The Rockies are reportedly willing to trade Brendan Rodgers, Justin Lawrence

The Rockies are open to trading a second baseman Brendan Rodgers and the right hand Justin LawrenceESPN’s Jeff Passan reports. Being open to a trade doesn’t necessarily mean that one will meet, but it’s probably a noteworthy situation since the Rockies generally have a low willingness to make their players available.

The outside impression of the Rockies has often been that they were overconfident in their internal evaluation. In recent years, players like it CJ Cron, Elias Díaz again Daniel Bard they were signed to unfair extensions instead of being worked on while they still had some trade value. Trevor’s story he was left untouched as his control of the club waned, leaving for limited compensation after rejecting a suitable offer. Jon Gray he didn’t even get a QO as the club seemed likely to re-sign him, but he went to the Rangers instead, and Colorado didn’t get compensation. Owner Dick Monfort has hinted that he thinks the club can play .500 ball in 2023, a season in which they finished 59-103.

But maybe there is more reality now. The club has done little to sell at the deadline in the last few months, changing resources Nick Mears again Jalen Beeks. They finished 2024 with a 61-101 record, their second straight campaign with triple-digit losses. There are encouraging developments with the list but perhaps the club knows that the short-term rivalry is long-lasting.

There is little reason for the club to hang on to Rodgers, as he enters his final season in charge of the club. He hasn’t done much to establish himself as a valuable player, despite his previous pedigree as a third overall pick and former top 100 prospect. He has taken over 1800 trips at the plate and has a line of .266/.316/.409, which translates to a wRC+ of 86, which is 14% below the league average.

Reviews of his defense have been mixed. Outs Above Average gave him a -5 grade in his career. He was higher in 2022 and 2023 but went back down again this year. He has 12 Defensive Run Saved in his career but in a strange way. He’s been below average in that metric for most of his seasons but had a whopping +22 in 2022, a number that looks like a clear outlier.

His salary hit $3.2MM in 2024 and is due for one raise in 2025, when MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects him to make $5.5MM next year. Given that price point and his performance, it makes sense that the Rockies would be open to moving him instead of keeping him for one year where he’s unlikely to compete.

But at the same time, interest will not be too high. Last year, free agents loved Adam Frazier again Amed Rosario signed a one-year deal for less than Rodgers’ salary target. Those two guys are back on the market now, as are second basemen Brandon Drury, Enrique Hernández, Whit Merrifield and others. With those options, it’s hard to imagine a team offering anything worth Rodgers at this point.

Lawrence is perhaps the most intriguing trade candidate. He has four years of club control and the Rockies could consider keeping him. But on the other hand, he is a late bloomer, turning 30 next month.

Terminators are often flexible, as Lawrence himself has shown. He looked good in 2022 and 2023, striking out 24.4% of the batters he faced and getting ground balls on 49.4% of the balls in play. His 11.2% walk rate was high but he managed to post a combined 4.44 earned run average over those two seasons, not too bad for someone who spent half his time at Coors Field. He also appeared to play a big role, leading 11 and saving a person in 2023.

But in 2024, his hitting disappeared, dropping to 16.1 percent. He still had grounders but his walk rate also remained high and the complete package resulted in a 6.49 ERA for the year. He got only two saves and five opponents, falling by way of a tap.

He just qualified for arbitration as a Top 2 player, but with an estimated $1MM bump next year, on top of the $760K minimum. Four years of affordable control, some club may be intrigued by what Lawrence can do away from Coors. For his career, he has a 6.96 ERA at home but a 3.86 mark on the road. But for the Rockies, a 30-year-old reliever with a growing salary isn’t someone they should build when they’ve just suffered 100 losses two years in a row, so they’ll listen to offers and see what’s available. .