Ryan McMahon should have been available at last summer's deadline. The Rockies third baseman got out to a strong start to the 2024 season. He raked in April and continued to hit well through the end of May. His production began to tail off in June, but he carried a solid .272/.350/.447 batting line into his first career All-Star Game. His exit velocities were up, and he was making contact a little more frequently, at least early in the season.
Some of McMahon's early-season results were driven by unsustainable batted ball numbers. He had a .355 average on balls in play through the first two months. Teams wouldn't have expected hits to keep falling at quite that rate, yet even slightly above-average offense would be sufficient when paired with a plus glove. The trade market was light on infield talent. McMahon would have been an attractive target for contenders. The Yankees and Blue Jays were among the teams that reportedly expressed interest.
The Rockies never seemed to consider moving him. Jon Morosi of the MLB Network reported as early as May 29 that McMahon was "highly unlikely" to be available. Three weeks later, Patrick Saunders of The Denver Post confirmed there was essentially no chance of a trade. Saunders wrote that the front office was keen on a left side infield tandem of McMahon and newly-extended shortstop Ezequiel Tovar. Perhaps more significantly, he reported that McMahon was a favorite player of Rox owner Dick Monfort.
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Known smart franchise the Colorado Rockies.
They extended Tovar, Freeland, Senzatela, and Marquez. Signed Bryant and kept Charlie Blackmon as a starter 5 years too long. Haven’t drafted well in the first round in over a decade. I’d be more surprised if they made a good move.
Pitchers will always struggle there it doesn’t matter if drafted, traded, or free agent. And hitters will consistently struggle away from coors with the altitude adjustments and how balls break differently compared to at home.
I can’t recall a single pitcher they drafted/developed that ended up thriving once leaving Colorado. Ubaldo is best pitcher in franchise history and that was 3 good years. It seems more like they are content just having inning fillers while always having the altitude of Coors as the excuse. They can’t develop pitching, it’s not like they have aces in the minors that flip a switch when hitting the majors and are bad. They are terrible with identifying and developing talent at all levels.
Jon Gray didn’t exactly thrive but he became a viable middle-rotation starter
@kev. Gray was drafted 12 years ago. I’ll give you they drafted a #4 that stayed a #4 when healthy. But he was better in Colorado. Which kind of pokes holes in the altitude argument.
I actually think they’ve been doing a decent job drafting lately. Condon is off to bad start, but it’s way too early to tell. Dollander was a good pick (what happens to pitchers in Denver is a different matter), as were Veen, Toglia, and Beck. No stars have emerged from these picks yet, but they still have a chance.
The team is awful, but I would be semi-optimistic about its future on offense. And then go hire a wizard to solve the pitching woes.
You’re much more optimistic than I am. Veen, Toglia, and Beck don’t look good to me. Also, why are they rushing Veen and beck?
Seems more like a PR thing. Bringing them up after Doyle broke out and Tovar extended? Another excuse for a dismal team. They can just point to a youth movement while not having an actual plan.
Of course the Rockies are building a team around a guy with a lifetime OPS+ of 90.
Rockies clearly have the worst front office in baseball.
“Worst front office”…It’s mostly ownership. It’s just like the LA Angels; you don’t stay bad as long as these 2 teams have without having extremely bad, meddling owners and a very bad business plan and history of developing players.
As a Pirates fan I feel slighted!
If you are a Pirates fan, the front of your user name might be different, “phillyjake”.
Rockies ownership tried making the R&D head fold towels during covid to save some money. With meddlesome ownership like the Monforts, there is no way to know how good or bad their front office is
I’ve known execs like this, and they routinely wreck companies by chasing off anyone who has any sort of choice in where they work.
While I dont think it will happen i would be be shocked to see the Rockies lose 125 to 130 games. They probably “only” lose 110.
Why would teams trade for a guy has a career 87 wRC+? They can just call up one of their farm hands to provide that type of production. Guy belongs in the minors right now.
Well they wouldn’t have gotten a haul but he is a very good defender. And for a defense first player he has decent power tho it’s hard to judge how that would translate given the poor road numbers. But since he has limited value and the fans have little to keep them invested (they are a solid fanbase) one could argue they should have kept him. We can say what we want about Blackman but his presence at least kept the fans a little invested (via nostalgia). It’s sad when that’s all you have to offer a fanbase.
why would a team trade for a guy with an above league average WAR in 4 consecutive seasons?
Thats your question?
Why would a team want to trade for an above average player?
You dont know why? You cant figure that out?
Crazy self report. I would never expose myself like that.
A good defensive 3B putting up an 87 wrc+ is a productive player.
Isn’t that more like a mediocre 3rd baseman everybody has on their AAA squad? Granted he looks like a star in comparison to the Rockies other players, but I don’t see him as “productive”. If you don’t look a lot better than average at Coors, you’re not very interesting.
No, 100 wrc+ is an average amount of runs created for all mlb players, not “replacement level” which is what you seem to think. Wrc+ is also only looking at how a player contributes on the offensive side.
A slightly below average(not below replacement level) player offensively playing high level 3rd base defense is much better than your run of the mill AAAA player.
His WAR ranks 11th in all MLB among 2024 3Bs– tied w/Nolan Arenado and just a little below Isaac Paredes.
the lack of trade deadline activity is proof that this organization does not even try. not that this is news to anyone, just stating the obvious.
The Colorado Rockheads.
Rockies have been a team that couldn’t develop pitchers yet hitters would go wild there, but now, no one is swinging the bat either. They keep their “talent” around, for better or worse, but the starters they signed are bad.
Get a president to run things or sell the team Monfort, you are good at trucking, not baseball.
Rockies fans have learned to appreciate when they have someone who comes close to playing like a major leaguer.. This is a dumb article. Why would they trade McMahon? What are they going to get? He’s great in the field, and once in awhile he hits a prodigious HR. He’s not going to hit better somewhere else. He has not hit for average ever, home or road. He’s more valuable holding down the hot corner here than anything they could get in return.
In the 4 games since last post, Rockies have allowed double figures in 4 games (including 21 yesterday). Their W/L pace is headed deep into almost unfathomable territory if maintained for 162. No trades, no moves, maybe some recycling. Owner loyalty is publicized but perhaps as cover for meddling incompetence. The GM, Manager, Team President all need fired. Have a job fair for coaches too. You could not do worse if doing worse was the goal.
The entire organization (loose term) need complete overhaul.