There was speculation of the New York Mets looking to trade for Rockies' shortstop Troy Tulowitzki prior to this year's deadline, but nothing came to fruition. That same speculation is still brewing at the General Managers Meetings, but Rockies GM Jeff Bridich wants to set the record straight.
Bridich was hired in early October after longtime general manager Dan O'Dowd stepped down from the position. Despite the Rockies four consecutive losing seasons, O'Dowd stood firm and reiterated that he would not be trading the team's stars, Tulowitzki or outfielder Carlos Gonzalez. The two were garnering a lot of interest from numerous teams during the middle of the season, but nothing came out of it.
Now with Bridich in the driver's seat and a new philosophy in place, he is at least listening to offers for the two players. Tulowitzki has been the leading those discussions and he's been linked to the New York Mets due to the two teams speaking about a trade during the season, but Bridich shed some light on the subject with MLB.com.
"We have literally not had one substantive conversation with the Mets," Bridich said. "I talked to [Mets GM] Sandy Alderson, he said congratulations on the job and he said, 'What have you got in store?' Then he told me what he had in store. We are choosing to keep our eyes and ears open on all business matters, which is something I said a month ago."
However, it's no secret that the Rockies are in desperate need of pitching and the Mets are in the market for a shortstop. In the middle of the season, New York was reportedly ready to offer pitching prospect Noah Syndergaard in a package for Tulowitzki, but the Rockies declined. A few weeks later, Tulowitzki underwent season-ending hip surgery, which is expected to affect the return the shortstop would yield in a trade. Now the Rockies are faced with a difficult decision.
The team feels they are really close in terms of building a contender, and with Tulowitzki as the centerpiece of their franchise, they could view his departure as a step back in that process. Same goes for outfielder Carlos Gonzalez, who also underwent season-ending surgery to repair ligaments in his knee. MLB.com Rockies reporter Thomas Harding believes the team will be hesitant in trading one or both of them because their recent surgeries affect their return in such a deal.
"I don't think it's changed from the position that they would have to be blown away by the offer and get full value for these guys. I think that they guy who's more likely to be dealt is [first baseman] Justin Morneau, who is coming off of a full and healthy season and a very productive one. I really believe that there may be the deal out there to get pitching in the form of Justin Morneau."
But now that they lost outfielder Michael Cuddyer to the New York Mets, the team will have to figure out a way to keep their desirable hitters and somehow acquire pitching. But as of now, a Tulowitzki-to-Mets deal is not imminent, nor is such a deal anywhere else.
