MLB reserves deadline will cause Rockies roster shakeup

In terms of pure roster turnover, Wednesday might be one of the busiest days of the off-season for the Rockies. After all, Thursday is the MLB reserves deadline, the date on which MLB teams must set their 40 man roster in advance of next month's Rule 5 draft. Per resident roster expert Sage Farron, the master of the invaluable RockiesRoster.com, the day before this deadline is typically the day when most 40 man roster moves are set in motion.

With that in mind, here are a few links to read up on related to the reserves deadline.

MLB Transactions Part Two: The 40-Man Roster and Option Years - Purple Row

First of all, if you're unfamiliar with the machinations of the 40-man roster (officially known as the Major League Reserves List, hence the reserves deadline moniker), the primer I wrote on the 40-man roster back when I first started at Purple Row is linked above. The rules have changed slightly with the new CBA, but it's decent background for the off-season.

MLB Transactions Part Seven: The Rule 5 Draft - Purple Row

Here's the primer from the same series on the Rule 5 Draft, in which every eligible player the Rockies don't have on their 40 man roster will be open season for the plucking. The Rockies had great success in acquiring reliever Tommy Kahnle from the Yankees in this draft last year.

MLB reserves deadline: What to expect from the Rockies - Purple Row

For this year's deadline, please read Bryan's excellent preview of the situation. The above includes all of the minor league players under consideration for protection as well as guesses about who will be shuttled off of the 40 man roster to make room.

My prediction is that the Rockies will protect prospects Tyler Anderson, Ryan Casteel, and Daniel Winkler (all three are PuRPs) while removing Kraig Sitton, Rafael Ynoa, and Yohan Flande from the roster. Charlie Culberson and Chris Rusin are the alternates - and might be candidates to leave the roster if the Rockies see a player they like in the Rule 5 draft.

Los Links!

Trades for Troy Tulowitzki, Carlos Gonzalez slowed by injuries, money - The Denver Post

Patrick Saunders writes that the relatively high salaries and injury histories of Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez make it difficult for Colorado to trade their stars - at least for the kind of value it would take for the Rockies to part with such players. Jeff Bridich has continually downplayed the seriousness of any trade talks involving the two and I have no reason not to believe him.

I do think that Tulo's value is still extremely high around MLB and that the Rockies could get some good value for him. CarGo probably does need to re-establish his value somewhat to return good value in a trade. My position is that Tulo's positional utility combined with his hitting make him the kind of player a struggling team builds around, just like the Mariners and Felix Hernandez or the Miami Marlins with Giancarlo Stanton (more on that below). CarGo is an acceptable trade candidate, though honestly I'd prefer that he shows he can be his old self in 2015 first.

Giancarlo Stanton's back-loaded Marlins contract and opt-out details - SBNation.com

Here's the contract details on Stanton's mega-deal. It's basically a six year, $107 million contract with an opt-out option, then a seven-year, $218 million deal on top of that. Jeffrey Loria is doubtless hoping against hope that Stanton plays well enough in the first half of the deal to opt out of the second half.

Baseball Prospectus | The BP Wayback Machine: Internet Commenters Try to Trade for Giancarlo Stanton

Since Stanton is in the news, BP brought back Ben Lindbergh's 2013 article on internet commenters (like you and I!) proposing wildly lopsided trade proposals for the Marlins slugger. Just know that in some corner of the internet, fans of every MLB team are doing the same for Tulowitzki and CarGo.

Orioles reportedly considering Bud Norris, Ubaldo Jimenez trades - SBNation.com

Hey look, Ubaldo might be available for a song - but the Rockies are understandably not likely to be interested. Bud Norris might be an interesting arm to look at, albeit as just a one year rental.

Bobble, bobble, toil and trouble – The Hardball Times

Frank Jackson writes at length about bobbleheads, providing suggestions of which non-sports historical troublemaker should get a bobblehead from each major league team.