If the Rockies signed Ian Desmond to play 1st base, it’s a horrible waste

The Rockies are going for it. This is what they should do. They’ve finally cobbled together a young rotation, and they have one of the better lineups in the National League already. Now they’ve signed Ian Desmond to a five-year, $70 million contract, and their plan is to score more than the other guys, just like it used to be. They can’t buy the pitchers they want, so it would be a wise plan. In theory.

What we need to know, though, is just how the Rockies are going to use Desmond. The early reports are baffling. The plan is to plop Desmond at first base, which would be an incredible waste of a defensive utility knife. It would stuck away a lot of his value, turning him from a hackier Ben Zobrist into a hitter who’s a lot closer to Ike Davis.

If you want an Ike Davis, I can get you an Ike Davis, and it will cost you $65 million, tops. Let me make a few calls.

But it’s an impossible move to judge just yet, because we don’t really know what the Rockies are thinking. We’ll have to grade it on the What Are the Rockies Planning? scale.

What a waste. Here are Desmond’s OPS+ figures from the last five years:

2012 - 125 (age 26)
2013 - 113 (age 27)
2014 - 103 (age 28)
2015 - 82 (age 29)
2016 - 104 (age 30)

Pretty good for a shortstop. Pretty good for a plus defensive center fielder. It would also rank 25th over the last five years among first basemen with more than 1,000 plate appearances. Park-adjusted, Desmond’s offense isn’t much different than Yonder Alonso’s or Mitch Moreland’s. You can get a first baseman to hit like this for far cheaper than $70 million. You can get a first baseman to hit like Desmond has for a tenth of that, and probably get one in his mid-20s so he’s not as much of a threat to decline.

Using Desmond at first base would be unconscionably silly. It would be like buying a Playstation 4 and using it to store one very thin slice of bread.

This makes a lot more sense, and a potential move to first was already the subject of a July article on MLB.com.

“My mom says I’m a better first baseman than outfielder,” Gonzalez said. “Three Gold Gloves, and she still thinks I’m a better first baseman.

That article makes it seem like Gonzalez isn’t nervous or annoyed at the suggestion, but open-minded and even eager. It would probably be easier on his body, which hasn’t had the easiest time of it. While this effectively makes the lineup change identical to using Desmond at first — same players in the lineup, just different letters next to their name in the pre-game graphic — Gonzalez is a long way from those Gold Glove seasons. He’s a little creakier, and the outfield is hard on his body. Desmond in the outfield would a) improve the defense and b) help keep Gonzalez in the lineup.

If/when Gonzalez leaves as a free agent after the 2017 season? Slide Desmond into right field and work on Eric Hosmer, Carlos Santana, or even Matt Holliday in free agency. It delays the real long-term solution at first for a year, which is fine. At least the team is a little better in the interim.

This wouldn’t make sense, either. The 30-year-old Blackmon just came off a career year, hitting .324/.381/.552, and he won’t be a free agent until after the 2018 season. In theory, he should be valuable and the Rockies would be selling high. Except there are still plenty of outfielders on the free agent market, and the demand is low. This would be a way to recoup the draft pick lost by signing Desmond, but probably with a lesser prospect or two.

Even if you think Blackmon’s 2016 season was a fluke, that would still mean he’s roughly the same hitter as Desmond, just a year younger and a lot cheaper. That would mean the Rockies are making a lateral move just to secure Desmond’s 33- through 35-year-old seasons at $14 million annually. And that’s if you don’t buy Blackmon’s breakout year.

This makes more sense than the last option. The young rotation is promising, but they could use at least one more anchor. Even if the Rockies wanted to spend, spend, spend on the open market, pitchers generally aren’t keen on pitching at the open hellmouth growling at them in every one of their night terrors. And don’t forget that there aren’t any starting pitchers on the market worth a substantial deal.

That leaves trades, and if the Rockies would prefer to keep their best prospects, maybe that’s the right alternative. If they wanted to trade within their division, I’m sure the Dodgers would welcome Blackmon, and they have pitchers and prospects to deal. If the Nationals make a move for Jose Quintana, it’s likely that they’ll ease the logjam in the rotation with a deal, and they still need an outfielder.

It seems like an iffy thing to count on, though. Not unless the Rockies are already deep in conversations with a team hungry for Blackmon.

Well, now you’ve made the fans sad and the lineup worse. There had to be a cheaper way to do that.

We’re almost two decades removed from the 2000 Rockies, the peak of silliness. Players worked out just a ton compared to the modern player, so they were much bigger. The ballparks played smaller. And Coors Field would gargle with your soul and spit it down the drain.

I wrote more about it here, but all you need to know is that Masato Yoshii had a 99 ERA+ and a 5.86 ERA. The Rockies allowed 897 runs and finished over .500, which is something that might never happen again.

The plan to bludgeon other teams is a good one. And the 2017 Rockies should have the lineup to do it.

But Desmond at first instead of Mark Trumbo or Edwin Encarnacion would be an expensive experiment, even if he moves the right way on the defensive spectrum in the coming years. It just wouldn’t make sense.

Hold off on judging it, though, because there are ways Desmond in Coors Field can make sense. We just haven’t heard the Rockies acknowledge them yet.