Rockies reportedly interested in Wade Davis and Zach Britton to replace Greg Holland

With Greg Holland rejecting the qualifying offer they extended and becoming a free agent, the Rockies need a new closer. That’s how baseball works. You lose a closer, you have to call around and see which lucky contestant wants to pitch at Coors Field in high-stress situations.

Should be easy, right?

MLB Network’s Jon Morosi is now reporting that the Rockies have expressed interest in Wade Davis and Zach Britton, the former also a free agent who rejected a qualifying offer and the latter a common name in trade rumors throughout last season who didn’t end up getting traded when it was all said and done.

Both are worthy pursuits for the Rockies, and while it will be tough to replace what Holland did for them this year, either Davis or Britton could do it.

Based on how stingy the Orioles were with Britton during the season (almost trading him to the Astros but pulling back based on the lack of top prospects they would have received in return), common sense would say Davis is the easier get because all they have to do is pay him enough money that he won’t care that the elevation in Colorado might tank his stats.

Britton is arbitration eligible in 2018 and expected to make about $15 million, which would be well within the Rockies’ budget when it comes to a reliable closer. He had a 2.89 ERA in 37.1 innings, with a 1.527 WHIP. His numbers were down across the board from 2016 — his 2017 WHIP was almost double the previous year’s number — thanks to time on the 60-day DL and lingering injuries.

If he bounces back in any meaningful way and avoids those injuries, he could be just the fit for the Rockies as long as they can talk the Orioles off their “top five prospects” ledge.

Davis, meanwhile, put up a 2.30 ERA in 58.2 innings for the Cubs, with a 1.9 WAR. His playoff heroics might overshadow what he did throughout the season, but he was good. With a 3.67 career FIP, he would also fit right in on the Rockies and the environment wouldn’t ruin his dominance all that much. Hopefully. Because it’s really fun to watch Davis shut down batters late in the game.

Neither of these guys could be in purple in 2018 though, as Colorado might end up just bringing Holland back on a multiyear deal. He was dominant for them for most of the season, with a slump in August that dragged his season line down from amazing to merely great.

As Purple Row recapped it when the season ended:

Holland’s first 42 appearances in a Rockies uniform were a dream. He was mowing down hitters, holding them to a .168/.263/.255 slash line while striking out nearly 12 batters per nine innings. Through those 42 appearances, Holland rated 11th out of 390 pitchers with at least 500 pitches thrown by Statcast’s xwOBA metric. After that, eight appearances turned his elite season into merely a good one.

Interest is interest though. And with the Hot Stove lukewarm so far, we’re going to report on interest.

If the Rockies went from Holland to either of these options, their pitching staff wouldn’t skip a beat. That would be ideal, but so many things could happen between now and whenever this duo signs that this might all be a moot point in the end.