When Ted Lilly finalized his three-year $33MM deal, he established a standard for other free agent left-handers. The agreement may not impact Cliff Lee, who figures to be in his own tier, but it could be a point of reference for Jorge de la Rosa's contract negotiations this winter. Here's the latest on de la Rosa and the Rockies:
- The Rockies have not offered de la Rosa a contract, according to Troy Renck of the Denver Post. Colorado has opened dialogue with the 29-year-old, but it appears that he's going to hit the open market.
- Melvin Mora is open to returning to Colorado, but Renck says the Rockies anticipate lots of competition for his services (possibly from the Angels). I suggested in September that Mora is likely in line for a one-year deal worth $2-3MM.
- Mark Kiszla of the Denver Post looks ahead to the end of the 2014 season when Troy Tulowitzki can hit free agency and suggests the Rockies may no longer be able to keep the All-Star shortstop.
Lots competition for melvin mora?? wow the market is thin…
Are writers really that bored that they’re speculating about Tulo’s life 4 years from now? Besides, Helton’s contract will be off the books by then.
Kizla is a hack…that said, the future is important in that the Monforts need to understand that the pieces might not be in place beyond 2014, so better open their wallets for 2011-2014.
Tulo is the next Helton–the face of the franchise and prime of his career when his contact is up (around 29 years old). Helton, Street, Cookie, Corpas, Ianetta will be off the books by then–sign Tulo for another 5 years along with Ubaldo. I still can’t believe they have Ubaldo for $8mil in ’14!
Delarosa for 3 years 33 million would be a mistake. I like him on the Rockies as he’s learned to pitch and succeed at Mile High and has overall been a very good pitcher the last 2-3 years. The problem is he is a bit injury prone and I don’t think the Rox can afford having a 10million dollar player land on the disabled list for a significant amount of time. Hopefully, DelaRosa won’t use Lilly’s contract as a bench mark for his contract as he would price his way out of the the Rox plans.
It won’t be a good day at my house if Mora becomes an Angel.
I certainly hope this isn’t what Arte Moreno was talking about when he said he was going to spend money. Let’s see, Melvin Mora at third…hey, why not sign Jermaine Dye for left field too, while we’re at it? Or better yet, let’s offer Matsui a 5-year contract out of gratitude for his “exceptional” performance this season! Old guys rule!
Guys signing early in the process don’t establish any standard. Generally the early signers tend to be overpaid. I don’t think the fact that one team was willing to give Ted Lilly that contract means other teams will have to overpay for mid 30’s starters. Jarrod Washburn figured he’d get something close to what Randy Wolf got early last year. He’s still waiting.
“Melvin Mora is open to returning to Colorado, but Renck says the Rockies anticipate lots of competition for his services (possibly from the Angels)” …. uh, no.