Rumors have begun to swirl that Colorado Rockies ace Ubaldo Jimenez is on the trading block. The Rockies are 8 1/2 games behind the first-place San Francisco Giants in the NL West, so the reality is they will listen to offers. Jimenez would come at a fairly steep price, and it appears as if the Yankees might have players who could interest the Rockies. The Rockies recently scouted the Yankees’ triple-A and double-A teams and showed interest in three of their top prospects, including pitchers Manuel Banuelos an Dellin Betances. While these young prospects may turn out to be great players, this would be a major disappointment for Rockies fans.
The Colorado Rockies have never had a pitcher as dominant as Jimenez and need to keep him. He went 19-8 with a 2.88 ERA last year and pitched the Rockies’ first no-hitter. He’s had a slow start this year, but lately has begun to get back to his dominant ways. If Jimenez can get close to what he did in the first half of last year, when he was 15-1 before starting in the All-Star Game, he shouldn’t be dealt. He’s under contract for the next three years for $17.95 million, which is reasonable in major-league terms.
At Thursday night’s game, there were scouts from 17 teams in the stands to watch Jimenez pitch. The fact that the front-runner in the Ubaldo sweepstakes seems to be the Yankees makes it even worse for Rockies fans. It’s bad enough to possibly loose the ace, but it would hurt even more to see him in New York wearing the hated pinstripes. Let’s hope Rockies general manager Dan O’Dowd does the right thing and keeps him in Colorado.
