On a spring morning so sunny anything seems possible, Rockies outfielder Carlos Gonzalez sat in a quiet corner of the Colorado clubhouse and shared a dream. It seemed silly at the time. It’s real now.
The Rockies can make the playoffs in 2016.
Let’s hope Jose Reyes, the shortstop nobody wants to see at Coors Field ever again, doesn’t mess it up.
In the National League West, where every team is flawed, there’s no reason Colorado cannot finish first in the division. But here’s the rub:
Team management won’t have the luxury to wait until July, as the trade deadline nears, to decide if the Rockies have a legitimate chance to make a playoff push.
Despite Tyler Chatwood’s microscopic earned run average on the road, the bulldog fight in Chad Bettis and the filthy slider thrown by Jon Gray, Colorado needs to go out and get one more starting pitcher.
Here’s my suggestion: Julio Teheran. He’s a 25-year-old right-handed starter stuck in Atlanta, where the NL’s worst team is marking time until a new ballpark opens.
Despite his relative youth, Teheran has already won 41 times at the major-league level. At an average salary of $8 million through 2020, Teheran would bring cost certainty and team control to any suitor. In addition, the Braves sent signals during the winter they are open to trade proposals. Colorado has young talent in its organization to craft an offer with appeal.
Rockies general manager Jeff Bridich is a Harvard man. Certainly he can find a starting pitcher who is a better fit for the thin air of Denver with more skill than a knucklehead like me.
All I ask: Please don’t wait to make a deal. Trade deadline moves for a pitcher often fail to have a major impact for a simple reason that does not require a degree in baseball calculus to understand. A starter that goes to the mound every fifth day is limited in his ability to make a difference by the calendar. If the Rockies want a pitcher, they need to acquire him in June, when there’s enough season left to get at least 15 starts.
The way Gonzalez envisioned it way back in spring training, he and third baseman Nolan Arenado would rake at the plate. CarGo admired the work Bridich did refortifying the Colorado bullpen. He saw enough life in the young arms of Bettis, Chatwood and Gray to honestly believe the Rockies could play .500 baseball and stay competitive in the NL West.
If players held up their end of the bargain, Gonzalez was also counting on Bridich to reciprocate by adding talent that could allow Colorado to battle San Francisco and Los Angeles for a playoff berth all summer long.
On that sunny spring day in March, I thought Gonzalez was crazy optimistic.
Nobody’s laughing at CarGo or the Rockies now.
It’s true that 40 games are not sufficient to establish Colorado as a legitimate contender. But it’s also time to show a little faith in the Rockies.
Reyes, suspended 51 games by commissioner Rob Manfred after an investigation into his November arrest on domestic violence charges, is back at work in Arizona, fielding grounders and taking cuts for his return to action June 1.
In Reyes’ absence, the bat of rookie shortstop Trevor Story gave the Rockies a jolt that allowed them to believe in the possibility that the team wasn’t doomed to 90 losses in 2016.
There’s no way Reyes is taking Story’s job, and it makes no sense to risk the good vibe in this Colorado clubhouse with the re-entry of an overpaid, over-the-hill utility infielder that would be greeted as persona non grata the first time he stepped to the plate in LoDo.
The Rockies, however, still owe Reyes $41 million. That’s serious money, which Colorado figures to swallow, in large part or in whole, whether the team finds a taker for Reyes in trade or releases him.
The weight of $41 million could be such a heavy burden on a franchise known for its frugal nature that it stunts any ambition to do big things this year, and instead wait until promising pitcher Jeff Hoffman arrives in 2017.
That would be a crying shame.
Reyes messed up.
Let’s hope the big-money mistake the Rockies made by obtaining Reyes last summer doesn’t mess it up for Gonzalez and all those crazy dreamers that believe this summer can be something special in Colorado.
Mark Kiszla: mkiszla@denverpost.com or @markkiszla
