Yankees have discussed the possibility of trying to trade for Rockies’ Nolan Arenado, report says | CBS Sports
The New York Yankees have reportedly had internal discussions about trading for Colorado Rockies’ third baseman Nolan Arenado, writes Dayn Perry of CBS Sports. With former Rockies’ Troy Tulowitzki, DJ LeMahieu and Adam Ottavino all joining the Yankees this offseason, it would be tough to see Arenado be next. Note that there has been no indication from Rockies’ General Manager Jeff Bridich that the Rockies are interested in trading Arenado, however. The focus from the team seems to be more about locking up their star third baseman to a long-term deal.
The Epistemology of Hitting; or What Constitutes a Fact about Nolan Arenado? | The Hardball Times
Evan Davis of The Hardball Times has reason to believe that Arenado may be a better player than even Rockies’ fans had previously thought.
How the Colorado Rockies bullpen stacks up without Ottavino | BSN Denver
With Ottavino headed to the Yankees, the Rockies are without a key piece of their 2018 bullpen. Drew Creasman of BSN Denver examines the best- and worst-case scenarios for the relievers currently employed by the club (and there are a lot of them to sift through).
Saunders: Rockies better hope Bryan Shaw, Jake McGee rebound with Adam Ottavino gone | The Denver Post ($)
Patrick Saunders of The Denver Post surmises that the Rockies simply didn’t have enough money to go around to sign Ottavino to the three-year, $27 million deal that he signed with the Yankees. Saunders features quotes from Bridich at the Winter Meetings, where he said that the team will be relying on Bryan Shaw, Jake McGee and Chris Rusin to rebound in 2019.
GM Jeff Bridich: Colorado Rockies “haven’t been overly aggressive” for outfielders | Rox Pile
At a town hall meeting at Denver’s Sam’s No. 3 restaurant, Bridich also divulged some information on the Rockies’ pursuit of outfielders— or lack thereof. Bridich said that the team is not being “overly aggressive” in the outfield free agent market. Bridich spoke specificially about Matt Holliday, saying that he “would not be as good of a fit” as he was last season. Rox Pile’s Noah Yingling has more details.
Adam Ottavino is a dominant addition to an already-standout Yankees bullpen | Beyond the Box Score
The Yankees already had a good bullpen before signing Ottavino, with Aroldis Chapman, Zach Britton, Dellin Betances and Chad Green already in the mix. And hey, don’t forget Tommy Kahnle! But in what is expected to be a tightly American League East race with the Boston Red Sox, the potential of 1-2 added wins from Ottavino could be very important, as Devan Fink of Beyond the Box Scores writes.
Alonso leads list of top 10 1B prospects | MLB.com
And to think I was worried about the Rockies’ depth at first base after they traded Chad Spanberger! Among MLB Pipeline’s top 10 first base prospects, two Rockies made the list- Grant Lavigne at No. 8 and Tyler Nevin at No. 9. Lavigne and Nevin were also both among the prospects listed as having the best hit tool among the group by Jim Callis of MLB.com.
Stark: My Hall of Fame ballot (this year, it’s personal) | The Athletic ($)
For me, a very good Hall of Fame ballot includes Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Todd Helton, Larry Walker and six other players. Whoever those six players are doesn’t matter so much to me, as long as the total reaches 10. My personal six are Lance Berkman, Edgar Martínez, Manny Ramirez, Mariano Rivera, Curt Schilling and Billy Wagner, but I’ve not seen a single person take the same opinion, so we’ll agree to quibble there.
Jayson Stark of The Athletic falls under my personal very good Hall of Fame ballot category and he makes good reasons for all of his picks. As he usually does, Stark’s piece is also chock-full of interesting tidbits regarding all players involved.