Rockies Rumors

Rockies Acquire Drew Butera

By Steve Adams | August 31, 2018 at 12:02pm CDT

The Rockies announced Friday that they’ve acquired veteran catcher Drew Butera and cash from the Royals in exchange for minor league left-hander Jerry Vasto.

Butera, 35, has been the primary backup to Kansas City mainstay Salvador Perez for the past three seasons and will bring nine years of MLB experience to the Rockies’ roster. He’s hitting .188/.259/.289 through 166 plate appearances this season and is a lifetime .201/.258/.298 batter between the Royals, Angels, Dodgers and Twins.

While he’s clearly never been much of a threat with the bat, Butera has a strong defensive reputation, even if his performance in 2018 has been more questionable in that regard. He’s prevented 30 percent of stolen-base attempts against him in his career but has seen that number plummet to 13 percent in 2018. He’s been a quality pitch-framer in the past as well, but Baseball Prospectus grades his efforts in that regard to be below average this season.

Butera inked a two-year, $3.8MM contract with the Royals prior to the 2017 season and will be a free agent following the current campaign. He’s earning $2.3MM this year and is still owed about $381K of that sum through the end of the year. He becomes the latest backup catcher to swap hands in the past 48 hours, as each of Rene Rivera, Chris Stewart, Bobby Wilson and Chris Gimenez have also changed hands with teams looking to add veteran catching help in advance of expanded September rosters.

Vasto, 26, made his MLB debut with the Rockies earlier this year but appeared in just one game and tossed only two-thirds of an inning. He was hit hard in his first season of Triple-A duty in 2017 but has turned in considerably more promising results in 2018: a 3.16 ERA, 10.7 K/9, 4.4 BB/9, 0.73 HR/9 and a 43.5 percent ground-ball rate in 37 innings. He’ll give the Royals a controllable left-handed option for their bullpen. Because his contract was only selected this season, he comes with the added bonus of having multiple minor league options remaining beyond the 2018 campaign.

Quick Hits: Donaldson, Holliday, Rangers, Perez, Cubs, Hamels

By Connor Byrne | August 25, 2018 at 10:25pm CDT

Injured Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson will be eligible to go on August trade waivers if he embarks on a rehab assignment, but “it appears unlikely” that’s going to happen, Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet tweets. Donaldson has been out since the end of May with a calf strain, which has stopped the out-of-contention Blue Jays from dealing him as he closes in on free agency. If Toronto’s unable to trade Donaldson this month, it’ll have to keep him through season’s end and then decide before the market opens whether to issue the soon-to-be 33-year-old a qualifying offer (worth $17.4MM last winter). Donaldson was among the majors’ best players as recently as last year, which suggests the Blue Jays will tender him a QO, though multiple DL stints this season have limited him to 36 games and an unspectacular .234/.333/.423 line in 159 plate appearances.

Quick Hits: Allen, Holliday, Cease

By Kyle Downing | August 25, 2018 at 10:48am CDT

Last night, Indians reliever Cody Allen’s year-long struggles continued as he blew a save against the cellar-dwelling Royals. Allen’s latest collapse on the mound, during which he gave up back-to-back homers to a pair of rookies, prompted Paul Hoynes of the Plain Dealer to address whether or not the newly-acquired Brad Hand ought to be given the full-time closer job. While Hoynes does more spitballing than actual answering of the question, he does quote manager Terry Francona at one point, who says that “I’ll sit down and talk to him again because we need him. We can’t run from Cody. We need him really bad to win. So we’ll visit a little bit.” From my perspective, Allen may not only be pitching himself out of his “closer” job, but also out of a potential qualifying offer at season’s end, which he seemed a near lock to warrant at the outset of the 2018 season. That’d be bad news for a small-market Cleveland ballclub that would surely like to be rewarded for his departure with a compensatory draft pick.

A couple of items from elsewhere around the league…

38-year-old Matt Holliday’s return to the Rockies became official last night, as he played left field against the Padres last night. After lingering on the free agent market all last winter in hopes of securing a major-league contract, Holliday recently joined the Rockies on a minor league pact and demolished Triple-A pitching en route to a call-up to help the MLB club, as Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post details in his latest piece. “I’m here to help the team in any way possible,” Holliday said of his return to the majors. “I’m just here to be part of the team and do everything I can to impact the team, as best I can.” The seven-time All-Star feels as though he’s in excellent shape, in part thanks to his tune-up in the minors. For his part, manager Bud Black is happy to have both Holliday’s playing ability and leadership in the fold as the team pushes for a playoff berth.
The White Sox have opted to shut down one of their top pitching prospects for the season, James Fegan of The Athletic reports via Twitter. However, the decision isn’t related to any sort of injury. Rather, Dylan Cease has simply reached an innings threshold that the organization doesn’t wish to push him past. The 22-year-old right-hander has tossed 124 innings combined between Chicago’s High-A and Double-A affiliates, which exceeds his career high workload by about 30. Cease hasn’t faced much resistance in his ascension, posting a 1.72 ERA with Double-A Birmingham this season while racking up a whopping 78 strikeouts in just 52 1/3 innings pitched.

Rockies Select Contract Of Matt Holliday

By Steve Adams | August 23, 2018 at 11:54am CDT

11:54am: The Rockies have formally announced the move. Infielder Garrett Hampson was optioned to Triple-A to open a spot on the active roster.

9:16am: Matt Holliday looks to be on the verge of donning a Rockies uniform for the first time since 2008. Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post (via Twitter) that Holliday, who signed a minor league contract with the organization earlier this month, will have his contract selected today and could be at Coors Field for today’s game.

When Holliday went unsigned this past offseason at the age of 38, many wondered whether that might be the end of an excellent 14-year big league career. But the veteran slugger told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch back in April that he hoped to continue his playing career, and his original organization has given him the opportunity to do so.

Holliday has made the most of his opportunity in Triple-A Albuquerque, where he’s absolutely clobbered minor league pitching through a small sample of 15 games and 62 plate appearances. In that brief trial run, Holliday has batted .346/.452/.596 with three homers and four doubles. He’s also drawn nine walks against nine strikeouts in his return to professional ball.

The Rockies cleared a spot on the 40-man roster yesterday when Double-A catcher Chris Rabago was claimed on outright waivers by the Yankees. Presumably, that spot will go to Holliday, who’ll give the Rockies an additional option in the outfield corners and at first base. A corresponding 25-man move will still need to be made.

Holliday spent the 2017 season with the Yankees and served as the team’s primary designated hitter for much of the season, batting .231/.316/.432 with 19 home runs and 18 doubles in 427 plate appearances during his lone season in the Bronx. In total, he’s a career .299/.378/.511 hitter with 314 home runs through 7916 plate appearances between the Rockies, Athletics, Cardinals and Yankees.

Yankees Place Aroldis Chapman On DL, Claim Chris Rabago From Rockies

By Steve Adams | August 22, 2018 at 3:56pm CDT

The Yankees announced that they’ve placed closer Aroldis Chapman on the 10-day disabled list with inflammation in his left knee and recalled righty Chance Adams from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The Yankees also claimed minor league catcher Chris Rabago off waivers from the Rockies and optioned him to Double-A Trenton.

Chapman exited last night’s game with a trainer after throwing his sixth pitch. He’d been displaying diminished velocity prior to that, sitting at about 96 mph with his heater. He’s headed to see a doctor on Friday, tweets Bryan Hoch of MLB.com, though the hope is that he’ll only require a minimal 10-day stint on the shelf. With Chapman sidelined, the Yankees will likely to turn to either Zach Britton or David Robertson to finish off games in save situations, though manager Aaron Boone has not yet tipped his hand as to who’ll be his primary stopper.

As for Rabago, he’ll join the Yankees organization after struggling through a down season in Double-A this year. A 13th-round selection by the Rockies back in 2014, Rabago played his way onto the 40-man roster when he batted .272/.350/.393 through 358 plate appearances in Class-A Advanced last season. In 2018, however, he’s managed just a .213/.292/.361 slash through 229 plate appearances. Rabago, who turned 25 back in April, has thrown out 34 percent of would-be base thieves in his minor league career.

NL Notes: Panik, Shildt, Holliday

By Connor Byrne | August 18, 2018 at 9:34pm CDT

The latest from the National League…

With Giants second baseman Joe Panik losing his grip on an everyday role, he may be in his last season with the club, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle observes. Panik will earn approximately $5MM in arbitration next year (his penultimate season of team control), estimates Schulman, who writes that the team could either trade or non-tender him over the winter. A Giant since they selected him 29th overall in 2011, Panik isn’t worried about his future, but he may need a strong finish this year to continue with the club. “I do understand the business side of it,” Panik said. “At the same time, “I haven’t even thought that far, and you really can’t, honestly. If you’re thinking that far ahead, you’re not going to be able to take care of business today.” Although Panik has been a solid major leaguer since debuting in 2014, the 27-year-old has hit an unappealing .242/.303/.347 (78 wRC+) in 262 plate appearances this season.
It’s unknown whether Cardinals interim manager Mike Shildt will return as the team’s full-time skipper in 2019, but he has earned a fan in chairman Bill Dewitt Jr. since taking over the fired Mike Matheny on July 14. “He’s done everything that we could possibly ask for,” DeWitt said (via Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch). “I think he communicates with his staff, communicates well with players, has a good baseball-mind. Strategically — hard to criticize what he’s done. He’s a very good manager. Has been coming up through the ranks. Just a very solid baseball man.” It’s difficult to quantify the performance of a manager, but it’s nonetheless worth noting that the Shildt-led Cardinals have rallied to post a 21-10 mark and now find themselves in possession of the NL’s second wild-card spot.
Rockies veteran first baseman/outfielder Matt Holliday, 38, is making a case for a promotion to the majors, Thomas Harding of MLB.com writes. Holliday, who sat on the unemployment line until Colorado signed him to a minor league deal on July 28, has slashed a tremendous .370/.473/.652 in 55 PAs with its top minors affiliate in Albuquerque. Rockies manager Bud Black has taken notice, saying: “He’s checking off some boxes. The thing that we’re happy about is the physical side. Mentally, Matt’s been a longtime player. You get back up to speed real quick. That didn’t take long, I’m sure. But the confidence that when he faces all sorts of pitching — there’s a difference between big league pitching and minor league pitching, but he’s been able to face a lot of different styles of pitching in Triple-A — will continue to get him closer to coming to us.” If the Rockies were to promote Holliday, he’d be in line for his second stint as a member of the club, with which he began his career and thrived from 2004-08.

Blue Jays, Rockies Complete Seunghwan Oh Trade

By Jeff Todd | August 14, 2018 at 7:47am CDT

The Blue Jays have acquired young righty Bryan Baker from the Rockies, according to Robert Murray of The Athletic (via Twitter). Baker represents the player to be named later from the pre-deadline deal that sent reliever Seunghwan Oh to Colorado, Jon Heyman of Fancred tweets.

That swap has already paid dividends for the Rox, who have received 8 2/3 innings of 2.08 ERA ball from Oh. On the other side, the Jays had already welcomed youngsters Chad Spanberger and Forrest Wall into their system under the pact.

Baker becomes the third and final piece of the trade. Now 23, he came to the professional ranks as an 11th-round pick in the 2016 draft. Baker has worked as a reliever for the past two seasons, so it seems likely he’ll be developed as a potential future bullpen asset.

Though he showed quite well in 2017, Baker has had some struggles this season. He has allowed a palatable tally of 19 earned runs through 45 innings, and compiled a healthy 11.6 K/9, but has seen a whopping 17 unearned runs cross the plate as well. There are obviously a variety contributing factors to that, but one of them is surely the fact that he’s exhibiting newfound command issues (6.8 BB/9).

Orioles, Brewers, Discussing Jonathan Schoop

By Steve Adams | July 31, 2018 at 12:30pm CDT

2:54pm: Talks between the O’s and Brewers are “very serious,” per ESPN’s Buster Olney. Rosenthal tweets that the two sides are close to a deal.

2:40pm: In addition to an agreed-upon trade sending Gausman to the Braves, the Orioles are discussing Schoop with the Brewers, tweets Rosenthal.

2:16pm: The Braves have been in contact with the Orioles regarding Gausman, tweets Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. Heyman tweets that Atlanta has been “working hard” to add a controllable starter.

1:49pm: Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun reports that the Orioles are discussing a trade of second baseman Jonathan Schoop and, potentially, Gausman (Twitter link).

1:40pm: Dan Connolly of The Athletic tweets that the Orioles and the other team involved in the deal are reviewing medical reports. Jones is not being traded in the deal, he adds.

1:28pm: Fancred’s Jon Heyman tweets that teams are “getting serious” with their offers on Gausman. He lists the Rockies, Braves and Brewers as teams in the mix. Crasnick tweets, meanwhile, that the Pirates are “out” on Gausman.

1:10pm: The Orioles are “closing in” on yet another deal with just under two hours until the non-waiver trade deadline, tweets ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick.

It’s not clear from the report who’ll be changing hands, though the O’s have already moved their biggest rental chips in the form of Manny Machado, Zach Britton and Brad Brach. Adam Jones reportedly isn’t interested in waiving his 10-and-5 rights to approve a deal, which makes it tough to envision that he’s changing hands here.

Meanwhile, previous reports have suggested that the Orioles have not yet had their asking prices met on more controllable pieces like Kevin Gausman, Dylan Bundy or Mychal Givens. Speculating a bit, though, veteran infielder/outfielder Danny Valencia would be one rental piece that the O’s could conceivably deal to a contender in need of a righty bat off the bench.

Cardinals Open To Offers On Bud Norris, Jose Martinez

By Steve Adams | July 30, 2018 at 9:57am CDT

The Cardinals are receiving trade inquiries into closer Bud Norris, reports Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, with the Rockies and Red Sox among the teams that have shown interest to this point. In a second column, Goold adds that the club is “open to discussing offers” for both Norris and first baseman/outfielder Jose Martinez.

The Red Sox have been tied to countless relievers of late, it seems, and Jim Bowden of MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM tweets that they, along with the Phillies, Astros and Mariners, are “in” (to varying extents, of course) on practically every bullpen arm that is available on the market at this point.

Norris wasn’t supposed to be the Cardinals’ top bullpen addition of the offseason — far from it — but that’s unequivocally how things have played out. While the Cardinals gave Greg Holland a one-year, $14MM contract to serve as their closer and also signed Luke Gregerson to a two-year, $11MM deal, Norris and his one-year, $3MM deal have been the lone bullpen signing to pay dividends. Holland was released on Friday amid a seismic shakeup of the St. Louis pitching staff, while Gregerson been plagued by injuries all season and owns a 7.11 ERA through just 12 2/3 innings thanks to multiple DL stints.

Norris, meanwhile, stepped up and seized the ninth-inning gig from Holland and Dominic Leone (another offseason ’pen addition who has yet to pan out). Through 43 innings, the 33-year-old Norris boasts a 3.14 ERA with 11.7 K/9, 1.7 BB/9, 1.05 HR/9 and a 41 percent ground-ball rate. His fastball and sinker are both averaging nearly 95 mph, the best of his career, and Norris’ ridiculous 38.3 percent chase rate (that is, out-of-zone pitches that have induced a swing from opponents) ranks seventh among 158 qualified relievers.

Earlier this month, Norris spoke to the Post-Dispatch’s Rick Hummel about his hopes to sign a long-term deal to remain with the Cardinals, though his affordable salary and excellent results could make him as appealing a trade candidate as they do an extension candidate for the St. Louis front office. As it stands, he’ll be a free agent at the end of the season and is still owed $1MM of his $3MM salary, making him affordable for any team in search of a upgrade.

As for Martinez, there’s little question about the late-blooming 30-year-old’s ability to produce at the plate. He’s mashed at a .304/.371/.487 pace since making his Major League debut in 2016, and his current .294/.359/.461 output is considerably better than that of a league-average bat (23 to 24 percent better, when adjusting for park and league, per OPS+ and wRC+). Martinez’s power is down a bit from 2017, but he’s still walking at a solid 8.9 percent clip and has improved his strikeout rate, which sits at just 16 percent. He can be controlled through the 2022 season and won’t even be eligible for arbitration until after the 2019 season.

While all of that is decidedly positive, Martinez’ glovework is on the opposite end of the spectrum. President of baseball operations John Mozeliak candidly acknowledged earlier this month that Martinez’s defensive shortcomings at first base were “putting a lot of stress on everyone,” and the team has since shifted him into a part-time role and given him more time in the outfield recently. Martinez, though, has played 328 innings in the outfield and turned in dismal defensive marks (-8 Defensive Runs Saved, -5 Ultimate Zone Rating). He hasn’t fared any better at first base, though, and there’s been speculation that he could ultimately land on an American League club where his bat would be better serve in a DH capacity.

Rockies To Sign Matt Holliday To Minor-League Deal

By Kyle Downing | July 28, 2018 at 4:15pm CDT

The Rockies have reached an agreement with Matt Holliday on a minor-league pact. Thomas Harding of MLB.com was first to report that a deal was a “distinct possibility”, while Jon Heyman of Fancred later tweeted that Holliday was going to sign the deal.

The 38-year-old veteran certainly has had a storied career, first coming up with the Rockies (and making it the World Series with them in 2007), and also playing with the Cardinals during some of their best seasons in recent memory. All told, the outfielder owns a .299/.378/.511 batting line across 14 major league seasons.

It’d be unreasonable to expect any semblance of that production this season, of course, and in fact it remains to be seen whether or not the veteran has anything left in the tank. He’s a particularly curious fit in the National League, where his outfield defense will be exposed since the Rockies won’t have the luxury of deploying him as a DH. Then again, it’s entirely possible that he’ll simply be used mostly as an extra right-handed bat off the bench.

Although his 2017 season with the Yankees was unspectacular, his .231/.316/.432 slash to go along with 19 homers in 427 plate appearances netted him a 98 wRC+, or just a tick below league average. If he’s able to replicate that alone, he could certainly be a useful weapon. But the most interesting element of his recent performance is a .267/.366/.477 slash against southpaws. That could make him a great asset in pinch-hit situations late in games, or even a viable starter against the many intimidating left-handers in division-rival rotations.

Despite interesting upside in this or a similar role, Holliday went unsigned throughout the entire offseason (though clearly he wasn’t the only casualty of a slow winter). He told reporters at the end of spring training that he still intended to continue his player career if an opportunity came up, and MLBTR’s Steve Adams noted at the time that it would almost assuredly come in the form of a minor-league deal and some reps at Triple-A, if at all. Holliday will presumably head to Albuquerque for the time being, and be recalled when and if he can get into game shape.

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