Ian Desmond's five-year, $70 million contract with Colorado came out of nowhere, and I find it baffling to see this team invest this kind of money and cough up a first-round pick on a player they don't need and who has not performed well over his past three seasons.
It makes zero sense for the Rockies to give up their first-round pick for any free agent right now, much less for a mediocre one like Desmond, who hit all of .237/.283/.347 in the second half of 2016 -- very much in line with how he hit for all of 2015.
Desmond has a career OBP of .316, and his past three seasons were .335 in 2016, .290 in 2015 and .313 in 2014. He's just not a good or patient hitter, and he doesn't have enough power to make up for it. At one point, he appeared to be a playable shortstop, but as the Rangers moved him around the field last year, it became clear that he's not a centerfielder.
The Rockies may play him in left field or at first base, and his bat isn't adequate to either position. To give him a five-year deal for his age 31-35 seasons, when the team isn't contending now and will become contenders as he's declining, is mind-boggling. Their farm system is strong, and supplementing it is smart, but not with a player who has not performed well, doesn't address a specific need and costs them the 11th pick in the 2017 draft and all of the associated bonus pool money.
The signing does open up some trade possibilities for the Rockies, given their surfeit of outfield options. David Dahl has to play every day, given his ability and production last year. Raimel Tapia could play in the majors this year after a strong Double-A season and brief major league debut, although he could also spend part of 2017 in Triple-A just given his lack of experience above the Eastern League. No matter what you do with Tapia, however, either Carlos Gonzalez (one year, $20 million) or Charlie Blackmon (two years of arbitration eligibility) just became expendable, and perhaps both.
Blackmon is coming off an All-Star caliber, 4.4 WAR season where he even hit left-handed pitching and hit well away from Coors, and his value is probably never going to be higher. He could return more pitching for a team that can truly never have enough, even with the tremendous young arms they have in their rotation and on the way.
Moving Gonzalez might bring a lesser return, but they could clear the $20 million he's owed, and the new CBA means the draft-pick return they could get if they make him a qualifying offer and lose him as a free agent is less than they're likely to get by trading him now and reinvesting the money in other players.