Stuck between the Rockies and a hard place

The Colorado Rockies are officially stuck. Long one of the more curiously-run clubs in baseball, the Rockies continue spiraling down, leaving mediocrity in the rearview mirror.

It is easy to forget that Colorado was one of the season’s best stories in April, getting out to a fast start and sitting firmly in the middle of the NL West standings.

Since that time, they’re the worst team in the National League. The upstarts that powered their spring success declined and returned to their natural state of being. Injuries place their best, and most injury-prone, hitters on the shelf. They now own the worst record in their division, an improbable turn considering the depths of the dysfunction in both San Diego and Phoenix.

The Rockies are at a crossroads. One path could see them trading the face of their franchise, Troy Tulowitzki. They could also keep their shortstop and give contending in 2015 a shot, improbable as it might seem.

Each path is troublesome. The problem with standing pat is the Rockies are not good enough to win their division. Their core of Tulo and Carlos Gonzalez ages quickly in the thin Denver air while their young players either too far away or too fraught with standard prospect pitfalls for Rockies management to expect the world right away.

The problem with the other, more logical idea - trading Tulo - is they will not receive a fair package in exchange for their shortstop and will be left where they are - victims of their own incompetence.

The idea of “replacing” an outgoing player is misleading. No, the Rockies aren’t going to find the next Troy Tulowitzki when they finally get around to dealing one of the finest players in franchise history. That isn’t the goal of making such a trade - Colorado can only hope to acquire the best player or players from a prospective trading partner.

Therein lies the challenge for Colorado. In a vacuum, trading Troy Tulowitzki is easy. He’s one of the most talented players in the league. He makes every team better, full stop.

But every team in baseball won’t be vying for the services of Troy Tulowitzki. His contract is a non-starter for at least half the teams in baseball, probably more. His six-year, $118 million contract extension (plus a $4 million option) doesn’t even kick in until next season, when the oft-injured star turns 30.

So the Rockies are left to either pick among the few deep-pocketed clubs willing to eat that enormous financial obligation or take a very expensive haircut, paying the best Rockies player of the last decade to play for somebody else.

For most teams, this might serve as a necessary evil, the cost of doing business in the big leagues under the current collective bargaining agreement. But for the Rockies? Nothing is ever so simple.

The Rockies have not run a league-average payroll since 2001. Their owner, Dick Monfort, appears to grow increasingly despondent with the state of his team but refuses to take steps to improve it. From the baffling job security of GM for Life Dan O’Dowd to ill-fated steps to only bring in players who met Colorado’s criteria for “faith,” the Rockies have a terrible record of identifying and developing Major League talent.

It isn’t that the Rockies would screw up a Tulowitzki trade as much as their options are limited in a time when limits are their enemies. Of the teams that could possibly line up their dollars and needs to add Troy Tulowitzki, only the Cardinals and Red Sox have much in the way of prospect capital to entice the Rockies. The Mets are interested but money is always the biggest stumbling block for Mets ownership.

The usual suspects have money but lack the sort of names to remake a franchise. The Yankees’ system isn’t quite bereft and the Dodgers have a few nice players in their system (Joc Pedersen?) but enough to Colorado to reload with viable big leaguers ?.

The Rockies are lucky in that they don’t have to trade Tulo. He’s under contract for six years and they aren’t faced with the unpalatable option of seeing him walk for nothing. And while his bizarre protests in New York aren’t encouraging, the years of losing and disappointment haven’t pushed him to ask for a trade out of Colorado quite yet.

The Rockies’ front office only gets one chance to trade a superstar. Winning is the only way to repair the damage done in the mind of most fans when the most recognizable name on the field is shipped out for faceless prospects and salary relief. Tracing the roots of a trade tree doesn’t excite “average” fans like a competitive club on the field does - the sooner the better.

Getting as much as they can for Tulowitzki while his value is highest is the best way Colorado can jumpstart their rebuilding process. But blowing up and starting over doesn’t appear to be in the cards for the Rockies.

And so they’re stuck - stuck as one of the worst teams in baseball trying to make it work with kids and a few great players in the most extreme park in baseball. While the rest of baseball struggles to generate any offense, the Rockies cannot make it work in the one place offense still rules.

Trading Tulowitzki is their chance to infuse the lineup with the kind of talent they require to get over the hump. They aren’t going to outspend the Dodgers or Giants, and the Padres are just as likely to unlock the prospect development secrets.

Colorado must do something. Standing still isn’t an option and yet it appears the most likely outcome. Failing to capitalize on a 30-year old superstar on the trading block is an opportunity  they cannot squander, yet the Rockies franchise history suggests betting on any other outcome is a fool’s errand.