1. Who’s on first?
When the Colorado Rockies signed Ian Desmond to a lucrative five-year, $70 million dollar contract the baseball world was taken aback. The Rockies intend on using the 31-year-old at first base despite the fact that he has never played an out at the position in his professional career.
Sure, the Rockies could take a chance with Desmond manning fist base, but you have to think that the team will review other options both internally and externally.
After signing Desmond, the Rockies continued to keep tabs on big-name first basemen such as Edwin Encarnacion and Mark Trumbo, indicating that they could still be in the hunt for another first baseman.
Encarnacion is now off the market, but Trumbo is still available with no real market for his talents. His former team, the Baltimore Orioles, had interest in brining back the slugger, but have reportedly pulled their offer.
So, if the Rockies wanted to pull the trigger on another 30+ home run candidate and bolster their infield, they have the opportunity to do so.
Trumbo aside, there are a couple other players who could run the show for the Rockies at first at some point in the season.
Mark Reynolds is a guy the Rockies could bring back for another go-around if they pleased. Reynolds hit .282 with 14 home runs and 53 RBIs with the Rox last season, and could continue to be a veteran presence for this relatively young Rox squad.
Other solid, affordable options include guys like Chris Carter and James Loney – well-tenured players that still have a little pop in their bats along with the ability to play a solid first base.
Carter cranked the ball last season, hitting 44 bombs while driving in 94 runs. He’s just 30 years old, and is another candidate who does not really have a strong market for his services, meaning the Rox could snag him at a bargain price for a yearlong rental.
Loney is another guy who could help the Rockies. He has experience in the NL West, playing for the Los Angeles Dodgers in the early part of his career, and is coming off a decent 2016 season with the New York Mets, hitting .265 with nine longballs and 34 RBIs.
Any way you put it, the Rockies have options.
Trumbo would beef up an already stacked lineup, Reynolds would keep things consistent like he did last year, and Carter and Loney could be valuable one-year rentals as a security blanket if the Demsond experiment does not work out.
The club has had some time to review their options internally, but a season-long decision at first place needs to be made sooner rather than later.
