Editor's note: Bryan began writing this article very early on Friday morning. He finished it early Friday afternoon.
Here are some facts about the Colorado Rockies following their dramatic 2-1 victory over the New York Mets on Thursday:
- They're 50-52, which is the best record they've had this late into a season since 2010. They've scored exactly as many runs (519) as they've allowed, a true mark of a .500 team. They're doing all that despite preseason predictions of ongoing doom and gloom.
- Their starting rotation's ERA over the last month is 3.66, behind only the Washington Nationals in the NL.
- As a team (rotation and bullpen), they rank fourth in the majors in road ERA, posting a 3.65 mark away from Coors Field.
- Offensively, they own a collective .237/.296/.380 line away from Coors Field. That .675 OPS is the third-worst road mark in baseball.
- There are a lot of holes on the roster (subpar bench, rickety bullpen, inexperience all over the place) despite the surprising overall performance to this point.
- They drafted Greg Reynolds over Evan Longor--
Complete deal: Cashner, Rea, Guerrero to #Marlins. Cosart, Castillo, Capps, Naylor to #Padres. Deal pending review of medicals.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 29, 2016
Hmmm. OK. That's a good deal for the selling Padres, who have now acquired a couple of top 100 overall prospects within the last couple of weeks in Anderson Espinoza and Josh Naylor plus some other intriguing pieces that could help them win when they wish to start doing so.
Anyway, where was I -- oh, yeah. The Rockies have some holes to fill, but there will surely be players available at the right cost. A high-profile Yankees reliever, for instance, is rumored to be on the block. Andrew Miller has lights-out closer ability and would provide a huge boost to the back-end of the Rockies' bullpen, which has been shaky for most of the season. Miller may not come cheap; he's locked up for a few more seasons and the market has been favorable for sellers, but the Rockies are one of few teams with a system good enough to part with a potential impact player or two and not completely cripple their fut--
/Slack room ping: "Whoa, this can't be true, can it"
Sources who have spoken with #Nats believe they would trade Lucas Giolito to #Yankees for Andrew Miller, straight up.
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) July 29, 2016
Wait. Lucas Giolito is the No. 4 prospect in baseball, according to MLB Pipeline. He owns a 2.74 ERA with nearly 10 strikeouts per nine innings during his minor league career. He's widely viewed as being as close to a sure thing as a starting pitching prospect can get. Andrew Miller, good as he is, pitches for one inning every two or three games. The Nationals want to give up Giolito for him.
I -- I can't in good conscience complete this article. Sell, Rockies. Trade your players on expiring contracts, field reasonable offers for Charlie Blackmon ... whatever. Take advantage. This is crazy.