It Still Makes Sense for the Rockies to Trade Hunter Goodman
Hunter Goodman has established himself as one of MLB's top catchers. But what's the best path forward for the Rockies and their All-Star catcher?
I don’t believe it’s a hot take when I say that production from the catcher’s position is few and far between across the league. This isn’t anything new, either. The degree of volatility wavers so much from year to year that it’s hard to claim your favorite team has one of the best catchers in baseball.
However, there does seem to be a handful who can make that claim.
Per FanGraphs, there were only nine qualified players at the position who registered an fWAR above zero. The list of those players can be seen below.
Then, when you take a closer look at the list, you realize that some of these players, for the most part, were not penciled into the lineup as their team’s starting catcher.
Despite the lack of overall team success, the Colorado Rockies have stumbled upon what seems to be one of the best catchers in the league in Hunter Goodman.
Goodman is coming off a season in which he appeared in 138 games, starting behind the plate in 99 of them. He hit .246/.310/.529 with 41 home runs and 88 runs driven in, ranking seventh in the league with his 2.5 fWAR.
I know what you’re going to say after reading those stats: “Yeah, but Coors Field!”
Well, I hate to break it to the haters and the skeptics… whispers Hunter Goodman was better on the road than he was at home.
I will acknowledge the elephant in the room. His defense is not great. According to Baseball Savant, Goodman ranked comfortably in the bottom half of the league in the four major categories they generate percentiles for.
Now that we’ve got that out of the way, we have the million-dollar question: Should the Rockies still look to trade Goodman? The answer is undoubtedly yes.
As I stated previously, the catcher position is a barren one, and because of that, the return for one of the league’s best should be one with the potential to truly jumpstart a team’s rebuild. This is obviously incredibly dependent on a team’s ability to scout opposing talent when putting together a trade, but the point stands.
Leading up to the trade deadline this season, it was no secret that Goodman’s name was popular in the rumor mill. Given the current state of the Rockies and their need to build their roster back up under President of Baseball Operations Paul DePodesta, moving off the few assets they have to construct a sustainable winner should be the direction they head.
We have seen Goodman’s name linked to teams like the Red Sox before they acquired Adley Rutschman, the Pirates, and, most recently, the Tampa Bay Rays, who are currently representing the American League in the World Series. Given how much smoke there is, I’d be just short of guaranteeing that Hunter Goodman will be calling a team other than the Colorado Rockies home when the 2027 season begins.
The impending lockout is surely going to throw a wrench into when a potential trade could happen. Given the magnitude of a deal like this, there will likely be a lot of back-and-forth once teams are allowed to make moves again.
The 2027 offseason also marks the first time Goodman will enter arbitration. According to Just Baseball’s latest arbitration predictions, Goodman is projected to earn around $5.4 million for the upcoming season. Nonetheless, three full seasons of control are surely going to be an attractive part of a deal for the young catcher.
The $5.4 million is a steal for that production. Given how much production Goodman could potentially bring to a new lineup, it’s hard to justify him sliding in behind the Keibert Ruizes and Kyle Higashokas of the league. We’re talking about a catcher entering his age-27 season who has already slugged 86 home runs in four seasons, with the last two being the only ones in which he was a full-time player.
History of Notable Catcher Trades
Given the rarity of notable catcher trades over the years, I wanted to take a deeper look into just how few there have been that have proven to be impactful moves.
I previously mentioned the Adley deal that sent him from Baltimore to Boston at this season’s deadline. Aside from that, we have had a few others that stand out.
In 2022, the Diamondbacks and Toronto Blue Jays made a deal that sent Dalton Varsho to the Blue Jays for Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Gabriel Moreno. At the time, it looked as if the Blue Jays were trying to take advantage of the surplus they had at the catcher position, with Alejandro Kirk and Danny Jansen also on the roster, to bolster their outfield with the addition of Varsho. At the time, it looked like a good deal for both parties, but given the season Gabriel Moreno just had, it seems as if the D-backs are going to come out well on top. Moreno is already looking like one of the league’s best.
That same 2022 season gave us two other deals, both of which fall more into the “blockbuster” category. William Contreras was traded from the Atlanta Braves to the Milwaukee Brewers in a three-team deal that sent Sean Murphy from Oakland (at the time) to Atlanta. Seeing how their careers have panned out, it’s safe to say that was a whiff on the Braves’ part.
Then came one where the Braves came out a little more on top, depending on which side you’re on. Atlanta was looking to acquire its successor to Freddie Freeman and sought out Athletics first baseman Matt Olson. In acquiring him, they sent out another catching prospect. Shea Langeliers was moved over to the A’s and now, like Goodman, falls into the “better young catchers” category in the league today.
The last trade I wanted to mention is one I feel best represents the current situation of the Rockies. In 2019, the Miami Marlins were still in limbo and searching for ways to build up their farm system given the state of their team. The Marlins and Phillies agreed to a deal to send J.T. Realmuto to Philadelphia for top pitching prospect Sixto Sanchez, their current young catcher and former top prospect Jorge Alfaro, and minor league pitcher Will Stewart.
At the time, Realmuto was seen across the league as not only a popular trade piece but arguably the best catcher in baseball. While Goodman doesn’t fit the bill for the second part of that statement, I don’t think there’s much to argue against him being one of the most popular trade chips available.
Needless to say, despite what those deals have amounted to today, the cost of acquisition was not light. The Rockies, if they handle this right, should come away with a package that puts them in a prime position to begin crawling out of rebuild status.
Look, I am not one to advocate for teams to tear down their rosters from the studs. I do not like fire sales; I despise owners crying poor to justify moves, and I surely am not calling for the immediate trade of Goodman. Rockies fans have endured enough over the years and are deserving of a winner.
Unfortunately, the current state of their team isn’t one that is going to bring Rocktober back to Colorado. Moving Hunter Goodman now could be the final part of the “teardown” and launch them forward into competing for a postseason spot.
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Cristian has been at Just Baseball since 2021, when he first started writing about prospects. He spent eight years working in Major League Baseball with the…