Winter Meetings blend wild with mild for Colorado
One signing and one phone call for a premier free agent was all the 101-loss club could muster in Dallas.
The Hilton Anatole in Dallas, TX was the site of the 2024 Winter Meetings, baseball’s biggest offseason extravaganza. There was certainly more activity and more lively conversations in the lobby than the year prior when everyone waited for DH/P Shohei Ohtani to make his decision. This year’s top free agent, OF Juan Soto, made his choice early, right as everyone began to show up for three days of non-stop rumors, trades and free agent signings.
Colorado was not totally silent during their time in Texas. GM Bill Schmidt and manager Bud Black spoke with Denver media about plans for 2025. And they even made one notable transaction before punting on the second-overall pick in the Rule 5 Draft.
2B Thairo Estrada signed a one-year deal with an option for 2026 that guarantees the 28-year-old a total of $4 million. The former Giants’ second baseman will man the position for the Rockies as INF Kyle Farmer shifts to a role as the utility infielder. (If you’re puzzled by this, it’s a fair take. When RHP Cal Quantrill was non-tendered at a roughly $9 million price tag, so was 2B Brendan Rodgers in the neighborhood of $5.5 million. Colorado will now be spending a guaranteed $7.25 million between the pair of Farmer and Estrada. Selecting someone like INF Aaron Schunk or INF Owen Miller as the utility infielder on a league-minimum salary would have combined to cost the club $1 million less at nearly $6.25 million in guaranteed money.)
Estrada does bring some hope with him to Denver. His slash line of .348/.406/.565 in 24 games at Coors Field are among the best ever posted by an opponent. Even if Estrada has some extreme home-road splits, that kind of production at 20th and Blake Street could end up being the most at second base since Rodgers in 2022 (.266/.325/.408 with 13 home runs and 63 RBI).
Japanese pitching phenom RHP Roki Sasaki was posted during the Winter Meetings by his team for MLB clubs to negotiate with over a 45-day period that ends on January 23. According to Sasaki’s agent Joel Wolfe, Schmidt was one of the first to show interest in the 23-year-old. (Since you’re already thinking it… the last Japanese-born player in team history was Kaz Matsui in 2007.)
Wolfe and his client, who may prefer a smaller market after a rough time with Japanese media, are expected to wait to sign a deal until January 15 when the 2025 International Signing Period begins and all 30 clubs will have access to their full pool of money.
The Rockies will have approximately $6.9 million in their pool with only eight teams set to possess more. Colorado could even acquire up to 60% of their pool via trade, taking a potential offer to Sasaki up to $11 million.
But what about the Dodgers, you may ask…. Los Angeles ranks 29th with about $5.1 million in their bonus pool. Despite taking half of what he could make with other clubs, the Dodgers are a favorite to sign Sasaki with the Padres being another top contender. While a deal with L.A. makes it appear that some money is being left on the table, Sasaki could easily make up the difference in sponsorships by aligning himself with the Dodgers, not to mention putting himself in a better position when he reaches free agency thanks to the positive effects of plying his trade in a pitcher’s ballpark and an overall winning organization that can develop players even at the Major League level.
Over the course of the three days in Dallas, Schmidt and Black had lengthy conversations about what to expect going into Spring Training and during the season. Kris Bryant’s rehab from ongoing back issues has been going well so far, though the club is penciling him in as the full-time DH. The youth movement witnessed at the end of 2024 will continue as several prospects — like RHP Chase Dollander, LHP Sean Sullivan, OF Benny Montgomery and Northwest League MVP 3B Kyle Karros — will receive an invite to big league camp in February. More young players will be given an opportunity to become starters and make the Opening Day roster, which will not take the field until one day later than originally scheduled. Due to the ongoing ballpark issues in Tampa Bay, Colorado will play their first game on March 28 while the rest of the 14 games will take place on March 27.
Podcast Playback
Whether you subscribe to the Rockies Insider podcast and listen to the audio only version or prefer the visual medium on the YouTube channel, make sure you check out the conversation with Connor Seabold.
The former member of the Rockies spent all of 2024 in Korea playing with the Samsung Lions. He dominated, caused an international incident and had one heck of a time when he was traded in the middle of a pandemic. One of my favorite interviews of the year!
Cardboard Creations
Someone from the outstanding Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) shared this baseball card with our members on Slack and it made the wheels start turning for yours truly.
This is a Vinny Castilla card from 1996 Score. Want to go down a rabbit hole and figure out if the call on this play at third base was safe or out?
The photograph for this card would have been taken the year prior, 1995, for the production of a 1996 set. Castilla is wearing road grays while Deion Sanders is in home pinstripes. Sanders played against the Rockies seven times that season, but only three times with the Reds. (He was dealt to San Francisco in an eight-player deal ahead of the 1995 trade deadline.)
It’s also apparent that this is a day game. The first two contests (May 19-20) versus Colorado in Cincinnati were night games. On May 19, Sanders did go first-to-third during a 1-3 putout, but that was in the fourth inning. The sun would not have still been up for a game with a 7:37 first pitch before Daylight Savings.
On the afternoon of May 21, Sanders reached third base twice. Once was when Steve Reed walked Reggie Sanders (no relation) on a six-pitch walk with runners at first and second in the bottom of the eighth. The other came earlier in the game after he stole second in the bottom of the fourth. Four pitches later, Sanders attempted to steal third base as well off RHP Juan Acevedo and C Jorge Brito. As the cloud of dust settled (and was photographed), third-base umpire Bill Hohn ruled Sanders safe.
*Congratulations to CB/WR Travis Hunter on winning the 2024 Heisman Trophy Award. Hunter becomes only the second winner of College Football’s most prestigious honor from the University of Colorado.
RB Rashaan Salaam was the first recipient in 1994. Salaam was coached by Bill McCartney. And since Hunter’s head coach was Sanders, I have to wonder: has McCartney ever been featured on a Rockies baseball card?
Short on Time?
Need a quick catch-me-up on what transpired for Colorado during the Winter Meetings? The Rockies Insider page on YouTube has a pair of Shorts that provide updates from Dallas, TX:
Day 1 -
Day 2 -
The Rewind
Before many teams shut down operations ahead of the New Year, there are still a few opportunities to make transactions and headlines. Here’s a taste of what’s happened in Denver in mid-December over the years.
12/12/1977: Oakland Athletics owner Charlie Finley’s plan to sell his team to Marv Davis is blocked when the American League offers to buy out the club’s lease at the Oakland Coliseum. Had the $12 million purchase gone through, Davis’ had hoped to move the franchise to Denver.
At one point in time, Denver/Colorado was the Las Vegas of it’s time. Multiple franchises used the Mile High City as a cudgel to get what they wanted from their local government in terms of upgrades to their stadium or an outright new ballpark.
12/18/2001: The Cincinnati Reds traded Pokey Reese and Dennys Reyes to the Colorado Rockies for Luke Hudson and Gabe White
12/19/2001: The Boston Red Sox traded Scott Hatteberg to the Colorado Rockies for Pokey Reese
Believe it or not, were it not for these series of transactions, the movie Moneyball and the successful Hollywood career of Chris Pratt may have never happened. This seemingly senseless trade between Boston and Colorado ended with the Red Sox non-tendering Reese and the Rockies granting Hatteberg free agency. Long story short, Hatteberg signed with the A’s, helped the club win 103 games in 2002 and became an integral part of the book written by Michael Lewis and film starring Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill and Pratt, who played the role of Hatteberg.
12/16/2011: The Rockies sign OF Michael Cuddyer to a three-year deal worth $31 million
Cuddyer was everything the Rockies hoped for in 2013: an All-Star and winner of the NL batting title (.331). However, Colorado was still 78 games under .500 during his three years in purple. The club surprisingly gave Cuddyer a qualifying offer worth $15.3 million to return for the 2015 campaign, his age-36 season. Even more surprising was Cuddyer rejecting the offer, giving the Rockies the no. 27 pick in the 2015 MLB Draft. (Cuddyer signed a two-year, $21 million pact with the Mets, but retired after just one season. Colorado took RHP Mike Nikorak out of high school, but he never made it past Low-A.)
12/18/2013: The Boston Red Sox traded Chris Martin and Franklin Morales to the Colorado Rockies for Jonathan Herrera
After the retirement of Charlie Blackmon, Martin is one of the last former Rockies still active. (Rafael Ortega, 21 years old in 2012, played 17 games with the White Sox last season at age 33.) It took a two-year stint in Japan from 2016-17 for Martin to get his big league career on track. He won a World Series with Atlanta in 2021 and has earned $38.5 million during his nine seasons in the Majors.
12/11/2014: The Colorado Rockies traded Mark Canha to the Oakland Athletics for Austin House (minors) and cash
One could say that Canha (15.3 career bWAR) is the greatest Rule 5 pick in team history, but the truth is that Colorado only selected the Miami prospect when Oakland asked them to do it. House, a native of Albuquerque, did play parts of three seasons with the Isotopes, but never reached the Majors.
Post Du Jour
Go West, Young Fan
The rest of the National League West has been aggressive so far this offseason, seizing an opportunity to chase down a playoff spot with three Wild Cards available in the Senior Circuit.
Arizona and San Diego have been mostly holding conversations about trading from their big league roster. The Padres aim to shed payroll and acquire Major League talent in exchange for pending free agents 1B/DH Luis Arraez and RHP Dylan Cease. The Dbacks are aiming to deal from their starting pitching depth; a trade of LHP Jordan Montgomery — who owner Ken Kendrick called the “biggest mistake this season from a talent standpoint” — has been a top trade chip for GM Mike Hazen.
Los Angeles made the biggest splash so far when they signed two-time Cy Young Award winner LHP Blake Snell to a five-year, $162 million deal. (Because of deferred money, the MLBPA views Snell’s annual average salary at between $32-$33 million. Similarly, Ohtani’s 10-year deal will cost the Dodgers roughly $460 million despite the fact that Ohtani will receive $700 million because of the deferrals.)
OF Michael Conforto (one-year, $17 million) and Colorado native INF David Bote (minor league deal) also signed with Los Angeles. RHP Blake Treinen returned (two-year, $22 million) and UT Tommy Edman (five-years, $74 million) signed an extension with the Dodgers since the club raised the Commissioner’s Trophy.
That leaves only the San Francisco Giants, who may be on the verge of becoming a real threat in the NL West under the direction of three-time World Series winner Buster Posey. Brought in as the President of Baseball Operations (POBO) by Giants’ ownership after helping navigate a long-term extension with 3B Matt Chapman, Posey has been active in his first offseason. San Francisco signed SS Willy Adames (seven years, $182 million) to create arguably the best left-side of the infield in baseball. RHP Corbin Burnes — who has Cy Young Award votes in each of the last five seasons, longest active streak in the game — is now being tied to San Francisco.