Rockies Not Planning Starter Acquisition

Someone please help me understand how the Cards can ask for 'an upper echelon prospect plus another piece' for a guy with a career W-L of 9-24 and an ERA of 5.41 who can't perform under Dave Duncan's tutelage?

Duncan tends to succeed with sinkerballers. Reyes is a high fastball pitcher. Despite this, Duncan and LaRussa spent the past couple of years trying to force him to change the way he pitches, with the results you've seen.

It's only been this year they've let him pitch in the way that made him one of the best pitching prospects in baseball not that long ago. The reason? So they can get rid of him.

Of course, sending a pitcher with his FB/GB ratio to Colorado probably isn't the world's greatest idea...

bsox21 I simply wanted to understand the situation better, I'm not attempting to assign blame but just to learn (I used the phrase 'please help me understand' because I meant it). Sometimes it's possible for someone to ask a question because they want to learn, not because they have some sinister motive. Thanks for the info, now I know more about Reyes than I did this morning.

And yes, I understand that even the best pitching coaches fail. I made a lengthy list of Rick Peterson's failings in the 'Mets discussing Turnbow' post the other day.

jdb1972 thanks for the info.

"Someone please help me understand how the Cards can ask for 'an upper echelon prospect plus another piece' for a guy with a career W-L of 9-24 and an ERA of 5.41 who can't perform under Dave Duncan's tutelage?"

They are asking for it because he has a career 3.26 minor league ERA with a K/9 rate of 9.72 and BB/9 rate of 1.89. And he's made 69% of his starts at AAA. Those are upper echelon prospect type numbers.

With that being said, I don't believe the Cardinals actually believe their going to get that type of haul. Their just buying time, so he can put up those minor league stats again. My guess is that they deal him for 1 pretty good 3B or SS prospect.

Ian Stewart, Ian Stewart, a hundred times Ian Stewart. Stewart +1 for Reyes works alright for both teams, I think.

I'd trade Tavarez if the Sox could get pretty much anything back for him. He's making $4m and is barely being used. Yeah, it's one less arm out of the pen, but he's pitched 11 innings this season and isn't being used in leverage situations. Boston has many guys waiting in the wings to replace his production if he's moved. I'd be aggressively squeezing Colorado to make a deal now because this whiff is the first hint of value Tavarez has had in a long while. I'd trade him for Omar Quintanilla. I'd trade him for Jeff Baker, Ryan Spilborghs or Scott Podsednik (maybe not Podsednik, really). I'd trade him and Brian Corey for Yorvit Torrealba and then throw a party.

The Rockies would be idiots if they moved Fuentes for Reyes. Reyes isn't nearly good enough to fix their SP problems and get them to the playoffs. The only hope they have now, unless they pony up for a proven front-end starter, is to have a lights out bullpen. Fuentes is paramount to that. Dealing Fuentes for Reyes is like hoisting the white flag. ODowd isn't nearly a big enough idiot to make that trade

asm, why would you want to aquire a huy who hasn't ever played well in the bigs for a potential all-star 3B, when it's very possible for the Rox to get Joe Blanton, Rich Harden, or Chad Gaudin for a guy like stewart?

asm, why would you want to aquire a guy who has never been good in the bigs for an all-star caliber 3B, when that same 3B could get you a Joe Blanton, Rich Harden, Chad Gaudin for the Same guy. Guys who have sucsess in the bigs and will be around for a while. It doesn't make sense why you would want Reyes...