According to John Perrotto at The Insider On Pittsburgh Sports, the Rockies are interested in Pittsburgh's Freddy Sanchez. The Pirates have been known to be incredibly interested in Eric Young, Jr., and it would seem that some sort of swap of the two would be something in the works.
Sanchez is making $6.1M this season, with a $8M club option for the 2010 season. 2B has been somewhat of an offensive hole for us so far this season, but the benefits that Sanchez would provide are definitely above Clint Barmes' level of production, but his miserable 2008 suggests that he's somewhat of a crapshoot.
Sanchez is listed as a 2.4 WAR player this season, and is posting a .316/.355/.477 batting line this season, with 6HR, 33RBI, and a wOBA of .358.
Barmes has provided 1.6 WAR, most of it based on his fielding numbers, with .282/.324/.482, 10HR, 43RBI, and a .343 wOBA. He's also making $1.625 this season.
It should also be noted that Sanchez is a .858 OPS batter at home, .808 on the road, with about an even split between his plate discipline and power dropping away from PNC, and a miniscule drop in batting average. Barmes is putting up a .906 OPS at home, dropping to a .725 on the road, with a .040 split in his batting average and a massive power outage away from Coors Field. His weak plate discipline is consistent home and away. Young is showing a.331/.433/.459 line in Sky Sox Stadium and a .262/.335/.360 line on the road.
ZIPS projects Barmes to be a .330 wOBA player the rest of the season (read that as a league-average bat) with the defensive skills we're all familiar with, while Sanchez is projected at a .331 wOBA, and while his glove has been positive this season, it would definitely be a dropoff for the rest of the season.
Sanchez is also batting with a .356 BABIP, as compared to a career .329 BABIP, so there's a distinct chance that his batting average will drop, but there's also the infamous Coors Field effect that might boost his production.
The real question mark is if the Rockies really want to give up a guy like Eric Young Jr., a potential fan favorite thanks to EY Sr.'s legacy, who has the speed to bring back a lot of the 1-2 distraction we had in 2007 with Kazuo Matsui and Willy Taveras.
Longterm thinking, I don't feel this is a smart move for the organization, especially if we're boosting payroll that could be used to support pitching instead. While Sanchez might provide a better bat at 2B than Barmes', I feel we'd be taking a potential weapon away from the lineup in EYJ and that Sanchez is just as streaky as Barmes, with less of a glove to support him during the cold spells.
On the flip side, this might be the kind of move that most people have been suggesting (in general): Move some of our prospect depth and get some MLB talent in the lineup. The issue is that while we have "depth" at the middle infield positions, the "real" talent we're expecting in Chris Nelson or Hector Gomez is a couple of years away.
Many here on Purple Row feel that EYJ could be a contributor now, and while he hasn't been explicitly linked to this trade, it's no secret that Pittsburgh wants a 1-2 punch of McCutchen and Young, Jr. at some point.
**UPDATE**
According to Perrotto, it appears that the Rockies are willing to part with Casey Weathers as a part of this trade. Carlos Gonzalez' name has come up as well, but I sincerely hope that we could get more if we were to move Gonzalez.