DENVER, COLORADO – JUNE 11: Nolan Jones #22 of the Colorado Rockies celebrates after hitting a walk … More
Not a lot has gone right for the Colorado Rockies over the last several years. Now one of their brightest hopes has officially been extinguished. Yesterday, they sent outfielder Nolan Jones back to the Cleveland Guardians in exchange for utilityman Tyler Freeman according to Thomas Harding of MLB.com.
Jones came up through the Guardians system and debuted with Cleveland in 2022. They traded him to Colorado the following offseason for minor league second baseman Juan Brito. He flourished unexpectedly in Coors Field in 2023, batting .297/.389/.542 over 424 plate appearances. His 142 OPS+ indicated his offense was 42% above the league average.
He was expected to be the focal point of the Rockies lineup in 2024, but back problems curtailed his production. He only hit .227/.321/.320 over 297 plate appearances with a 75 OPS+. Hopes for a full recovery were dashed this spring, as he has batted just .234 with no home runs in 50 plate appearances so far.
Since he’s out of minor league options, he can’t be demoted without being exposed to waivers. The trade likely signifies the Rockies didn’t intend to keep him. He will vie for playing time in right field with Will Brennan and Jhonkensy Noel in Cleveland.
Freeman fills a more prominent need for the Rockies that has recently arisen. They signed Thairo Estrada this year to be their starting second baseman on a one-year, $4 million contract, but he suffered a fractured wrist on Thursday that will keep him out for a long while. The club will use Freeman and fellow utilityman Kyle Farmer to fill the void.
Freeman came up through the minors with Jones in Cleveland and debuted in 2022 as well. Unlike Jones, he has never experienced an offensive breakout and probably never will. In 637 plate appearances over three years, he has a .223/.304/.329 batting line and an 80 OPS+. His best asset is his versatility, having lined up at least 27 times each at second base, third base, shortstop, and center field.
The best player in either of the two Nolan Jones trades between Cleveland and Colorado may turn out to be Brito. In Triple-A last year, he batted .256/.365/.443 with 21 home runs and he landed on the back of a few top 100 prospect lists this year. If all goes according to plan, he will claim the Guardians second base job at some pint this season.
Cleveland will have little difficulty replacing Freeman. They have several other utility players to fill his bench role, including Gabriel Arias, Angel Martínez, and Daniel Schneemann. The Rockies lineup looks much more empty though. Instead of hoping for rebound years from Jones and Estrada, they will now rely on two veteran bench players at second base and an underwhelming corner outfield composite Jordan Beck, Sean Bouchard, and Sam Hilliard.
If Rockies fans are looking for a silver lining, outfield prospect Zac Veen was named the team’s spring MVP with a .298/.375/.509 batting line. He was a high draft pick in 2020 who cruised through the low minors but stagnated at the higher levels over the last two years. Spring statistics should never be taken at face value, but perhaps he has turned a corner in his development.
Yet there’s no ignoring the fact that the Rockies would’ve loved to have Brito penciled in as their second baseman this year. The fact that they gave him up for Jones two years ago, but had to accept a second baseman with far less upside to return him shows how far the former slugger has fallen. It also represents another series of transactions in which Colorado gets the short end of the deal.
