A person who knows Troy Tulowitzki told Jon Heyman of CBS Sports that Tulo would prefer to be traded to the Dodgers, Giants, Angels, or Yankees. However, he would be okay with going to the Mets, Red Sox, or Cardinals.
Heyman writes that the Rockies tried hard this winter to engage the Mets, and at one time there was allegedly at least a bit of long-shot talk of a deal that would have possibly involved Noah Syndergaard.
However, Heyman now hears that Syndergaard and Steven Matz are virtually untouchable, and they still like Wilmer Flores, who’s looking serviceable, at shortstop.
“Not interested,” came the word from one Mets connected person.
Tulowitzki met with his agent and some Rockies higher-ups Thursday and did not ask to be traded. In fact, they called Joel Sherman’s report erroneous.
“The one thing I do want to make clear is that I don’t know where the talk came from of me demanding a trade,” Tulowitzki said.
“There is no talk like that and never has been. And my relationship with the Rockies … we never wanted it to get to that point.”
Additionally, late last night, Rockies general manager Jeff Bridich blasted the New York Post report about a possible Troy Tulowitzki trade, calling all the recent buzz a “complete East Coast media production.” (Denver Post)
“What’s gone on the last few days, especially the last 72 hours, really has a been a media production, more than anything else,” Bridich said.
Bridich said the most frustrating part was that he didn’t want his players to “face the constant questioning and badgering” from the media.
Tulowitzki has approximately $109MM in guaranteed salary remaining on his contract through the 2020 season, plus a $4MM buyout of his $15MM club option for 2021 and an extra $2MM assignment bonus if he’s traded during the course of the deal.
Last night, Tulowitzki left the game after he pulled up lame running to first on a groundout. The Rockies are calling it left quadriceps tightness and listed him as day to day.
