Game Day: Tuesday, July 28th

The Colorado Rockies are one of the few teams that are officially out of contention this season.  As such, there have been a lot of rumors centered around Rockies' players heading into the August 3rd trade deadline. 

Three players in particular are drawing a lot of interest from teams around the league.  

(C) Hunter Goodman

Catcher Hunter Goodman could land the Rockies a haul in trade but trading Goodman leaves a hole in the Rockies' lineup that can't be replaced easily.  Goodman has hit 31 homers this season and leads all catchers in slugging percentage.  His slash line from June 1st is very good:  .286/.364/.665 -- Goodman has gotten better as the season has progressed and in some way that makes him more difficult for the Rockies to trade this season.

The Rockies' draft was very interesting in that they drafted Georgia catcher Daniel Jackson with their first pick (26th overall) and Cincinnati Jack Natali with their third round pick.  Natalli is a power hitting catcher who has a good glove.  He is a player in the mold of Hunter Goodman and with two seasons of NCAA seasoning, he could move up in Colorado's system rather quickly.  

The draft picks say that Colorado is going to trade Goodman at this season's trade deadline.  With three seasons of cost controlled arbitration options on Goodman, any team that is interested in trading for Goodman is going to have to send out a stack of prospects.  

(OF) Mickey Moniak

Moniak was drafted by the Phillies in 2016 and was the first overall pick in the draft as a prep player out of La Costa Canyon High School in Encinitas, CA.  

The Phillies traded Moniak to the Los Angeles Angels at the trade deadline for pitcher Noah Syndergaard during the 2022 season.  It was a big acquisition for the Angels and I had thought that Moniak had played well with LA.  He hit .280/.307/.495 in what amounts to his rookie season but after a down year in '24, the Angels' designated Moniak for assignement.  He didn't have any minor league options remaining and selected free agency.  

The Rockies signed him to a one-year deal as a minor league free agent and assumed his arbitration options for both the '26 and '27 seasons.  Moniak hit well in '25 with the Rockies posting career highs in home runs (24), RBI's (68) and SB's(9).  The breakout season earned him a one-year, 4M dollar contract in '26 and he has more than played up to his pay-grade.  This season, the lefty is hitting .277/.322/.553 -- he missed a month of at-bats between May and June and his numbers are off some since returning to the lineup but Moniak is a player that is capable of hitting 40 home runs in a full season of at-bats from the left-hand side.  

Moniak is likely to be traded. The Rockies have four first round picks in AAA and all of them play the outfield.  He could be a big addition to a team down the stretch.

OF Jake McCarthy

Outfielder Jake McCarthy was acquired from the Diamondbacks this off-season in a trade that sent out pitching prospect Josh Grosz.

The trade has been a big win for Colorado thus far.  McCarthy has lived up to his first round pedigree this season posting career bests in batting average and slugging percentage while playing all three positions in Colorado's outfield.  McCarthy's defense is good not great but his versatility and his .842 OPS plays in every outfield in MLB.  Offesnively, McCarthy has played as well as outfielders like Corbin Carroll, Bryan Reynolds and Randy Arozarena.

McCarthy has two years of cost controlled arbitration options in both the '27 and '28 seasons.  

Three players that are likely to be traded for the right return.  What that return will be is anybodies guess.  

Are these good trades for the Rockies?  I don't think so.  I think they should pay all three and trade some of their prospects for the pitching they need next season.  These three players have won a lot of games for Colorado and it won't be easy to fill their shoes.

That's it for Game Day today.  Pickstreak got a win yesterday on the Yanks and at first glance, we could be going back to the well this afternoon for some more action on the Bronx Bombers.  Stay tuned.  

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