The Major League Baseball offseason is finally here and as teams can now start signing free agents, many others will be looking for trade options and some of the top names involved could be Troy Tulowitzki, Allen Craig, Lance Lynn and Shelby Miller, while Carlos Gonzalez is not being looked at as a trade chip for the Colorado Rockies.
The owner of the Rockies already have said that Tulowitzki is not going to get traded this offseason, but according to Ken Rosenthal, a deal with the St. Louis Cardinals makes sense for both sides, as the Rockies could use an influx of young talent while the Cardinals need an upgrade big time at shortstop after the way Pete Kozma played down the stretch. The Cardinals lost the World Series and now will be looking to improve in a number of areas, with shortstop being a primary focus according to Rosenthal.
The Fox report says no deal is imminent and neither are talks, but that this move could help both sides and could be an option going forward if the reports about the Cardinals looking to upgrade at shortstop are serious. Rosenthal also reported on the Dodgers and their possible moves and they could deal one of their many outfielders in Carl Crawford, Andre Ethier or Matt Kemp, while the Rockies likely will be hanging on to Carlos Gonzalez.
Rosenthal writes that the Rockies are stuck in a tough spot, as they are trying to get younger and are trying to get their farm system right, but they are also looking to compete and with two players like Gonzalez and Tulo, they can do that. Gonzalez is just 28 and Tulo is just 29 and they also have a number of other young players with Nolan Arenado and a deal with the Cardinals could be beneficial to both, as the Rockies wouldn't mind getting their hands on some of the young pitching that the Cardinals have and they have plenty of it.
Both Tulo and Gonzalez have huge contracts and that could be one reason why the team looks to deal at least one of them. While the Rockies owner said that the team is likely to keep them according to plans, plans can change and a deal with solid talent from the Cardinals could sway the team to pull it off. Tulo has $130 million and a trade with the Cards would need someone like Allen Craig, who led the league in batting average with runners in scoring position last year and had 97 RBIs, as well as one of the pitchers in Lynn or Miller.
The way for these deals to start gaining some steam is at the winter meetings and while these could be hard ones to pull off, they are not out of the realm of possibility. Deal ideas have been suggested by the media, while ESPN.com reported about the news on owner Dick Monfort and it could change later this offseason. Tulo missed time with injuries but still hit over .310 with 25 homers and 81 RBIs and he has been one of the best fielding shortstops as well. Gonzalez missed time due to injuries and that could be another reason why they get dealt.
