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Gerardo Parra is headed to Colorado. The free-agent outfielder and the Rockies agreed to a three-year deal Tuesday that will pay at least $27.5 million.  

Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post and Spanish reporter Wilmer Reina provided the news. The deal will have a fourth-year option at $12 million.

Parra, 28, hit .291/.328/.452 with 14 home runs and 51 RBI last season, adding 14 steals on 18 attempts. He split the season between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Baltimore Orioles, coming over to the American League for the first time via a midseason trade.

Brilliant throughout the first half in Milwaukee, Parra struggled mightily during his 55-game stint with the Orioles. He hit .237/.268/.357, played miserable defense and failed to help the Orioles make a postseason push. FanGraphs credited him with just 0.4 wins above replacement in 2015, a number that would categorize this contract as a massive overpay.

Parra hasn’t been the same since his brilliant 2013 campaign, when he produced a career-high 4.5 WAR and seemed to find a comfort level defensively. Split seasons each of the last two years have hurt his performance, as he’s seen a drop-off in play after each deadline deal.

The Rockies were one of three finalists in the Parra chase, according to agent Jose Mijares, who spoke with Saunders on Monday. The other two teams were not named, but Mijares’ openness in discussing Colorado made it look like the favorite.

It’s unclear at this time what the trade means for Colorado’s incumbent outfielders, but Saunders noted there has been speculation about the Rockies making a trade in the search for starting pitching.

“I don’t know anything about a trade by the Rockies, I’m just trying to find the best fit for Gerardo,” Mijares said. “We will see what is the best offer and the best situation.”

Parra’s arrival should make those trade possibilities easier. His offensive emergence in Milwaukee last season should bode well for his transition to hitter-friendly Coors Field, and Parra’s massive defensive descent feels more like an outlier than anything.

While he’s been graded negatively each of the last two seasons, his level of drop-off between 2014 and 2015 was so big that a positive regression should be in order.

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Outfielder Gerardo Parra has reportedly found a new home in the NL West.

Wilmer Reina, via Jon Morosi of Fox Sports, reported Parra has agreed to a three-year, $26 million contract with the Colorado Rockies. Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post confirmed the report, but noted a $27.5 million contract with a $12 million option. 

Parra played for the Milwaukee Brewers and Baltimore Orioles last season and batted .291 with 14 home runs and 51 RBI.  

Baltimore traded for Parra in August as a means of upgrading its outfield and the productivity of its lineup, which turned out to be a short-term rental.

MLB.com’s Bill Ladson reported earlier in January the Washington Nationals were interested in acquiring Parra. There was a clear connection there since Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo gave Parra his first professional contract in 2004.

In addition to being a fine hitter, Parra is a two-time Gold Glove Award recipient and has proved to be capable of playing all three outfield positions during the course of his career. 

The Rockies play in a hitter-friendly park, which may see Parra soar to new heights at the plate.

More importantly, when opponents feast on Colorado pitching, as they’ve often done lately—the Rockies ranked 30th in quality starts and team ERA in 2015—Parra will help the cause defensively in a big way. 

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As we rapidly approach the All-Star Break, most teams in baseball have a pretty good idea of where they stand compared to the rest of the league.

While no team has technically been eliminated or clinched a playoff spot just yet, there is only so much a season can turn around in the second half, so teams are either looking to the now or to the future with the trade deadline on the horizon.

Although the deadline is still a decent way off, that doesn’t mean the rumor mill isn’t able to fire up now and again and provide us with some tasty little nuggets to consider before July 31 rolls around.

A number of teams interested in Jeff Samardzija

For teams looking for starting pitching at the trade deadline, a top option isn’t going to come cheap and although Cole Hamels and Johnny Cueto are both on underachieving teams and being shopped, it is White Sox pitcher Jeff Samardzija who could garner the most interest.

Samardzija joined Chicago in the offseason from the Oakland Athletics, and while he hasn’t quite lived up to expectations, he is a strong addition to any rotation and could change a team’s fortunes once the postseason rolls around.

There are a number of teams interested in bringing Samardzija on board, according to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe, and he could have a serious impact on the rest of the season if the White Sox do decide to deal him away:

There’s always so much debate on where he fits on a pitching staff. He’s not a No. 1 and he’s not having the best of seasons, yet he’s one of the more discussed and desirable pitchers on the trade market.

Kansas City, Houston, Detroit, and others are in on him.

Scouts are constantly at this games so he may be the first starting pitcher to move ahead of the deadline.

The numbers this year aren’t great, with a 4.33 ERA and a 5-4 record, but Samardzija showed what he was capable of in 2014 with a combined 2.99 ERA with the Cubs and the Athletics.

For the White Sox, who find themselves 9.5 games behind the Royals and look to be already out of the playoff race, offloading Samardzija for some young talent to jump start a rebuild would make sense and looks likely.

Will Venable and Gerardo Parra on the Cubs radar

Although starting pitching is the focus at the trade deadline, and has been a relative strength for the Cubs through the first half of the season, the same cannot be said of their bats.

Ranking 24th in runs scored, the Cubs need offensive help in the worst way possible as they attempt to stay in the race for the playoffs, and Jon Paul Morosi of Fox Sports reports that Gerardo Parra and Will Venable are two players Chicago is interested in:

Two names to watch: Milwaukee’s Gerardo Parra, a two-time Gold Glove winner, and San Diego’s Will Venable, who played for Hoyer during his tenure as general manager of the Padres. Both Parra and Venable are considered excellent clubhouse citizens — a theme of recent Cubs’ acquisitions.

Parra has been linked with a number of teams this season, with ESPN’s Buster Olney reporting the San Francisco Giants are also interested. Although his power numbers aren’t great, the .311 batting average and 26 RBI would be a big boost for the Cubs offensively.

Venable’s numbers haven’t impressed as much as Parra’s this year—the veteran center fielder is only averaging .257 with six home runs and 22 RBI—but his connection to Hoyer could lead to a possible move before the deadline.

New York Yankees not in on top pitchers

This season hasn’t gone exactly how the Yankees wanted for star pitcher CC Sabathia.

With some of his skills already starting to slip in recent seasons, the former Cy Young Award winner has been ghastly through the first half of the season, recording a 5.59 ERA and a 3-8 record.

It remains to be seen what the Yankees do with Sabathia—if they decide to stick with him or drop him to the bullpen—but starting pitching is a definite need for the AL East club when the deadline rolls around.

According to Andrew Marchand of ESPN, though, the Yankees won’t be in the market for the top names like Hamels and Cueto and will look a little deeper into the talent pool:

The Yankees seem unlikely to add a top starter. Unless prices drop significantly, an ace like Cole Hamels or Johnny Cueto is probably too expensive. If the Yankees have an injury or want to replace CC Sabathia in the rotation, Adam Warren or Severino could be called upon.

Even with the struggles of Sabathia, the Yankees find themselves on top of the division and in prime position to make it back to the playoffs, thanks in large part to the resurgence of Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez.

But with the Orioles, Rays and Blue Jays all hot on their tails, adding another quality starting pitcher could give New York the boost it needs to survive one of baseball’s toughest divisions.

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The oddly-scheduled opening day for the Arizona Diamondbacks and Los Angeles Dodgers is just a couple of days away.

Spring training will halt for the two teams while they play two regular-season games in Australia. Some Diamondbacks have been locked in over the first half of March, while others have not. Luckily, those who haven’t played well will get four more exhibition games after their two-game stint down under.

For those who haven’t been following spring training, here is an update on who has been playing well and who has been struggling.

Who’s Hot

Martin Prado has been scalding throughout March. He is hitting .475 in 40 at-bats, which leads the team and is one of the best in the Cactus and Grapefruit leagues. Of his 19 hits, he has slugged one home run and six doubles.

A.J. Pollock is next on the list with a .425 batting average in 40 at-bats. He has a homer, four doubles and three triples and has scored eight times.

Gerardo Parra is another player who came ready to play this spring. In 38 at-bats, Parra is hitting .342 with three doubles and seven RBI. He is also second on the team with five walks, trailing Paul Goldschmidt’s total of six.

On the pitching side, Wade Miley has probably had the best spring in terms of starters. In three starts, he has pitched 14 innings and has a 1.29 ERA and a WHIP of 1.07. He has compiled 11 strikeouts while walking three and giving up just two earned runs.

Josh Collmenter also makes the list. He has appeared in seven games and has yet to give up a run in 9.1 innings. Opponents have hit just .129 against him, and he has posted a 0.54 WHIP.

Who’s Not

For those who are struggling, we will start with the pitchers.

Trevor Cahill has had the worst spring of any Arizona pitcher. In 16 innings, Cahill has surrendered 14 earned runs and 26 hits, four of which were homers. His ERA is 7.88, and opponents are hitting .382 against him.

Brad Ziegler is another hurler who has struggled this spring. In his six appearances, he has given up nine hits and eight earned runs in 5.1 innings on the mound. He has also walked four batters and struck out only one.

Randall Delgado has started three games and thrown 11.1 innings. He has given up three home runs in his time on the mound, compiling a 5.56 ERA. He is one of five pitchers to give up more than one long ball this spring.

Getting back to the batter’s box, newly acquired Matt Tuiasosopo hasn’t hit well this spring. In 34 at-bats, he has posted a dreadful .118 batting average and has struck out 14 times. His four hits are the second lowest total of any Diamondback with at least 30 ABs.

Didi Gregorius is also struggling at the plate. He has a .205 batting average in 39 at-bats and has scored just one run. Gregorius has also been successful stealing a base once in three tries.

Tony Campana is the only Diamondback with at least six hits to not have an extra base hit. His batting average is only .216, and he has struck out nine times in 37 at-bats. The only bright spot for Campana is the five stolen bases he has compiled.

All stats courtesy of MLB.com unless otherwise noted.

You can follow Trey on Twitter @treydwarren

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On Friday against the San Diego Padres, Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Randall Delgado picked up the first complete-game shutout of his brief career.

He can thank teammate Gerardo Parra for helping him achieve that feat.

Just one day after he was selected as the Diamondbacks’ recipient of the Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association’s Heart and Hustle Award, Parra offered up this gem. 

Parra, who earned a Gold Glove Award in 2011 for the Diamondbacks, raced back to the wall in the top of the seventh inning to take an extra-base hit away from Padres hitter Will Venable.

Just the look on Delgado’s face after the catch was made was priceless.

It’s certainly not the first time Parra has stunned teammates with his brilliant glovework. 

There was the brilliant running and leaping catch he made against A.J. Ellis and the Los Angeles Dodgers on July 8.

Delgado was on the mound that night as well.

Then there was this incredible sliding catch off the bat of Texas Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre in late May.

The fans certainly appreciated Parra‘s effort:

No question that teammates are no longer in awe of what Parra can do—he’s proven time and time again that there’s no catch he won’t at least try. And more often than not, he comes away with the ball, sending the hitter back to his dugout, shaking his head in wonderment.

According to FanGraphs, Parra leads the majors with a 14.4 UZR. He’s also fourth in the National League with a 2.0 dWAR as well. And while other players may be restricted to just one position, Parra can play anywhere in the outfield.

The Diamondbacks don’t care where he plays, as long as he continues making fabulous stops like the one that saved Randall Delgado’s first-ever shutout on Friday. 

Doug Mead is a featured columnist with Bleacher Report. His work has been featured in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, SF Gate, CBS Sports, the Los Angeles Times and the Houston Chronicle.

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For all of you forward-thinking fantasy players, you’re probably way ahead of me in coming up with a list of players who’ve given you great value in the first half, but won’t come close to maintaining production for the remainder of the season. You’ll spend the next few weeks looking for the best trade before their value begins to dip too much.

If you need help identifying this year’s version of Asdrubal Cabrera (.286 BA, 11 HR, 42 RBI, 20 2B, 34 BB in 1st half of 2012; .251 BA, 5 HR, 26 RBI, 15 2B, 18 BB in 2nd half of 2012), let me give you some suggestions.

Here are seven players you should consider trading before midseason. 

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Gerardo Parra should have a secure position in Major League Baseball. As a 24-year-old last season, he posted a very solid stat line with a .292 batting average, eight home runs, 46 RBIs, and 15 stolen bases. While these are definitely not elite numbers, they are definitely respectable. On top of that, he won a Gold Glove as a left fielder for the Arizona Diamondbacks. He hasn’t even reached his prime yet, but he is already putting up good numbers with the potential for more.

You would think that production like that from a player his age would be rewarded with playing time the following season. However, Arizona signed Jason Kubel over the winter, which has created a bottleneck in the outfield. Justin Upton will obviously remain in right field, Chris Young will return to center field, and the newly acquired Kubel will take over in left field.

Parra is the odd man out. He will probably spend most of 2012 on the bench as a utility outfielder who will play all three of those positions.

But doesn’t that kind of seem like a waste?

If Parra truly does tend 2012 on the bench, his value will surely drop. The Diamondbacks will not have a place for him in next year’s outfield either, so his trade value might drop even more.

Right now, he is coming off of a very strong season where he demonstrated a solid all-around game at a young age. Since it appears that Arizona does not have any immediate vacancies in their outfield, they should try to trade him now.

Even though General Manager Kevin Towers says that no discussions have taken place, they probably should start soon. If they are ever going to sell, now would be the time.

It would be better for the Diamondbacks, and it would be better for Parra. They would be able to do use his trade value to reinforce a weakness, and he will be able to find the starting position that he has earned by his solid play last season.

Whether you think I know everything or nothing about Major League Baseball, you should follow me on Twitter and keep in touch. I love hearing what you all have to say!

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