Andy Lyons
Should the Rockies trade Dexter Fowler to the Reds, Mike Leake would likely be a part of the agreement.
ed. Sorry about the late Rockpile this morning. I'm all out of sorts.
The Phillies, Braves and Nationals all have found their starting center fielders elsewhere, leaving the Rockies with a trade chip and few remaining suitors. The Reds stand as a potential location, and while we are told the Rockies have not exchanged names with Cincinnati, Ken Rosenthal put names to a potential deal today:
Two obvious candidates for the Rockies would be right-hander Mike Leake, who is losing his spot in the Reds' rotation to lefty Aroldis Chapman, and center fielder Drew Stubbs, who would lose his job to Fowler.
In other words, the Rockies would be accepting the pieces the Reds don't want anymore, acquiring a home-run prone soft-tossing starting pitcher and a contact-averse center fielder who is basically Dexter Fowler, but worse at everything but basestealing.
Mike Leake has a 14.6% HR/FB rate in his career, better only than Jason Marquis, Tommy Hunter, and Nick Blackburn.
In Troy Renck's piece this morning, the Rockies' beat writer wrote that Colorado needs to be aggressive in the trade market. I agree they certainly need to be more aggressive than they have been in the past, but while Dexter Fowler may be at his peak trade value, they do not need to accept the best deal they are offered.
After Rosenthal's name plug, Renck echoed those names on twitter.
Posted this late last night: Rockies could move Fowler to Reds for Leake and 2 others. Know Rox would ask for Stubbs - bit.ly/SKtAXy
— Troy Renck (@TroyRenck) December 7, 2012
The Rockies have held firm on wanting monster return for Fowler. Can Reds meet their demands.How about Leake, Stubbs and catching prospect?
— Troy Renck (@TroyRenck) December 7, 2012
Did Renck and Rosenthal land on those names individually? I hope not. That is not the type of deal the Rockies should be looking for in dealing Dexter Fowler.
The Rays could use a center fielder, but at this point, I would be most interested in a Braves deal centered by Julio Teheran or Randall Delgado.
Links
Jeff Francis returns to a Rockies rotation shrouded in mystery, injuries - The Denver Post
MLB winter meetings: Stars still available in buyers' market - The Denver Post
Glenallen Hill named Triple-A manager; Molina, Berg sign
There are 365 Comments. Load Now.
Shortcuts to mastering the comment thread. Use wisely.
C - Next Comment
X - Mark as Read
R - Reply
Z - Mark Read & Next
Shift + C - Previous
Shift + A - Mark All Read
Comment Settings
Live comment alert: Hide it!
Comments for this post are closed.