I'm a Wilin Rosario fan. I like his raw athleticism which can be rare in a catcher. I like the potential in his bat, especially the power. I like his attitude and flair. But his time as a Colorado Rockie may be running out.
With the way the Rockies baseball philosophy is functioning lately, Rosario just doesn't fit. The Rockies have a slew of young pitchers and have been preaching more of a contact approach in the last few years. Employing such a strategy theoretically requires a ton of defensive flexibility from your catcher, and that is exactly what Wilin Rosario lacks.
For whatever else we may claim about his game -- he hasn't been hitting well this season but looks like he may be coming around a bit -- Rosario has never been anything more than a below average defensive catcher at best. He has a cannon arm, but is poor at pitch framing, blocking balls in the dirt consistently, and being mindful and aware of defensive situations constantly.
With a staff being trained to put the ball in play, the Rockies would do much better with a catcher adept at calling games, handling young staffs from a baseball IQ perspective, and defensively captaining the team from the most important defensive position on the diamond.
Rosario's bat has kept him in the starting lineup for most of his tenure with this club, but his glove is killing them. Shopping Wilin to an AL team makes all the sense in the world as they could keep him in the lineup with a DH spot and he could also serve as a decent backup catcher to give the starter days off if needed. He just isn't an every-day catcher.
Although Rosario's value may not be that high, considering his main attraction is offense and he is only getting on base at a .286 clip right now, he is still young at 25 years old, and there is reason to believe that either a change of scenery or move away from catcher (or both) could significantly help his production.
Either way, the Rockies aren't getting a huge haul for Rosario but should target any kind of pitching that is in the least bit locked up. A potential 4th or 5th rotation piece would be nice, but even a bullpen arm would be better than nothing.
The Rockies should get what they can for Rosario because (as much as it pains me to say it) he shouldn't be a part of their future plans. I hoped he would figure out how to catch. He hasn't. He is an American League player and the Rockies should get what they can out of him and search desperately for a glove-first catcher either during this trade deadline or the off season.