Rox acquire four prospects from Cards for Arenado
The Colorado Rockies are wagering a lot on trading one of their best players in franchise history. Now, they know the package that will try to make the deal worthwhile. Colorado has acquired third baseman Elehuris Montero (St. Louis’ No. 8 prospect), right-handed pitcher Tony Locey (No. 19), shortstop Mateo
The Colorado Rockies are wagering a lot on trading one of their best players in franchise history. Now, they know the package that will try to make the deal worthwhile.
Colorado has acquired third baseman
#Rockies receive infielder Mateo Gil, left-handed pitcher Austin Gomber, right-handed pitcher Tony Locey, infielder Elehuris Montero and right-handed pitcher Jake Sommers from the #Cardinals in exchange for third baseman Nolan Arenado and cash considerations.
— Thomas Harding (@harding_at_mlb) February 2, 2021
Montero is the prize of the deal for the Rockies and is the closest player to the big leagues among the prospect group. The 22-year-old signed with the Cardinals in August of 2014 and played 59 games at Double-A Springfield in his most recent Minor League season. There, Montero batted .188/.235/.317 with seven homers but struggled with injuries, including a broken left hamate bone that put him out of action for two months. The Santo Domingo native’s bat is his calling card. In 2018, his first full Minor League season, Montero batted .315/.371/.504 with 16 homers and 82 RBIs over 127 games between Class A Peoria and Class A Advanced Palm Beach, earning Midwest League MVP honors in the process. MLB Pipeline rates his hit tool as a 50 on the 20-to-80 scouting scale and his power as a 55. Listed at 6-foot-3 and 235 pounds, he has the potential for big time power but also experienced big time K’s in Double-A, with a 30 percent strikeout rate.
A third-round pick out of Georgia in the 2019 MLB First-Year Player Draft, Locey has only pitched out of the bullpen in his brief professional career. The right-hander posted a 5.29 ERA in 12 relief appearances between the Rookie-level GCL Cardinals and Class A Peoria in 2019 but struck out an impressive 31 batters in 17 innings pitched. Locey regularly works in the mid-90s with his fastball velocity, touching 98 mph. While he both started and relieved in college for the Bulldogs, Pipeline believes his heater “figures to hit 100 mph if he works shorter stints out of the bullpen.” The 22-year-old also works with a plus slider and serviceable curveball in addition to a developing changeup.
Shortstop Gil is the youngest of the group at 20 and went to the Cards in the third round out of a Texas high school in 2018. Aside from two games in the Florida State League the following year, he’s played exclusively in short-season ball, batting .251/.340/.316 in 45 GCL contests during his Draft year and .270/.324/.431 with seven homers and 30 RBIs for Rookie-level Johnson City in 2019. The son of former Major Leaguer Benji Gil, the shortstop “is solid in all facets of the game,” according to Pipeline’s evaluation, and is “a natural at shortstop,” where he’s played exclusively in his 94 games. Gil’s 55-grade arm is his best-rated individual tool, but his all-around polish stands out.
The Cardinals selected Sommers out of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in the 10th round of the 2019 Draft. In 12 games (10 starts) that year with Johnson City, the righty put up a 4.18 ERA and struck out 55 in 51 2/3 innings.
Tyler Maun is a reporter for MiLB.com and co-host of “The Show Before The Show” podcast. You can find him on Twitter @tylermaun.