Troy Tulowitzki sounds like he wants to be traded to a contender

By both versions of Wins Above Replacement, found at FanGraphs and at Baseball Reference, Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki has been the National League’s most valuable player. Tulo’s great season, however, has been wasted as the slumping Rockies -- having won only three of their previous 19 games -- are now 37-51, just a game and a half ahead of the Diamondbacks for last place in the NL West.

As non-contending teams are wont to do, the Rockies will consider trading some of their expensive, established veterans to acquire younger players in order to compete in future seasons. Among the trade candidates are Tulowitzki and outfielder Carlos Gonzalez. As Mark Kiszla of the Denver Post reports, the shortstop misses the feel of competitive baseball:

“In Todd Helton, there’s someone who’s easy to look at his career here and how it played out. I have the utmost respect for Todd, but at the same time, I don’t want to be the next in line as somebody who was here for a long time and didn’t have a chance to win every single year,” said Tulowitzki, reviewing the 17 years Helton spent as the face of a franchise that never won a division title. “He played in a couple postseason games and went to one World Series. But that’s not me. I want to be somewhere where there’s a chance to be in the playoffs every single year.”

Over the past seven seasons since Tulowitzki became the Rockies’ everyday shortstop, the Rockies have made the playoffs twice: they were swept in the 2007 World Series by the Red Sox, and they were knocked out in the 2009 NLDS by the Phillies in four games. The club has won 74 or fewer games four times and appear to be well on their way to a fifth this season. One can understand Tulowitzki’s frustration.

Tulowitzki, 29, leads the league in all three triple-slash categories at .350/.441/.608. He has hit 18 home runs and driven in 47 runs, along with his usual Gold Glove-caliber defense. Tulowitzki is earning $16 million this season and is still owed $20 million in each season between 2015-19. He’ll earn $14 million in 2020 and has a $15 million 2021 club option with a $4 million buyout.

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