Opening Day: Who Are The New Players In Purple Pinstripes?
DENVER (CBS4) - Opening Day is finally here, but some familiar faces are no longer around.
There will be several new players in Rockies purple this season.
Kris Bryant comes to Denver with a World Series ring and plenty of playoff experience. He won it all with the Chicago Cubs in 2016, and brought home a National League MVP trophy that same year. He's made the playoffs in six of the seven years he's played in MLB.
Bryant signed a seven-year, $182 million contract to play at 20th and Blake. He'll play in the outfield this season, and will keep his number 23.
The Rockies and Red Sox basically traded shortstops. Trevor Story turned in his purple for Red Sox, while Jose Iglesias will man the position for the Rockies after a year in Boston.
Iglesias is a former All-Star. He was selected to the All-Star Team in 2015 while he played shortstop in Detroit. He also came in second in the Rookie of the Year race in 2013 in Detroit. Iglesias will play shortstop, and wear number 11.
In a surprising move, the Rockies traded Raimel Tapia and a minor league player to the Toronto Blue Jays for outfielder Randal Grichuk.
Grichuk has been in the league for eight seasons, spending four years in St. Louis with the Cardinals and four years with the Blue Jays. He will join Bryant in the outfield, and will wear number 15.
GM Bill Schmitt hopes that new relief pitcher Alex Colome will help the bullpen lock down the late innings. Colome is 33 and saved 17 games for the Minnesota Twins last season. In 2017, with the Tampa Bay Rays, he led the league in saves with 47. He'll wear number 37.
The Rockies also agreed to terms with outfielder Scott Schebler. He was drafted in the 26th round in 2010 by the Los Angeles Dodgers, and has bounced around with a few different teams. Most notably, he hit 30 home runs with the Cincinnati Reds in 2017.