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The Rockies have teased trading an outfielder for a while now -- it's not exactly new news this offseason. However, signing Gerardo Parra to a three-year deal for $27.5 million makes it even more clear that it's their intention to deal one of their three starters: Charlie Blackmon, Corey Dickerson, or the real prize of the trio, Carlos Gonzalez. Gonzalez is the best of the bunch, but this is a team that just dealt Troy Tulowitzki last summer: they're in a position to rebuild, and if you're going to rebuild, you should go all-in on it.
Gonzalez would further crowd the outfield market, as Justin Upton and Yoenis Cespedes are still free agents even though we're in mid-January, as are secondary options like Dexter Fowler. He's not quite the superstar he's been painted as by some, of course. While Coors Field does mess with the road stats of many hitters thanks to its unique conditions, Gonzalez looks more like a quality stick than an impact one even after giving that a bit of a mental adjustment. He's a career .255/.310/.441 hitter on the road, one with persistent injury concerns, and he's owed $37 million over the next two years.
With that being said, we don't need a mental adjustment for his splits, as we have actual ones. He posted a 116 OPS+ in 2015, and is at 121 for his career. He probably won't be hitting 40 homers ever again if he leaves Colorado, but for comparison's sake, Yoenis Cespedes' career OPS+ is 122 -- and he's looking for a six-year, $150 million deal. Two years of Gonzalez, potential warts and all, is going to be far more attractive to at least one team than a commitment of that size to Cespedes. Now, whether the Rockies like what is offered for Gonzalez is another story entirely, and that is what will inevitably decide which of the three is shipped out to make room for Parra.
- The Mets want you to know that they don't dislike Yoenis Cespedes. They would totally sign him to a one-year deal, if only he were open to that discussion. How generous of them!
- Not everything the Mets have done this week is annoying, though. They worked out a cricket star to see if he can make the transition to MLB, for instance.
- We wondered if Drew Storen knew what "Netflix and chill" meant when he said that's what he was doing when he got a call saying he was traded. We can safely say "yes" at this point.
- The Marlins signed Wei-Yin Chen to a five-year deal worth $80 million, which should make Cardinals and Giants fans pretty upset after what they shelled out for Mike Leake and Jeff Samardzija, respectively.
- 156 players filed for salary arbitration on Tuesday, and you can see the full list of them, if you're into that sort of thing.
- These are the biggest remaining holes on every American League roster.
- Remember the time Chipper Jones saved Freddie Freeman from the snow? Now it's immortalized in bobblehead form.
- The Dodgers added yet another former general manager to their front office, hiring Alex Anthopoulos as a vice president of baseball operations.
- Do not try to replicate the Royals' bullpen, writes Royals Review.
- The Raiders aren't moving to Los Angeles, which could eventually have an impact on their stadium buddies, the A's.
- Monte Irvin, a pioneer and Hall of Famer, passed away on Tuesday at the age of 96. If you don't know about Irvin's career, now's the time to rectify that.