With the July 31 trade deadline approaching, contending teams entered a trade fury. In the NL West, the Dodgers and Diamondbacks made significant changes while the Rockies, settled for acquiring Seung-hwan Oh and signing Matt Holliday and Santiago Casilla to minor-league contracts.
For Rockies fans, a general despair set in that the team hadn’t done more, which was consistent with baseball’s collective wisdom: The Rockies had whiffed. (For example, see here and here). A half game out of first place in the NL West, they said, the Rockies needed to add a left-handed reliever, a catcher, and a first baseman — at the very least, a right-handed bat.