Rockies owner says they have no plans to trade Troy Tulowitzki

While speaking with the New York Post on Thursday, Rockies co-owner Charlie Monfort says the team has no immediate plans to trade shortstop Troy Tulowitzki to the Mets or anywhere else:

"It’s not happening. I can’t speak for him, but yeah, we want him. I think he’s strong and he’s worked hard and he’ll be back. He’ll be Tulo of old."

Tulowitzki, 30, hit .340/.432/.603 last season for Colorado, but missed most of the second half after undergoing surgery on his left hip.

The Mets and Rockies have discussed Tulowitzki at times this offseason, but no deal has ever been reported as being close.

Thoughts:

Up until this offseason, it had been reported that Charlie Monfort and his brother Dick, co-owners of the Rockies, had been preventing their baseball operations team from exploring any deal that would ship Tulowitzki out of Colorado.

When this offseason began, there were reports that Rockies ownership was finally willing to allow the baseball operations team to explore a potential trade of Tulowitzki, but perhaps they’ve changed their stance.

Another possibility is that the Rockies’ reported asking price for Tulowitzki is so astronomical that it makes no sense for Colorado to move him until he proves that he’s healthy. With ownership’s prior reluctance to allow a Tulowitzki trade, it would make sense for them to want to either receive an enormous haul for him or keep him.

The Rockies have reportedly been been asking for multiple top prospects for Tulowitzki and for any acquiring team to absorb the entire $118 million Tulowitzki has owed to him through 2020. No team has been willing to meet that price.

Could the Mets throw caution to the wind and meet Colorado’s asking price in terms of players and dollars? Sure. But that would be an incredibly reckless thing to do unless Tulowitzki first proves his health. Even if Tulowitzki proves he’s healthy, there would be two potential roadblocks standing in the Mets’ way.

The first, is that there are serious doubts as to whether the Mets can afford to take on Tulowitzki’s entire salary. The second, is that a healthy Tulowitzki would draw much more interest on the market than he’s drawing currently.

For now, Tulowitzki remains in Colorado and the Mets remain a team set to trot out Wilmer Flores as their starting shortstop.