Why It'd Be Foolish to Make Blockbuster Troy Tulowitzki Trade This Winter

For the first time in forever, the Colorado Rockies have indicated they are willing to listen on Troy Tulowitzki, as Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports reported earlier in the offseason.

But after years of doing just the opposite, the idea that they actually would trade their star shortstop now—while he's still recovering from yet another serious injury—is rather hard to believe.

Already saddled with the "injury-prone" label prior to last year, Tulowitzki had surgery in August to repair a torn labrum in his left hip, a procedure that ended what was shaping up to be perhaps his best season and requires an extensive rehabilitation and recovery process.

"I'm looking forward to getting back and playing the game I love," Tulowitzki told reporters at the time. "I will do everything I can to perform at a high level for the rest of my career. This should answer a lot of the leg issues I have had in my past."

While leg issues have been a recurring problem, that's only part of why Tulowitzki, now 30, has missed so much time over the years.

In fact, he's averaged just 117 games in his eight "full" seasons in the majors and played more than 126 games only thrice. Tulowitzki has also spent time on the disabled list in each of the past three seasons.

The most recent report on his recovery and rehab indicates everything is going to plan and on schedule, according to Patrick Saunders of The Denver Post.

However, this latest injury isn't exactly the kind that bodes well for Tulowitzki's chances either to stay at shortstop long-term or stay healthy for a full season going forward. While his bat is elite (.299/.373/.519 career triple-slash line), Tulowitzki does generate a great amount of value from his ability to handle a premium—and demanding—up-the-middle position.

Combine all that with the fact that Tulowitzki's salary is about to jump to $20 million a year for each of the next five seasons—he's owed at least $114 million through 2020—and that he can be traded without his consent only once while under contract, and it's easy to see why his value is just about at its absolute nadir right now.

Timing is everything here for the Rockies. Tulowitzki's value on the trade market went from a peak to perhaps its lowest point ever in the short amount of time it took for him to go from stud All-Star starter and Home Run Derby captain in July to season-ending surgery in August.

Rockies general manager Jeff Bridich continues to insist that were the club to trade Tulowitzki, it only would be for full value.

That's the right way for Bridich to approach this, but that also means a deal will not happen at this point—not when Tulowitzki is still recovering and not before he gets back on the field and proves he's healthy and his usual productive self.

Once—if?—that happens, however, it's going to be interesting to see how Bridich and Co. play this.

"I don't think there is any reason to rush into anything or panic. ... When you rush into things or act in a hasty way, it doesn't work out," Bridich told MLB.com's Thomas Harding.

There's a strong argument to make that for all Tulowitzki means to the Rockies franchise, the club still hasn't won more than 74 games since 2010 and is better off trading him for as much of a return as can be had in order to get out from under that contract while he's healthy.

After all, knowing Tulowitzki, who knows how long that will last?

Statistics are accurate through the 2014 season and courtesy of MLB.com, Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs unless otherwise noted. Contract information courtesy of Spotrac.

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