ROCKIES ADD VETERAN CATCHER LUCROY
The Colorado Rockies acquired catcher Jonathan Lucroy from the Texas Rangers for a player to be named later (Pedro Gonzalez - 08/23/2017).
What does it give the Colorado Rockies
The Rockies are still in the thick of the NL Wild Card race, currently sitting in the second (and final) wild card position, so adding free-agent-to-be Lucroy makes sense at this time. He is a quality catcher who should be an upgrade over Tony Wolters and Ryan Hanigan for Colorado, despite the fact the 31-year-old Lucroy is batting just .242 with four home runs and 27 runs batted in this season. The Rox hope Lucroy can get red-hot with the bat down the stretch.
What does it give the Texas Rangers
For the Rangers, this move was probably a difficult decision. After all, they are still only 5.5 games behind the second AL Wild Card berth. That said, Lucroy was expected to leave via free agency this winter so Texas did the reasonable move by sending him to Colorado for a prospect to be named later. It is not a big return for a starting catcher, but the Rangers obviously did not like their chances to re-sign Lucroy (or never had any intention of doing so).
Fantasy impact
This deal is good news for Robinson Chirinos, who once again inherits the starting catcher role for Texas, and bad news for Wolters (who returns to backup duties with the Rockies). As for Lucroy, expect him to get a little spike in fantasy value with a move to a contender in the National League (and the move to Coors Field in Denver).
