The Colorado Rockies and veteran outfielder Charlie Blackmon have mutual interest in an extension, according to Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post. General manager Bill Schmidt classified the Rockies as being "very interested" in retaining Blackmon beyond this winter, when he'll reach the end of the six-year, $108 million pact he signed with Colorado in 2018.
Blackmon, for his part, conceded that there is a possibility he will return with the Rockies next season. He did admit to Saunders he would be willing to play with another squad if it comes to that, however.
The 37-year-old Blackmon enters Saturday hitting.285/.372/.463 (115 OPS+ with seven home runs in 66 games. Those marks represent his best since 2019, when he made his fourth and most recent All-Star Game appearance. Blackmon had been an average or below hitter in the interim three seasons, at least based on the park-adjusted OPS+ metric. Indeed, his .274/.337/.421 slash line from 2020-22 worked out to a 97 OPS+, according to Baseball Reference.
Blackmon has spent the entirety of his 13-year career with the Rockies. He was originally a second-round pick by Colorado in 2008 out of Georgia Tech. He's long since rewarded the Rockies for their faith in his game, as he's won a batting title, two Silver Slugger Awards, and has notched more than 20 Wins Above Replacement, again according to Baseball Reference's calculations.
Blackmon has played in 1,470 games with the Rockies, the second-most in franchise history. Longtime first baseman Todd Helton holds the franchise record with 2,247 games played. It's fair to write that Blackmon will not play the nearly five additional full seasons required to top Helton.
The Rockies enter Saturday with a 48-80 record on the season, the worst in the National League and the third-worst in all of Major League Baseball -- only the Oakland Athletics and the Kansas City Royals have lost more. Under MLB's draft lottery rules, the four worst teams share equal odds of landing the No. 1 pick. That fourth team, at present anyway, is the Chicago White Sox.
