Dodgers’ division rival interested in slugger Michael Conforto

While the Los Angeles Dodgers‘ first two series of the season have been canceled due to the MLB lockout and they will miss out on serving the Colorado Rockies a beating in their four matchups, the two division rivals, as of this writing, will still open the season on April 8.

Fans are wondering what the Dodgers roster will look like given all the departures once the 2021 season ended, but what about other teams in the NL West?

The San Francisco Giants, as good as they were, still need to make additions to make up for important lost talent. The San Diego Padres proved that, despite possessing a ton of big names, they require ample help beyond the current group of players. And the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies? Two very bad teams that probably won’t be spending.

Or maybe one of them will? According to Rockies insider Patrick Saunders (subscription required), Colorado expressed interest in free agent slugger Michael Conforto, who is unlikely to return to the New York Mets.

Dodgers could see Rockies improve by adding Michael Conforto.

Fans should be all for the little guy trying to make improvements with mid-to-high expenditures in free agency. While this would help the Rockies and elevate their offense, it’s actually not bad news for the Dodgers.

Check out Conforto’s splits against every NL West team:

• Dodgers – .227/.315/.391 with 15 runs scored, 4 homers and 14 RBI in 34 games
• Diamondbacks – .247/.343/.483 with 10 runs scored, 6 homers and 17 RBI in 25 games
• Padres – .237/.301/.398 with 11 runs scored, 4 homers and 12 RBI in 25 games
• Giants – .290/.348/.530 with 17 runs scored, 6 homers and 19 RBI in 29 games

Stinks against the Dodgers and dominates the Giants! We’ll take it! If the weaker NL West opponents can give San Fran as much trouble as possible, perhaps LA won’t be stuck duking it out until Game 162.

Saunders revealed Conforto “is on [the Rockies] list of possible free agents” and Colorado has more than enough room to add him with just $96 million committed to the 2022 payroll.

It’s a nice situation where the Rockies have much more to add beyond Conforto in order to become relevant, but acquiring the lefty slugger, who’d probably rake in Coors Field given his ability to spray the ball all over, is just enough to make it hard for LA’s direct competition 19 times a year (we hope, assuming the lockout doesn’t cancel more games).

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