Rockies Capitalized on Trading Jake Bird to Yankees Despite Some Red Flags

Colorado Rockies relief pitcher Jake Bird has been brutal with the New York Yankees.

Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

One of the most popular Colorado Rockies players ahead of the MLB trade deadline on the rumor mill was relief pitcher Jake Bird.

He was producing at an incredibly high level, possessing an ERA under 2.00 into mid-June. Even after a few hiccups, he got back on track and had a still impressive 2.63 ERA after his first outing in July.

Unfortunately, the wheels fell off after that point.

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Bird was scored upon in four consecutive outings from July 2 through July 18, giving up 10 runs, nine of which were earned, in only 2.2 innings pitched.

His ERA ballooned from 2.63 to 4.09, but his FIP remained a still respectable 3.19, as there may have been some bad luck mixed in.

He was able to get his ERA back under 4.00 with two clean outings, but struggled once again at the end of July in what ended up being his final appearances with the Rockies.

On July 25 against the Baltimore Orioles, he gave up one run in one inning of work. On July 28, he imploded again, surrendering four earned runs without recording a single out against the Cleveland Guardians.

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The shaky performances didn’t stop the New York Yankees from making a move to acquire him ahead of the deadline.

He was joining David Bednar, formerly of the Pittsburgh Pirates, and Camilo Doval, formerly of the San Francisco Giants, in a bullpen that also featured Devin Williams and Luke Weaver, giving the Yankees what looked like the most dominant group of relievers in the MLB.

Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Alas, nothing has gone according to plan, with Bird’s struggles being in the center.

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He has made three appearances with New York, sandwiching a clean outing with two disastrous ones in which he surrendered multiple runs.

After the Texas Rangers scored three runs, two earned, off of him while Bird recorded only two outs, he was optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

Evidently, the struggles are something that other people around the league saw coming, but it didn’t stop the Yankees from trading away their No. 10-ranked prospect, Roc Riggio, and No. 27-ranked prospect, right-handed pitcher Ben Shields, in exchange for him.

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"There was a lot of concern from those guys [opposing scouts] that Bird had been basically run into the ground the first few months in Colorado,” said Eric Boland of Newsday Sports during a recent appearance on Foul Territory on X.

"There was a lot of concern from those guys [opposing scouts] that Bird had been basically run into the ground the first few months in Colorado."@EBoland11 suspects the Yankees ignored industry-wide concerns about Jake Bird. pic.twitter.com/NYMcx7WHc4

— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) August 5, 2025

With the Rockies, Bird made 45 appearances, throwing 53.1 innings. That is already the second most work he has had in a single campaign in his career, and there was still more than two months of the regular season remaining.

New York certainly hopes some time in the minor leagues can get him right, but it is clear that this is a deal Colorado has won in the early going.

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