The Rockies remain in the market for a second baseman, tweets Thomas Harding of MLB.com. Former division rival Thairo Estrada could be a target, Harding adds.
Colorado moved on from Brendan Rodgers at last month’s non-tender deadline. They immediately followed up by signing Kyle Farmer to a $3.25MM free agent contract. Farmer is the projected starter at the keystone for now, but he’s coming off a .214/.293/.353 season. He’s a better fit for a utility job than everyday second base work going into his age-34 season.
The Rox are hoping that 21-year-old Adael Amador will be the long-term answer. Amador played in 10 MLB games this past season while Rodgers was on the injured list. He otherwise spent the year at Double-A Hartford. He had a middling season, hitting .230/.343/.376 across 455 plate appearances. That probably takes him out of Top 100 consideration, but he still ranks as the #6 prospect in the Colorado system at Baseball America.
Amador needs more reps in the upper minors. Colorado will look for stopgaps at the keystone but isn’t likely to make a long-term commitment. This year’s free agent class isn’t conducive to a long-term signing regardless. Gleyber Torres and the rehabbing Ha-Seong Kim headline the class. Options beyond that include Jorge Polanco, old friend Jose Iglesias, Adam Frazier and Cavan Biggio.
Estrada is a rebound candidate among that group. The 28-year-old (29 in February) slumped to a .217/.247/.343 mark over 96 games. San Francisco outrighted him off the 40-man roster late in the season and let him depart in minor league free agency. Estrada was a solid everyday player between 2021-23. He combined for a .266/.320/.416 slash in a little over 1200 plate appearances during that stretch. Estrada is a strong defender, so something close to league average offense makes him a quality regular.
If the Rockies pursued Estrada, he’d be available on either a minor league contract or an MLB deal with a salary close to Farmer’s. He hasn’t reached five years of service time, so he’d remain eligible for arbitration next offseason.
I’ve always liked Torres. He seemed to wear Boone raw, but maybe he can rebound elsewhere. I would sign a 1 with an option and try to ɓ on myself for a rebound year and try again in winter 2025.
I could see Torres in Houston
Rockies have zero chance in the West – any signing is just to have players that can compete enough to win 60 games
Yes, we know that. May they win all 60 when playing your favorite team.
You’ll be surprised when Dollander and Condon lead the Rockies to the playoffs in 26
The Astros need to move payroll.
Maybe they can pry Mauricio Dubon away? Though he’s probably better as a utility guy also.
Moving a guy who makes very little, like Dubon, won’t be of much help.
They can have Cronenworth for very little. He’d probably hit 25-30 hr’s playing half of his games in Colorado.
Nico Hoerner would hit a ton of triples while playing in Colorado. He’d be capable of giving the Rockies offense a new dimension.
But do they have the pitching to trade to the Cubs?
Do people really have no idea how Colorado works? Playing in Colorado doesn’t mean you are going to hit a ton of homers. Do you know what the team records for homers in a single season is for the Rockies? 49. That’s it. No player has EVER hit 50 homers in a season for Colorado. Coors is not that easy to hit homers. You can get a lot of inside the park hits due to the huge OF, but a lot of flyball HRs in other parks are just warning track outs in Coors. Just ask Kris Bryant.
As a Padres fan who watches every game, I’ve seen probably 100 easy fly balls in other stadiums go out in Colorado, and seen many players in the dugout after laughing about the “easy” hr’s they just hit. Your argument is bs.
As a Rockies fan who watches every game, I think I have seen more than another team’s fan that watches 6 games a year there.
Put someone like a prime Nelson Cruz in that park, and he would’ve hit 60.
Nelson Cruz? Really? You think Nelson Cruz is 20% better than every single power hitter that has ever played for the Rockies?
Like who? We don’t know how good Helton would’ve been anywhere else, and Larry Walker was a 25hr guy before going to Colorado. PS-Wonder where Vinny Castilla is now. Go look up his stats.
Congrats on your Austin Nola signing btw.
Vaughn Grissom for an A-ball backup catcher and a bag of York Peppermint Patties?
White Sox have an A ball catcher, we’ll take Vaughn Grissom.
Go get Torres, please. Make sure he’s off my team. Yankees need to see what Durbin, Pereza, Vivas, or Arias can do for them. Torres was definitely not a lead-off hitter, but they kept him there. I would have put Jazz in the lead-off spot. Yankees need to sign Santander, Burnes, and Fried. Let the Mets get Soto. Yankees need a quantity of good players, not just one Soto. If Yankees bring back Soto, I would consider moving Judge to 1B. He’s not a CF moving forward anymore.
@mlb
I often wonder how ppl reach conclusions. Torres was at his best in the leadoff position. He hit .283/.350/.405. That’s probably right behind Judge and Soto in team ranking. He had defensive lapses, base running issues and seemed to rub Boone the wing way. But his bat still plays and he was having an eclectic year but flourished in the 2nd half
I applaud the Rockies for wanting to improve second base. If they can take care of that, all they have to worry about is C, 1B, 3B, LF and RF, the rotation and the bullpen. Easy-peasy!
Rockies will outhit the Rays at every one of those positions in ’25, but ok.
The Rockies should trade for Nolan Gorman. The Cardinals obviously don’t have a plan for him. The Rox should throw in Dollander just to make the deal fun.
I was hoping that they would get Gorman rather than Montero in the Arenado trade, but that didn’t pan out. Gomber may be more valuable to the Rox right now that Arenado
Aaron Shunk
Javier Baez
The Winter Meetings begin Monday. Do we expect heavy trading?
And what about the other 8 positions?