Rockies Acquire Jason Grilli, Jorge de la Rosa

The Rockies and Tigers made a swap today. The Rockies get 31 year-old pitcher Jason Grilli, while the Tigers receive 22 year-old pitcher Zach Simons. Grilli has served as a mop-up man for the Tigers the past two years, eating bullpen innings at a mediocre ERA. The Rox may have been drawn to his typically decent groundball rates. Simons appears to be a long shot to reach the bigs; he wasn't among the Rockies' top 30 prospects. The Rox also completed their long-rumored deal for lefty Jorge de la Rosa. He'll jump right into the rotation. The 27 year-old is...

Odds and Ends: Morris, Moeller, de la Rosa

Let's kick things off with an odds and ends post today. By the way did anyone watch Max Scherzer's debut last night? Damn. Dejan Kovacevic notes that even if Matt Morris considered retiring and abandoning his '08 salary, the Players Association would've strongly objected. Rays Senior VP of Baseball Ops Gerry Hunsicker indicates that the team will spend money to improve the team if they're still contending a few months from now. According to Jon Heyman, catcher Chad Moeller will remain with the Yankees. Another fine piece from Bob Nightengale of USA Today (hat tip to ShysterBall). The article discusses...

Rockies Likely To Get de la Rosa

According to Tracy Ringolsby, the Rockies are likely to receive pitcher Jorge de la Rosa from the Royals as the player to be named later in the Ramon Ramirez deal. The Rox will have him start at Triple A now that he's cleared waivers and accepted his minor league assignment. He went unclaimed partially because of his $1.025MM salary. De la Rosa, a southpaw, turns 27 in a few days. He hit the DL in August with an elbow strain. He was also affected by a bruised thumb. His fastball averaged 92.3 mph in '07, not bad for a lefty.

Rockies Want De La Rosa As PTBNL

Last Wednesday, the Royals acquired Ramon Ramirez from the Rockies for a player to be named later. Well, later appears to be now as the Rockies have expressed interest in Jorge De La Rosa assuming he clears waivers and accepts the assignment. For more clarity, Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star breaks down why it wasn't just a straight trade of Ramirez for De La Rosa: "Any club claiming De La Rosa on waivers would be on the hook for his $1.025 million salary. He can choose to become a free agent if he clears waivers but would forfeit...

Royals Acquire Ramon Ramirez

According to Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post, the Rockies traded reliever Ramon Ramirez to the Royals for a player to be named later. In an accompanying move, the Royals designated Jorge de la Rosa for assignment. The 26 year-old righty reliever has posted some big-time strikeout rates at various stops. He's a former outfielder who has bounced around in the Yankees, Reds, and Rockies organizations. He even did a stint in Japan. In 2005, Baseball America described Ramirez's power repertoire as a 92-94 mph heater, a hard curveball, and a splitter.