It appears highly unlikely at this point that the Rockies will be parting with de facto ace Jorge De La Rosa. (Editor's note: this was written before Troy Tulowitzki was placed on the DL!)
First, Dick Monfort publicly stated his desire to hold on to the veteran southpaw, who at the time, was the winning pitcher in each of the team's previous three victories. Flawed logic, yes, but it's the logic of the owner of the team, and what he says goes. At any rate, Monfort's words, combined with the Rockies' reported high asking price for De La Rosa, seem like a recipe for keeping the 33-year-old in Denver.
Whether that is the right choice is a different argument entirely. I'm all for the Rockies hanging onto De La Rosa until somebody gets desperate enough to overpay. But by all accounts, that team would really have to overpay; the Rockies have already had talks with the Orioles, who expressed interest in acquiring De La Rosa two weeks ago, but Colorado requested highly touted pitching prospect (and Colorado native) Kevin Gausman in return, according to MLB.com's Britt Ghiroli.
Baltimore balked at the Rockies' demands, which have not lowered much, per Ghiroli, and the Birds are now exploring other options.
De La Rosa, who is a free agent after the end of this season, presents an interesting case for the Rockies, who are always in need of even mediocre pitching. He has Coors Field figured out, posting a 3.49 ERA there this season after dominating to the tune of a 10-1 record and 2.76 ERA while boasting a K/BB ratio of almost 2.5 -- which is basically equivalent to Mariano Rivera in Rockies standards -- in 2013. However, he's simply not all that good on the road -- especially this year, during which he owns a 5.37 ERA in away games. With the Rockies' rumored insistence on configuring their rotation in a manner that would limit each pitcher to no more than one start on any given homestand, De La Rosa's value to the team would reduce dramatically unless they figure out a way to use him in an opposite manner.
If the Orioles don't wind up giving into the Rockies' request for Gausman, it would make sense for other contending teams -- namely the Angels, Pirates and Yankees, just to name a few -- to reach out to Bill Geivett, Dan O'Dowd and company to discuss a potential deal for De La Rosa. If that doesn't happen, the Rockies will make a $14 million qualifying offer to De La Rosa after the season. If he declines, he'll become a free agent and the Rockies will net a draft pick if they don't re-sign him, but it's certainly a possibility that he could accept the offer and remain in purple pinstripes next year.