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Colorado Rockies outfielder Carlos Gonzalez left Monday’s game against the Texas Rangers due to a nagging ankle injury, and it is uncertain when he will return to action.

Continue for updates.

Gonzalez Receives MRI; Timeline for Return Revealed 

Tuesday, Aug. 9

Rockies manager Walt Weiss confirmed Gonzalez had an MRI and the results were “OK,” but he’ll “likely” miss more games, according to Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post. 

Saunders previously confirmed Gonzalez was not in the starting lineup against Texas.

Gonzalez’s Ankle Flares Up

Monday, Aug. 8

Gonzalez left before his at-bat in the second inning due to inflammation in his left ankle, according to Thomas Harding of MLB.com, who noted Gonzalez originally sprained his ankle on Aug. 3. Gonzalez hasn’t appeared in two of the four games since suffering the injury last week.

Gonzalez’s Absence Will Hamper Rockies’ Offense

This would be a significant blow to the Rockies offense if Gonzalez is out for an extended period of time. He and Nolan Arenado have provided the pop in the order ever since Colorado traded Troy Tulowitzki to the Toronto Blue Jays in 2015, and Gonzalez’s power from the left side adds balance to the lineup at Coors Field.

Heading into Monday night, Gonzalez had a .321 average with 23 home runs, 76 RBI and a .371 OBP in 106 games played his season.

Gonzalez is a three-time All-Star and won the National League batting title and a Silver Slugger award in 2010 with a .336 average, 34 home runs and 117 RBI. He added another Silver Slugger award to his resume in 2015 with a .271 average, a career-best 40 home runs and 97 RBI and was one of the few bright spots in a disappointing season for Colorado.

Gonzalez is also a solid corner outfielder and posted five total defensive runs saved above average in right field in 2015, per FanGraphs.

Colorado will likely turn to the combination of Ryan Raburn and Gerardo Parra to shoulder the load until Gonzalez returns.

Still, the Rockies haven’t reached the postseason since 2009 and face an uphill battle in a loaded National League West that features the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers. If Colorado is going to stay in the hunt for a wild-card spot, it needs Gonzalez in the middle of the order as half of a powerful one-two punch alongside Arenado.

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The Colorado Rockies don’t have to trade Carlos Gonzalez.

He’s under contract through 2017, and he’s having an All-Star season.

If Colorado is serious about a rebuild and wants to maximize CarGo’s value, however, the moment for a blockbuster deal could be now or never.

After playing just 180 games combined in 2013 and 2014 because of injuries, Gonzalez bounced back last season with 40 home runs and a .271/.325/.540 slash line in 153 contests.

This year, he’s shown that was no fluke, slashing .317/.370/.544 with 20 homers and 22 doubles entering play Thursday.

Even adjusting for the Coors Field effect—Gonzalez’s career slugging percentage is 176 points higher at home—those are numbers that would leave any offense-hungry contender salivating.

There are likely other power-hitting corner outfielders on the market as the Aug. 1 non-waiver deadline approaches, including the Cincinnati Reds‘ Jay Bruce and, possibly, the New York Yankees‘ Carlos Beltran.

Gonzalez, though, would be the biggest prize if the Rockies were to dangle him, a middle-of-the-order bat capable of tipping a race anywhere he goes.

In June, Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post laid out the case for moving Gonzalez:

CarGo is making $17 million this season and $20 million in 2017, the final year of his contract, so the Rockies would like to get something for him before he leaves. He’s not the complete, five-tool player he used to be, but he’s still a legitimate slugger.

If general manager Jeff Bridich doesn’t believe the Rockies can make the playoffs this season—and I think in his heart of hearts he knows this team is at least a year away—then moving CarGo makes sense. The fact that outfield prospects David Dahl and Raimel Tapia look like potential stars makes a CarGo trade even more likely.

Saunders concluded that Colorado is more likely to trade Gonzalez in the offseason. It’s a salient argument. Next winter’s free-agent cupboard is notably bare, so CarGo ought to draw ample interest, assuming he stays healthy and productive for the remainder of 2016.

Then again, there’s no guarantee that’ll happen. Gonzalez turns 31 in October. He’s always been a streaky hitter. And to repeat, he wore the label “injury-prone” until recently, missing time with various maladies and undergoing knee surgery in 2014.

Surely some clubs that would surrender a shiny package for a healthy CarGo in the offseason would cough up more to get him in the heat of the playoff push.

Mix in the risk of a disabled-list stint or a cold couple of months, and the Rockies might never be able to sell higher than they could right now.

Colorado has done an admirable job bolstering its farm system, which Bleacher Report’s Joel Reuter ranked No. 6 in the game after the 2016 amateur draft.

A few more quality pieces—particularly on the pitching side—could solidify the future. Plus, there are already club-controlled stars on the big league roster, including 25-year-old third baseman Nolan Arenado and 23-year-old shortstop Trevor Story.

At 49-52, the Rockies are six games off the wild-card pace and a long shot at best to sniff the playoffs. Their eyes should be trained on the horizon.

So which teams might be willing to part with meaningful chips to land Gonzalez? Potentially a lot.

Jon Heyman of Today’s Knuckleball linked him to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Sporting News’ Ryan Fagan noted CarGo “makes sense” for the Boston Red Sox, San Francisco Giants, Cleveland Indians, Baltimore Orioles, Kansas City Royals, Detroit Tigers and Chicago White Sox.

That’s not to say all those squads would have the assets or motivation to make it happen, but it gives a sense of the wide net Colorado could cast.

On July 7, Gonzalez indicated he’d like to remain in the Mile High City as the Rockies’ young players develop. He’s played in only one postseason, in 2009, when the Philadelphia Phillies eliminated Colorado in the division series.

“I have been here for a lot of bad moments and tough situations, so I want to see the bright [side],” he said, per Saunders. “I want to be here when that happens.”

Maybe he will be. The Rockies don’t have to trade him.

But if they’re planning on doing it and maximizing the return, now seems like the time.

All statistics courtesy of MLB.com and Baseball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted.

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The MLB just got interesting. 

Not that it wasn’t before, but things really kick up now with the All-Star break in the rear view, a summer of trades and teams jockeying for postseason position right down the road.

While a notable team like the New York Yankees might be close to getting off on an exit along the way, it could throw them right into the land of major trades with sellers looking to dump talent and contenders looking to gobble it up.

From Carlos Gonzalez to Evan Longoria and more, there’s plenty in the way of major notes MLB fans should understand as the march toward the postseason continues.

Carlos Gonzalez Watch

The Colorado Rockies know all about getting subjected to rumor after rumor, mostly thanks to the aforementioned Gonzalez.

Six games under .500 and third in the National League West, the Rockies once again enter the fray as a team finally perhaps ready to move on from Gonzalez, who has been with the team since 2009.

Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal revealed (37-second mark) the Rockies have once again received calls and offers on Gonzalez, but the front office hasn’t gone out of its way to pursue anything so far.

This meshes well with strong public denials about a trade meeting earlier this month from general manager Jeff Bridich, according to SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo.

The Rockies have made unexpected trades in the past, but Gonzalez is still just 30 years old and rolling right along with a .318/.367/.548 slash line with 19 homers and 56 RBI. For the most part, he seems on pace for another strong campaign even if the team isn’t performing as well as the front office might like.

It could change in an instant, but for now, the Rockies don’t sound like a team willing to deal a core piece.

Dodgers-Rays Trade?

The Los Angeles Dodgers and Tampa Bay Rays might want to strike a deal.

This is simple enough. The Dodgers sit well ahead of the Rockies in the NL West at 52-42, hoping to keep pace with the San Francisco Giants, a team sitting 5.5 games ahead. The Rays, on the other hand, sit dead last in the American League East at 35-57, a full 18.5 games out of first place.

MLB.com’s Jon Paul Morosi cited sources saying the two teams are engaged in talks, referencing Los Angeles’ president of baseball operations, Andrew Friedman, as the catalyst thanks to his past role as Tampa Bay’s general manager.

On the topic of Longoria, Morosi wrote the following: “Based on information from sources over the past several days, I believe there’s a low probability of the Dodgers acquiring Longoria before the Aug. 1 non-waiver trade deadline.”

On one hand, it’s easy to see why the Rays would keep the 30-year-old slugger around. He’s going for .289/.338/.543 this year with 21 homers and 50 RBI—an epic tear for a guy who hasn’t shown any signs of slowing.

On the other hand, as Morosi noted, no team would scoff at Longoria‘s contract, and Tampa Bay getting out of the biggest contract in franchise history could turn out to be a smart decision in the long run.

Also of note is the fact Longoria‘s value may never be higher. Given trading for players with long deals doesn’t happen often, Tampa Bay might decide to throw in the proverbial towel and strike a deal now. It’ll hurt the team and fans to lose one of MLB’s most recognizable faces, but so it goes.

The Dodgers can only hope the Rays see the logic.

Cleveland Wants Andrew Miller?

It’s easy to name the Cleveland Indians’ biggest weakness this year because there’s only one: a left-handed reliever. 

The Indians sit on a 54-38 mark in the AL Central and have a mind to pluck talent from the middling, .500 Yankees. An odd role reversal, but it is what it is, as Rosenthal pointed out:

This is far from the first time Andrew Miller has come up in trade rumors, with Bill Ladson of MLB.com also recently noting the Washington Nationals have an interest in his services, as well as Aroldis Chapman’s. Jon Heyman of Today’s Knuckleball said the Chicago Cubs do as well.

What’s the hype with Miller? At 31 years old, he’s putting up one of the best years of his career, sitting on a 1.31 ERA with seven saves over 41.1 innings pitched. According to Spotrac, he’s also only boasting a base salary of $9 million over two more years after the current campaign.

Odds are the Yankees don’t cough up such a talent unless a trade offer blows the front office out of the water, meaning the Indians will have to come with a major offering.

It’s up to the Indians to make the call. The current composition of the roster has the team reaping the benefits of smart moves over the years. Messing with it and perhaps dishing a key part to bring Miller on board could hurt the winning equation.

Then again, pitching wins titles. If it comes to a bidding war for Miller’s services at the deadline, expect the Indians to remain right in the thick of it.

All stats and info via ESPN.com unless otherwise specified.

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While the New York Yankees have failed to play good baseball for much of the season, they have hovered around the .500 mark in 2016. That record has allowed them to stay within hailing distance of the second wild-card spot in the American League.

However, they may be on the verge of dropping out of a realistic position to earn that postseason spot, and if they do, Fox Sports insider Ken Rosenthal reported they will be willing to part with some of their key talent before the Aug. 1 trade deadline.

The biggest trading chip they have is fireballing reliever Aroldis Chapman, who is a free agent at the end of the season. Chapman is the kind of closer who can help a playoff team become dominant when he has the ball in the ninth inning.

Once the Yankees make the determination that they are going to move Chapman, look for general manager Brian Cashman to work the phones in an effort to drive up the bidding for a pitcher who is capable of throwing 104 mph or higher and striking out the side in a key situation.

All-Star Carlos Beltran is another Yankee who is likely to be moved, according to Rosenthal. Beltran is having a productive season, hitting .297 with 19 home runs, 58 RBI and a .542 slugging percentage, according to Baseball-Reference.com.

Beltran has also been an exceptional postseason hitter throughout his long career. He has a lifetime .332 batting average along with 16 home runs and 40 RBI. That playoff success could allow Cashman to get a better return for the 39-year-old outfielder.

This is an unusual position, because the Yankees have always been interested in adding to their team as they prepare for the playoffs. But the team has not been able to sustain momentum this year, and that’s why Cashman may ultimately have to sell off assets like Chapman, Beltran and perhaps a few others.

The Yankees and the Kansas City Royals have already talked about a trade involving Beltran, according to George A. King III of the New York Post. Royals pitcher Luke Hochevar was one of the names mentioned in that proposed trade.

Carlos Gonzalez often sees his name in trade-rumor stories, but it seems far more likely that the Colorado Rockies will hold on to him at this point.

According to Rosenthal, the Rockies have received calls and offers (37-second mark) for Gonzalez, but general manager Jeff Bridich has not followed through on any of those offers. Rosenthal said Colorado will hold on to Gonzalez rather than trade him at this point because they have a better chance to contend by 2017 with him than without him.

Gonzalez is under contract through 2017, and so is Bridich. It may simply be a matter of self-interest for the Colorado general manager.

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With the Colorado Rockies struggling this season, the team could find itself as a seller before the trade deadline. One player contending teams will be interested in potentially acquiring is star outfielder Carlos Gonzalez. 

Continue for updates.

Gonzalez Comments on Trade Rumors

Thursday, July 7

“I got a call this morning from Scott Boras, my agent, asking me what happened,”Gonzalez said, per Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post. “I was surprised because I didn’t know what was up. I guess there was a story in a newspaper saying that I’d ask the front office, saying I want out. I don’t know when that happened. Maybe I was asleep. Obviously, it didn’t happen.”

Gonzalez Reportedly Open to Being Traded

Thursday, July 7

Jon Heyman of Today’s Knuckleball reported:

Word is that in a recent meeting with team higher-ups, Gonzalez expressed an interest in going elsewhere (Rockies GM Jeff Bridich said he would keep all those conversations “private”), and the Rockies will likely float not one but two outfield stars, Gonzalez and also Charlie Blackmon (Carlos and Charlie seem to go together), just as they did this winter.

Gonzalez, it’s said, badly wants to win, and has become frustrated by the difficulties of doing that in Colorado. It won’t necessarily be easy for the Rockies to deal him, however, as they consider him a plus in the clubhouse as well as the field. Plus, they are showing signs of real improvement (the last week or so notwithstanding).

Gonzalez Putting Up Big Numbers for Rockies Once Again

Gonzalez, 30, is having another excellent season for the Rockies, hitting .319 with 18 home runs, 51 RBI and 54 runs scored. He’s coming off a career year in 2015—his 40 home runs were a career high—and has totaled at least 20 home runs and 70 RBI five times in his career.

He was chosen as an NL All-Star reserve Tuesday.

“You have to prove to yourself sometimes, remind yourself that you’re a great player,” Gonzalez told Nick Groke of the Denver Post after learning he was chosen for the Midsummer Classic. “That was big for me last year, knowing that my abilities were still intact. Right now, I feel healthy, and I feel strong. That’s all I can ask for.”

Prospective buyers will be happy to hear that, though Gonzalez won’t come cheap. The Rockies will likely demand a pricey package of prospects in any trade for the star outfielder, and he’ll be due $20 million next season, per Spotrac. He also has a history of injuries, though he’s been largely healthy over the last two seasons.

Because he’ll be a free agent after the 2017 season, Gonzalez will be more than simply a 2016 rental—a benefit for any buyers. So it isn’t hard to envision a scenario in which the longtime Rockies star is finally dealt.

You can follow Timothy Rapp on Twitter.

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Another week. Another round of questions about Yoenis Cespedes, Chris Davis and Justin Upton—baseball’s unfortunate free-agent trio.

As Week 10 of the 2015-16 MLB offseason draws to a close, the future remains murky for those prime-time mashers who are still hanging out in a winter purgatory. The good news for one of those guys (and the bad news for another) is that there’s a new five-year offer to report.

There’s also room in the conversation for talk about yet another impact outfielder, whose name just keeps popping up in the trade rumor mill. Plus, with arbitration hearing looming on the horizon, some All-Stars, Cy Youngs and even an MVP are set to cash in.

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Yoenis Cespedes, Chris Davis, Alex Gordon and Justin Upton have historically bad luck.

As Joel Sherman of the New York Post sees it, the market for free-agent game-changers has never developed at a slower pace.

“Never has there been this many talented free agents unsigned this late into the offseason.”

While those unfortunate and unemployed stars wait to find out where they’ll be playing in 2016, let’s play a game of offseason musical chairs and predict where everyone will end up when the music stops.

Free-agent hitters dominate the conversation, but there’s also room on the list for a prediction about one trade target who smashed 40 home runs during the season that was.

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What the New York Mets really needed this Christmas week was a center fielder who could also hit in the middle of the lineup.

What they got was Alejandro De Aza.

He’s not a middle-of-the-order hitter, and he may not really be a center fielder, but at least he didn’t cost much ($5.75 million, as reported Tuesday by Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports). If it’s a mistake, at least it’s not a big one.

No, a big mistake would be trading for Carlos Gonzalez.

CarGo can hit in the middle of anyone’s batting order. He hit 24 of his 40 home runs in 2015 at Coors Field, but he also hit two of the most impressive Citi Field homers of the season. He’s 30 years old, he’s exciting…and he’s not a center fielder.

You can’t have everything, but in this case the Mets are better off with nothing—or with Alejandro De Aza.

The Mets have Curtis Granderson in right field (and no, he can’t play center field, either). They want to—and need to—keep left field open for Michael Conforto, who showed down the stretch and in the postseason that he’s ready to contribute as an everyday player.

So just as re-signing Yoenis Cespedes doesn’t make sense for them because he’d be such a liability in center field, trading for Gonzalez wouldn’t be the right move, either. CarGo has played 200 games in center, but none since 2011. The Colorado Rockies briefly considered moving him from left field to center three years ago, but they abandoned the plan before even trying it.

According to someone involved in the decision, the team felt Gonzalez had gotten too big to move well in center and also would put himself at greater risk of injury if he played there.

And that was three years ago.

It’s understandable that some Mets fans and some in the New York media want to see the team make a bigger splash than De Aza in the outfield. With Cespedes and Daniel Murphy both leaving as free agents, the Mets lost their No. 3 and cleanup hitters, and they haven’t really replaced either bat.

John Harper of the New York Daily News has made the point that the Mets have an unusual opportunity because their elite rotation is so young, and therefore so inexpensive. If the Mets owners really have any money, this is the time to spend it on the big bat(s) they need (and if they don’t have any money, why are they still running a New York team?).

It’s easy to put this on the Wilpons, who made themselves a target with their below-market payrolls. It’s especially easy to put it on them when the Mets suggest through “sources” that they’d be interested in signing Cespedes if the price comes down (as they did in this story by Kristie Ackert of the Daily News).

But you can’t buy what isn’t there, and what the Mets really needed this winter just isn’t there.

They got by playing Cespedes in center field on a limited basis after acquiring him from the Detroit Tigers at the July 31 deadline. They even used him with some regularity in left field, because as a rookie, Conforto didn’t start against left-handed pitchers.

Forcing Cespedes into a full-time, long-term role as a center fielder would make less sense, and acquiring Gonzalez with the idea of playing him in center would make even less sense than that. CarGo has had problems staying on the field even as a corner outfielder—before playing 153 games in 2015, he averaged just 110 a year for the previous four seasons—so even if he could handle the position defensively, he might not handle it physically.

He’ll make sense somewhere, and Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post wrote over the weekend about possibilities from Cleveland to Tampa Bay to Baltimore. The Rockies have reportedly been asking for a lot in return, as they should.

Last month, ESPN.com‘s Jim Bowden suggested the Mets, proposing a deal for pitcher Zack Wheeler and outfielder Brandon Nimmo. The idea was that the $37 million remaining on Gonzalez’s contract (for two years) would fit the Mets’ budget better than spending on one of the free-agent outfielders (Cespedes or Justin Upton, for example), and that the Mets were already willing to trade Wheeler in a proposed deal last July for Carlos Gomez.

Trading from the Mets’ deep stable of pitchers to get a needed mid-order bat isn’t crazy, but the guy they get has to fit. With Granderson and Conforto set at the corner outfield spots and with the Mets somewhat committed to Lucas Duda at first base and heavily committed (financially) to David Wright at third base, the fit has to be in the middle of the infield or in center field.

Unfortunately for the Mets, this wasn’t a great winter to shop for middle infielders or center fielders. Unfortunately for the Mets, Yoenis Cespedes isn’t really a center fielder, and Carlos Gonzalez isn’t one, either.

Save the money, save the trade chips, let the rotation keep you in the race, hope the young hitters like Conforto and Travis d’Arnaud develop, and hope there’s more available in July—or next winter. Right now, making the wrong move would be a bigger mistake than making none (or than signing Alejandro De Aza).

Danny Knobler covers Major League Baseball as a national columnist for Bleacher Report.

Follow Danny on Twitter and talk baseball.

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The 2015 MLB offseason has been an exercise in patience for prime-time outfielders like Yoenis Cespedes, Alex Gordon and Justin Upton.

Now that Jason Heyward has inked an eight-year, $184 million deal with the Chicago Cubs, the market has been set and the offseason game of outfield musical chairs can begin.

No team wants to be left without a seat—or rather, an outfielder—so the biggest names should start flying off the board in short order.

From predicting a new home for La Potencia to sending Gordon to one of the Kansas City Royals’ division rivals, here are four deals that will go down before New Year’s.

In addition to the free-agent forecasts, there’s also room on the list for a trade involving a vet who smashed 40 home runs in 2015

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Finding logical trade destinations for notorious underachievers like Hanley Ramirez and Matt Kemp is no enviable task.

Once upon a time, Ramirez and Kemp were mashing together in the heart of the order for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Now, those guys headline the list of potential trade chips playing on bloated superstar contracts.

Fortunately for the executives who could be tasked with trying to move players like Ramirez and Kemp, there are strategies to help facilitate such deals. The first option is to attach the overpaid big leaguer to an intriguing prospect. The second is to eat some (or potentially a lot of) cash.

After digging through the stats, examining all the contracts and surveying the markets for bats and arms, there’s no question some of these players will be easier to move than others. It’s a race to the bottom, but ultimately it looks like Kemp wins the regrettable distinction of most untradeable of all.

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