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Rockies made excellent offseason trade with Yankees that could expedite rebuild
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- Rockies made excellent offseason trade with Yankees that could expedite rebuild
Rockies made excellent offseason trade with Yankees that could expedite rebuild originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here .
The Colorado Rockies are in a long rebuilding phase.
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Players like Hunter Goodman and Cole Carrigg should make Rockies fans feel better about the direction the club is headed.
Another position player Rockies fans should be excited about is TJ Rumfield.
The 26-year-old had a tremendous first season as Colorado's everyday first baseman after an offseason trade from the New York Yankees .
"The Rockies acquired Rumfield from the Yankees in exchange for reliever Angel Chivilli, and he ended up staking a claim to their wide-open first base competition during spring training," Bleacher Report's Joel Reuter wrote.
It's safe to say that Rumfield exceeded expectations and then some.
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"His .390 on-base percentage topped the NL leaderboard, and he was one of only seven qualified hitters with a .300 batting average," Reuter added.
Rumfield also connected for 16 home runs and drove in 73 runs to go along with his 3.3 bWAR in 155 games.
Chivilli showed flashes of potential with the Yankees thanks to a nasty changeup but was mostly used in a middle relief role.
The right-hander posted a 3.78 ERA and struck out 16 batters in 16.2 regular season innings.
MORE: How Randal Grichuk has been a ' godsend ' for the White Sox after Yankees release
Before the trade, Chivilli became one of the many pitchers who struggle to keep the ball in the yard at Coors Field.
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He's in a better spot with the Yankees, and Rumfield is in a much better place with the Rockies.
With Ben Rice at first base, there was no path to playing time for Rumfield on New York's Major League roster.
