The Colorado Rockies made a move to help them contend with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Arizona Diamond backs by acquiring catcher Jonathan Lucroy for a player to be named later according to Ken Rosenthal of MLB Network. The Rockies were in search of a catcher and a reliever this trade deadline, and have acquired both. The team made a trade for reliever Pat Neshek this week. With Lucroy to the Rockies, the next best catcher on the market is Alex Avila.
Lucroy a veteran upgrade
Lucroy is 31-years old and is just making over $5 million. He is set to be a free agent, but the Rockies are looking to make a deep run in the postseason if they can get past the wild card.
In a down season, Lucroy is hitting .242 with four home runs. The Texas Rangers made a move by dealing two top prospects for the catcher last season, but Lucroy has had a down season. Not only are his offensive numbers down, his rating for pitch framing is considered the worst in the majors.
The Rockies now have a dangerous lineup. Even though Lucroy is having a down year offensively, it was just a year ago that he finished the year with 143 hits and 81 runs batted in. Coors Field is a hitter friendly ballpark. It's possible that Lucroy could turn it around once he gets to Colorado.
Rockies match Diamondbacks
Arizona and Colorado are battling it out for home field advantage in the wild card. The Diamondbacks are 60-45, while the Rockies are 60-46.
The Diamondbacks recently made a trade for JD Martinez. It's going to be an interesting battle between the two teams as Milwaukee is five games behind the Rockies as of today.
Avila to the Cubs?
The Rockies were once mentioned as the team Alex Avila was going to head towards. The Detroit Tigers catcher is going to be a free agent at the end of the season, so he is not going to cost a top ten prospect.
Now that Lucroy is going to be a Rockie, the Cubs are once again the best destination for Avila. Wilson Contreras is in need of a backup catcher ever since the team waived Miguel Montero.
A report has surfaced that the Cubs are close to dealing for Justin Wilson and Avila according to John Heyman of FanRag. The team has been linked to dealing Jeimer Candelario and Mark Zagunis.
Both players were held out of the lineup in Triple-A Iowa. Candelario is more likely to go since he is ranked in the top 100 prospects. Plus, Zagunis is more valuable to the Cubs since he can play in the outfield. John Jay is a free agent at the end of the year, so the team needs a future backup in the future. However, the team has been mentioned as a landing spot for Marlins catcher AJ Ellis
