Colorado Rockies news and links for Monday, July 1st, 2024
The Colorado Rockies have seen some departures over the last week. 2018 draft pick and valuable member of the Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes Coco Montes requested his release to join the Tokyo Yomiuri Giants in Japan and utilityman Alan Trejo was designated for assignment and elected free agency rather than return to the Isotopes.
The third and most surprising move came on Sunday morning when the Rockies announced they had designated 25-year-old first baseman and designated hitter Elehuris Montero for assignment, likely ending the experiment that started back in 2021.
Montero was the St. Louis Cardinals’ no. 7 organizational prospect at the end of 2020 and was the headliner of four prospects sent by the Cardinals to the Rockies in the oft-maligned Nolan Arenado trade.
In exchange for the disgruntled third baseman and $50 million dollars—which helped the Rockies out from under his eight year, $260 million contract—Colorado received Montero, right-handed pitcher Tony Locey (no. 19), infielder Mateo Gil (no. 21), and right-handed pitcher Jake Sommers, along with big-league left-handed pitcher Austin Gomber.
Montero’ designation for assignment all but closes the book on the trade with Gomber as the last man standing. Sommers voluntarily retired earlier this season, Locey was traded to the Tampa Bay Rays prior to the 2023 season but has since been released and is not currently playing affiliated ball, and Gil was selected by the New York Mets in minor league portion of the 2023 Rule 5 draft.
Montero arrived to the Rockies with limited playing time above A-level due to injuries and the cancellation of the 2020 minor league season due to COVID. He started 2021 with the Double-A Hartford Yard Goats and finished with the Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes with an overall strong first year in with the organization.
Montero eventually made clear he had very little left to prove in the minors—hitting .317/.390/.592 with 36 home runs in 128 total games in Triple-A—but Rockies never really seemed to have a plan in place for Montero. He made his major league debut early in 2022, but was optioned back to Triple-A a total of four times during that season and twice more in 2023 due to offensive struggles and questionable defense.
Montero faced three major issues heading into the 2024 season. The first of which was that he didn’t really have a regular position to play. The Rockies attempted to get him significant playing time at third base—his original natural position—last year when second baseman Brendan Rodgers was injured in spring training. They moved starter Ryan McMahon to second base and penciled in Montero as the Opening Day third baseman.
Unfortunately, a poor defensive April where he was worth -4 outs about average and -3 defensive runs saved while committing three errors quickly ended that experiment, narrowing his positions to either first base or designated hitter. Opportunities at first base would be limited due to competition for playing time between other young players and an often injured Kris Bryant that was moved to that position for his protection.
The second problem Montero faced was his high strikeout rates and low walk rates in his limited big league playing time. Montero had been able to cut down his strikeouts and walks significantly in Triple-A, but struggled for that to translate to the MLB level. Going into the 2024 season he carried a career strikeout rate of 34.8% while walking just 4.7% of the time.
The third problem was that Montero was completely out of options heading into the 2024 season despite limited playing time and the Rockies were facing a ticking clock to figure out what to do with him. He would have to make the Opening Day 26-man roster or be exposed to waivers.
Montero did earn a spot on the Opening Day roster, and surprisingly the Rockies gave him plenty of playing time.
He appeared in 67 of the Rockies’ first 82 games to start the 2024—putting him on pace for the most playing time in his career—with most of his appearances coming at first base thanks in part to Kris Bryant getting injured and missing extensive time.
Montero deserves tremendous credit where it is due for cutting down his strikeout rate massively. The adjustments he made over the offseason helped him to a strikeout percentage of just 22.7% and he lifted his walk rate to 8.1%, nearly double that of his career so far.
These adjustments came at a massive loss in power and even hitting for average. Montero hit just .205/.267/.304 in 224 at-bats this season with four home runs and ten doubles. His .571 OPS is the third worst in the league among players with at least 240 plate appearances and his -1.3 rWAR per Baseball Reference and -1.8 fWAR per FanGraphs are both among the very worst in all of baseball.
Despite it being largely of their own doing, the Rockies simply ran out of time with Elehuris Montero. Had he been given more significant playing time in 2022 and 2023 to work through his issues and make adjustments, he very well could have developed into the big leaguer the Rockies wanted.
Unfortunately, the emergence of sluggers Michael Toglia and Hunter Goodman—both of whom play first base—ate significantly into Montero’s playing time. Furthermore, his poor performance over 67 games this season made it difficult to justify continuing the experiment him on the roster. The Rockies are on a collision course with their worst record in franchise history and there are younger players that will start getting playing time in the second half.
It is unknown if Montero will remain with the organization and be outrighted to Triple-A Albuquerque. He may clear waivers, but it might be better for both parties to move on.
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Weekly Pebble Report: Summer Showers (June 24th-July 30th)
Triple-A: Albuquerque Isotopes (3-3, 29-51 Overall)
Fun fact! The Albuquerque Isotopes now have more wins than their parent organization! The Isotopes split six games with the Salt Lake Bees (Los Angeles Angels) to continue their solid performance of the last few weeks. Saturday’s game was suspended due to a torrential downpour but finished as part of a double header on Sunday.
Rehab Update: Right-handed pitcher Germán Márquez faced less than stellar results in his first Triple-A rehab start, going just 2⁄3 of an inning while yielding four earned runs on four hits. Márquez is expected to make at least one more rehab start this week before rejoining the active roster.
Stock Up: Another strong week for Greg Jones is in the books. Jones went 9-for-26 while adding a double, a triple, and two more home runs to his resume.
Stock Up: Catcher Willie MacIver has quietly put together a fantastic season with the Isotopes this season, hitting .290/.391/.529 so far. MacIver went 5-for-18 with a double and a home run this week while drawing two walks to three strikeouts.
Double-A: Hartford Yard Goats (3-2, 41-32 Overall)
The first half champion Yard Goats had a busy week against the New Hampshire Fisher Cats (Toronto Blue Jays), including retiring their alternate identity as the Steamed Cheeseburgers. The final game of the series was suspended in the top of the first due to rain and will be made up at a later date.
Stock Up: Braiden Ward enjoyed a 5-for-14 week while hitting a double, a triple, and a home run. The home run was a grand slam on Saturday night that contributed to a 12-2 beatdown of the Fisher Cats.
Stock Up: Sterlin Thompson (no. 14 PuRP) only played four of five games, but made each at-bat count. Thompson hit three home runs with five RsBI in a 5-for-16 week.
High-A: Spokane Indians (3-3, 44-29 Overall)
The High-A Indians continued their winning ways with a 3-3 split against the Everett AquaSox (Seattle Mariners). Left-handed pitcher Sean Sullivan (no. 12 PuRP) did not pitch this series, as he was moved to the Arizona Complex League to keep his innings in check and get some work in at the Rockies’ pitching lab.
Stock Down: Victor Juarez (no. 30 PuRP) had a tough week against the AquaSox as he made two starts and was battered in both. On Tuesday he opened the series going just three innings and giving up eight earned runs on five hits and three walks. Three of those hits were home runs. On Sunday he closed out the series going 3 2⁄3 innings and giving up seven runs (six earned) on five hits and four walks.
Stock Up: Kyle Karros had a great week at the plate, going 13-for-26 with a double and two home runs while also stealing two bases. The fifth round pick is hitting .313/.392/.455 this season and is a likely candidate for a Midseason PuRPs spot in the near future!
Low-A: Fresno Grizzlies (1-5, 41-33 Overall)
It was a tough week for the Grizzlies as they dropped five of their six games against the San Jose Giants (San Francisco Giants) while failing to score more than two runs in three games and getting shut out in one of those games.
Stock Down: Outfielder Brad Cumbest’s second series in Low-A was a difficult one. The 2022 ninth round pick had just three hits in 19 at-bats, all singles. He also struck out five times and drove in just one run.
Stock Up: Look, it’s hard to follow up a complete game shutout, but Jack Mahoney (no. 28 PuRP) put together another solid outing this week. He pitched 5 2⁄3 innings of shutout baseball, striking out five batters and giving up only three hits. Mahoney now carries a scoreless streak of 20 2⁄3 innings!
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Injures & Moves: Díaz activated off IL; Montero DFA’d | MLB.com
Along with Montero being designated for assignment, the Rockies also activated catcher Elias Díaz from the 10-day IL. Kris Bryant still has no timetable for a return but is taking swings in the batting cage, and right-handed pitcher Germán Márquez will make at least one more rehab start this week before returning to the active roster.
Trade Deadline Primer | Blake Street Banter
Last week, our friends over at Blake Street Banter offered their takes on how the trade deadline will shake out this season.
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