Rockies first baseman acquired in Yankees trade has real NL ROY possibility

The Colorado Rockies are not going to be making a postseason push this season. 

They are still a few years away from contending in the National League Wild Card race, but there are promising players on the roster who can accelerate their rebuild. 

One of them is first baseman T.J. Rumfield, who has a real shot of winning this year's NL Rookie of the Year Award, writes The Athletic's Zack Meisel. 

"We’ll go with Rumfield, acquired in January from the Yankees for Angel Chivilli. Is that enough to earn Paul DePodesta Executive of the Year? No? OK, we’ll stick with Rumfield, who ranks fourth among NL rookie hitters in fWAR, second in average, third in homers, third in slugging and second in OPS," Meisel wrote. 

The Yankees made the trade partially because there was no space for Rumfield on the Major League roster. Ben Rice became the everyday guy at first, and the DH spot is occupied by either Paul Goldschmidt or Giancarlo Stanton (when he's healthy). 

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With Rumfield, Colorado has a potential building block of the future after Michael Toglia's departure. 

Is winning the NL Rookie of the Year Award realistic for Rumfield? With JJ Wetherholt and Sal Stewart, among others, in the mix, the answer is probably not. 

But a top five finish is not out of the question. 

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