these mass killings due to mental health issues you’d hope people would take it a but more seriously.
Pitcher develops anxiety at the thought of pitching in Colorado.
Hitter regrets getting more money and paying less in taxes.
Playing for the Rockies sounds sad.
Reminds me of Mike Trout saying the WBC reminded him of travel ball games because the playoff like atmosphere. That guy has been in the league for over a decade and still thinks youth travel ball games are some of the biggest games he’s played in.
Good thing Arte is saving money by not sending his TV analysts on away games this year.
Rockies players (with the notable exception of a certain third baseman) famously and sometimes infamously LOVE being in Denver and frequently ask to stay when they could sign elsewhere. Drives the serious fanbase crazy at times.
Why does that drive the serious fanbase crazy?
The reason I am a Rockies fan is because they tend to value the person in the uniform above the uniform itself. I don’t like to root for laundry, even though that really is what we fans of a team really are doing. The Rockies ownership is sometimes loyal to a fault. Keeping guys until they lose all trade value instead of moving them at their peak even when they have top prospects ready to replace them.
The most infamous example in my mind being the Rockies keeping both at the time MVP candidate 3B Garrett Atkins and top 5 prospect in baseball 3B Ian Stewart in 2008. They ended up keeping both and basically ruined them both by splitting time instead of moving one and letting the other have a legit run at the position. They ended up getting nothing for Atkins and got extremely lucky getting DJ LeMahieu for a busted Ian Stewart.
Yes and how has that worked out for them?
They make a lot of money and have a lot of fans…so pretty well it seems.
Calling Garrett Atkins an MVP candidate is a stretch. Dude had a great run, but he only received votes one year (2006) and finished 15th. Likewise, three Rockies earned votes in 2007 (Holliday, Tulo, Hawpe) and only Holiday in 2008.
Rockies did, however, have four players get MVP votes in 2009!
And how about their record and the state of their farm system?
Maybe, but I think people forget just how good Atkins was for a couple of years. Either way, he was still a star at the time and could have brought back a nice return in a trade.
Who cares? That changes every year. As long as they have loyal fans, that’s all that matters. But since you asked so nicely about the farm, they have 4 top 100 prospects. So could be worse.
Well you claim to be a Rockies fan so you sure should care.
Could also be better. And would be if they didn’t let players like Trevor Story and Jon Gray walk for bo diddley squat.
Who are you to tell me what I should or should not care about? I love my Rockies whether they win 65 games or 90 games. I have been since day one, with about a 5 year hiatus due to hating baseball and everything about it from August 1994 – summer 1998 (main reason McGwire and Sosa deserve to be in the HOF) due to the work stoppage. I have been there for the great years and the extremely poor years. I do far more than CLAIM to be a fan.
As far as Story and Gray go, the trade returns from that deadline were extremely weak. So the Rockies didn’t pick up 2-4 rookie league lottery tickets. People act like they could have gotten top prospects or something. . And they got Sterlin Thompson (pick #31 in 2022) for Trevor Story who is likely a better prospect than they would have gotten in trade.
Atkins was never even an All Star. He got some slight down ballot love for MVP in one voting, but nothing of consequence. Ian Stewart was always a low contact hitter with a little pop in his bat. Maybe they were reveled by Rockies fans, but neither were viewed as stars across MLB.
I feel like most people want their team to succeed, whether at the major league level, or if the team is rebuilding, then in terms of building a strong farm system. They might not stop supporting the team if they don’t do that but they still want it to happen.
The Rockies lost Gray for nothing. Literally ANYTHING would have been better than that. They didn’t NEED to get back top prospects for Gray to make trading him worth it. As for Sterlin Thompson, he is ranked #8 in the Rockies’ farm system. There is a decent chance that he contributes down the road but in 1000 simulations the player(s) they could have traded Story for contribute more than Thompson well over 500 times.
And let’s not forget Bud Black’s ridiculous “Range Rover” comments when asked why the Rockies didn’t trade Daniel Bard last summer.
“There is a decent chance that he contributes down the road but in 1000 simulations the player(s) they could have traded Story for contribute more than Thompson well over 500 times.”
That is just some world class BS.
Atkinswas never an AS, but he was All Star caliber. You can’t judge players on teams like the Rockies because they didn’t have as many fans stuffing the ballot boxes as other teams. Routinely they would just get 1 All Star. Larry Walker is a HOFer and he only made the AS team 5 times, and only 4 of those with the Rockies. Todd Helton also only made it 5 times.
Yes, Ian Stewart was a bust and in no way is he reveled by Rockies fans. But I am talking about him as a prospect. He was a top 5 prospect in all of baseball. He could have been traded for a superstar easily.
I mean, it isn’t. But why did you completely ignore the part about them letting Jon Gray walk for absolutely nothing and the part about Bud Black’s preposterous “Range Rover” comments?
Again. A literal used jock strap would have been better than letting Gray walk for nothing.
They thought Gray would resign. Maybe a bit naive, but not the worst thing ever. You can get hundreds of minor league free agents in the offseason. The “prospects” that were traded at the 21 deadline were not top 100 guys. Most of them weren’t even top 30 team guys.. They were lottery tickets. I just don’t get why people latch onto that. I don’t think you were going to get a young Jeff Bagwell for Jon Gray. I mean, it’s Jon Gray. He’s a decent starter, but it’s not like you were going to get much for him.
Once again, the Rockies didn’t have to get Jeff Bagwell for Jon Gray to make trading him worth it. They didn’t even have to get a top 30 team guy to make trading Jon Gray worth it. Something will always be better than nothing. If they traded Gray, the prospect(s) received basically would have to have pulled a Felipe Vazquez for the Rockies to lose the trade.
And trading Gray doesn’t mean they can’t re-sign him if they want to. The Yankees did it with Aroldis Chapman. The Cubs did it with Jason Hammel. The Mets did it with Jeurys Familia. The Braves did it with Jim Johnson. Etc.
So saying “They didn’t trade Gray because they thought he would re-sign…” That doesn’t really track.
@Hiflew so u want to fault a team for a prospect that did not pan out and a team hing on to? U better expand that list to everyone single MLB team. As for Atkins, now it’s going from MVP contender to All Star caliber??….
Bard had anxiety issues long before he pitched for Colorado. Turning this into a joke about pitchers having to throw the ball in the thin atmosphere of Denver is a pretty bad take.
Thank you.
@seam
Yeah playing in Denver is awesome playing for the Rockies not so much.
@gbs42
Take your virtue signaling somewhere else
This is the internet and if you’re so thin skinned you have bigger issues in life
I was going to make a snarky comment about their TV guys but, nevermind.
Anxiety/depression is a real issue for MLB guys. The problem is up until recently there was a giant stigma about it.
Think of Dontrelle Willis. He was a dominant pitcher and then he was basically taken out by anxiety/depression.
Go further back, Donnie Moore soo filled with grief, depression/anxiety he kills himself.
Those are just two cases. The old, some people are just built to play in front of giant stadium crowds and some aren’t…I don’t think plays anymore because of the fact, that mental health issues are being addressed, treated and people/players aren’t looked at as weak if they admit they need help if they’re struggling with one.
Yeah anxiety is a real issue and humor is an acceptable way to deal with an issue we all experience. You guys aren’t the joke police. If you didn’t like the joke move on and stop being offended by internet strangers.
Bro, by no means at all am I trying to being a joke stopper!
I love good takes at anyone’s expense, believe me. I was just highlighting mental health. Probably the wrong spot to do it.
I’m a giant ish talker and I highly encourage it!
I’ll say it again. Profar worst free agent signing of 2022-2023 off-season. I guess his Mom told him to opt out.
No one year deal is even a bad one, let alone worst.
Ok
He will be flipped for prospects at the trade deadline if he performs well. Otherwise he’ll just be DFA’d or something. Profar isn’t a star, but he’s not a terrible player.
I’m just saying he’s the worst free agent signing of the offseason. That’s all.
On a 1 year deal when teams are handing out 13 year deals? Odd take.
You are complicating this. I meant overall. That’s all. I’ll stop there since you are struggling.
No, overall, he’s far from the worse. It’s one year. No matter how he plays, it’s over and done. He’s not expensive and offers some versatility. There isn’t one negative in this deal.
Ok
I think you are struggling.
It’s a one-year deal, not 11. Rodon looks to be the worst.
Ok.
Just what you want to hear from your signing ; I wish I’d stayed with my other team
Exactly.
Guaranteed Boras pushed Profar to opt out. What an epically bad decision that was. Profars comments say it all.
Perfect example of the player needing to tell the agent what is most important to the player and making his own decisions. Yeah, he signed the opt out paperwork but I think we all y this was such a Borass move. Wasn’t he Conforto’s agent too?
So it’s Boras’s fault that Conforto got hurt in the weight room, in the offseason, and after the decision to opt out was locked in months prior?
How was it a bad decision when he made an extra $1.25m plus easily obtainable incentives?
His Padre contract also had a mutual 10M for 24. He lost out on the option.
Mutual option means it wasn’t guaranteed. He lost out on nothing.
When are mutual options ever exercised by both sides?
Well Jason Giambi and the Rockies did it 11 years ago.
@justme789- he has to play for the Rockies, that’s how it’s a bad decision.
The player is always responsible for saying yes or no.
Joe – ultimately yes, and he said so. However the agent is supposed to give advice for the benefit of his client and non-monetary reasons should be part of the advice – Borass sees his client as an opportunity to further his legacy when he gets a new contract signed. No one ever seems to care when the client isn’t happy.
Come talk to me when an agent gets a cut of his client’s “happiness.”
Yawwwwnnn. An agent told a player he could earn more money in free agency. Agent got more money for said player.
Google what an agent is supposed to do for his principal. I’ll wait.
And it’s Boras*. Grow up and show some respect for the best agent in the game
lol your kidding right? Boras is a great example of what’s wrong with baseball.
Boras has done some shady, bordering on illegal stuff (like the Carter Stewart grievance) but he is without a doubt the best agent in baseball.
What a terrible debut for Profar on his new team. .000/.250/.000
I had a baseball anxiety problem in high school because….I SUCKED.
Bard didn’t look right in the WBC. Was horrible against Venezuela.
I wondered how he’d mentally handle accidentally drilling Altuve on top of melting down on a big stage.
Standing alone on a mound in front of a stadium full of people isn’t for everyone. Probably not for most folks.
Good ‘ole Boras got him to opt-out and now he is bitter. it’s called Greed my friend, eat up bud.