Wilin Rosario, Dillon Gee and Justin Morneau are among those in the news from the Rockies' perspective.
Sure enough, after Miguel Montero officially went off the trade market following the Cubs' acquisition of the All-Star catcher in exchange for a pair of minor league pitchers, rumors began to swirl about Rockies backstop Wilin Rosario.
Colorado is engaged in talks with the Rangers about a possible trade involving the 25-year-old slugger, according to Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post (via our story from Tuesday night). It's hard to determine what the Rockies could get in return. Regardless, it wouldn't be anything of huge significance, though a bounce-back candidate such as ground-ball specialist Robbie Ross is a possibility, as we suggested in the linked article.
Here are a couple of other highlights from Day 2 in San Diego:
- The Rockies have talked to the Mets about Dillon Gee, who is expendable because of his status as a mediocre starter in a rotation that is about to be flooded with young, talented hurlers. Gee owns a career ERA+ of 93 to go along with a whole bunch of mediocre peripherals. His one strength, limiting walks (in comparison to the Rockies' existing staff, anyway), is mitigated by his lack of ability to miss bats. When he does have success, it's largely based on luck; Gee posted a 2.92 ERA in his first 10 starts of 2014 due to a .238 BABIP-against. Over his final 12 starts, Gee's ERA approached 5.00, a decline in performance that coincided with a 65-point increase in BABIP.
- Colorado general manager Jeff Bridich has been fielding calls on first baseman Justin Morneau, per Saunders, and one of the interested parties is the Marlins. Miami has plenty of solid young pitching to offer in return for Morneau, and it's an option the Rockies should seriously consider. I find it hard to believe they'll actually entertain the thought of parting with a veteran clubhouse presence of Morneau's ilk, though, and it's a shame given the potential reward.
- Josh Rutledge is drawing interest from the Angels as a utility infielder to replace Gordon Beckham, who is my top comp for Rutledge.
- What else ... oh yeah, Jon Lester finally signed, inking a six-year, $155 million deal with the Cubs. That should get the ball rolling on the rest of the free-agent starting pitchers. What does that mean for the Rockies? You know damn well what it means: likely nothing.