(Jayne Kamin-Oncea – USA Today Sports
In an ideal world, Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez would play their entire careers with the Rockies. They would also be champions, too. Too bad ideal world has no place in professional sports.
With three losing seasons in a row, the Rockies could be in a position to make tough decisions concerning both or one of them if they extend their losing season to four in 2014. It means both or one of them could be playing their last season with the ballclub.
The Rockies signed their stars with the idea both of them would lead the team to many playoff appearances and meaningful September games. It hasn’t happened due to both of them being injured often. It’s not the return Rockies owner Dick Monfort expected on his investments.
Something has to give if the Rockies have another losing season with Tulowitzki and Gonzalez. Something has to give if one or both are on the disabled list again this season.
They can’t keep the status quo with the same group. The losing is a reflection on both of their stars. For one thing, stars always elevate the team to excellence. Second of all, stars have to be healthy to help the team.
No one questions what Tulowitzki and Gonzalez do for the Rockies. They hit well, and they help win games. Problem with them is both are always injured. What’s the point of keeping them if they are always hurt?
Monfort has admitted injuries have been a problem with his stars. If he knows about that, there’s no question he has to be thinking his stars can’t be counted on every year when they get hurt.
It’s not fair to rip Tulowitzki and Gonzalez for being hurt. There’s nothing they can do if their body is brittle to play baseball. With that said, it’s hard to blame Monfort if he has to make the hard decision of trading either or both of them.
Everyone knows the Rockies owner won’t fire Dan O’Dowd or Bill Geivett since they are set for life as baseball executives for only reason he knows. He will focus on blaming his players. This is why either or both could be expendable.
Stories circulated about the Rockies attempting to trade Tulowtizki to the Cardinals for Shelby Miller, Matt Adams and Pete Kozma in the offseason. That trade never materialized after the defending NL champions signed Jhonny Peralta to a four-year, $53 million deal to be their shortstop.
Signing Peralta was a better move for the Cardinals in a sense they did not have to give up anything to upgrade at shortstop. Most importantly, they did not have to inherit the salary of a shortstop that is injury-prone.
That should say something the Rockies contemplated trading their shortstop in the offseason. They are not afraid to do it again next season with teams like the Yankees that need a shortstop.
Gonzalez is three years away of being a free agent once this season is over. This could be the best time to trade him while his value is high. For one thing, he is under contract for awhile, so a contending team that is close to winning a championship can afford to give up their prized prospects for his service for three years. Second of all, there’s a good chance he will bolt to a big-market club that is committed to winning.
If anything else, Gonzalez could be easy to trade than Tulowitzki. The Rockies are stuck with their shortstop for six more years, and no team is going to want to inherit his salary and years with his injury history. Maybe the Yankees can be that team, but they have nothing to offer in return for the Rockies.
The Rockies can cite Gonzalez’s injury-prone history as an excuse to trade him rather than telling the fans the truth that he could leave in a few years. This isn’t the first time the organization has treated fans like suckers, and this won’t be the last.
This could be a good thing if the Rockies decide to trade their stars. Something has to change to get this organization back on track. If they can’t win with their best players, they might as well try to get value for them while it’s still high.
It’s not going to be a popular decision, but so what. Teams have to be built without worrying about how the fans react. Considering Tulowitzki and Gonzalez have been unreliable to play 150 games, they should not be untouchable.
Change is part of sports when things don’t go well for a team. It’s a bottom line business. It’s a harsh reality.
This scenario should make Rockies fans enjoy this duo while they can this season.
Contact or follow Leslie Monteiro at @LightRodWriter
Leslie Monteiro
Leslie is a contributor for Lightning Rod Sports. He covered high school sports in Bergen County out in North Jersey, and has written op-ed columns on sports such as Bleacher Report and NY Sports Digest.
