This story was excerpted from Thomas Harding's Rockies Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
CLEVELAND -- Even with the occasional rough moments, the Rockies believe the introduction of young relief pitchers has been a bright spot in a difficult season.
Their Trade Deadline activity assured that they will keep introducing relievers to the Majors.
Tyler Kinley, 34, packed his 319 appearances over eight seasons when traded to the Braves, while Jake Bird, 29 and with 188 appearances over four seasons with the Rockies, went to the Yankees.
These trades and the deal that sent third baseman Ryan McMahon to the Yankees netted five prospects -- with second baseman Roc Riggio, lefty starting pitcher Ben Shields and righty reliever Austin Smith headed for Double-A Hartford, and lefty starter Griffin Herring and righty starter Josh Grosz joining High-A Spokane.
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It means that Jimmy Herget, 31, with 167 Major League appearances, is far and away the leader in experience in the Rockies’ pen. But general manager Bill Schmidt believes the talent of the current group will pay off for the Rockies.
"They have good arms,” Schmidt said. “You lose Bird and Kinley that brought experience. Our most experienced guy is Jimmy Herget. There are guys in the bullpen right now that have real, physical ability.
Seth Halvorsen, the closer, and Victor Vodnik, the primary setup man, were popular requests from other teams before Thursday’s deadline, and Juan Mejia attracted scouting attention. But there wasn’t the ransom that the Athletics received for Mason Miller -- the only MLB reliever who has thrown harder than Halvorsen this year -- and lefty JP Sears. The A’s received No. 3 overall MLB Pipeline prospect Leo De Vries, plus three other prospects, from San Diego.
“Victor Vodnik has two years of experience. Seth Halvorsen has a year. So there will be some growing pains, but we do think the upside is pretty good. There are some other guys coming, too, that we like.”