Originally posted by BigJonEmpire
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2) The Rockies viewed White as a malcontent. He was never on board with the funky four-man rotation experiment - I don't fault him for that - but his constant public complaining about it (and other rumored clubhouse politicking and grumbling) didn't endear him to the organization. He was deemed to not be a fit for the "character counts" culture they're trying to maintain. Take all that with the usual grain of salt.
3) White was unlikely to crack the rotation this year. As bad as Colorado's starting pitching was last year, White's performance didn't place him in the running, barring the collapse of multiple starters in front of him on the depth chart. And he didn't want to pitch out of the pen. In fact, he might not even have found a place in The Rockies' bullpen, which is actually pretty stacked.
On the surface, it does seem odd to trade from an area of weakness to load up an area of strength. You can fault the club for not developing White properly, but, having given up on him, they were right to trade him before another dismal season in Colorado reduced his value any further (see Stewart, Ian). Personally, I like the return in Wilton Lopez, concerns about his elbow notwithstanding. Lopez' low walk rate and high ground ball ratio profile well in Colorado, and he's a cost-controlled asset that we can use (or trade at an opportune time) for the next three years.
This could be one of those trades that works out for both sides. Here's hoping...
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