According to Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post, the Rockies have several bargain-priced free agents on their radar.
GM Dan O’Dowd has ongoing talks with second baseman Marcus Giles, who prefers Colorado. Seems like the best place to rebuild value for Giles, who will turn 30 in May. Coors Field inflates right-handed batting average by 17% and right-handed home runs bt 23%, according to the Bill James Handbook. Giles made $3.25MM in 2007 but hit just .229/.304/.317.
Giles’ agent says a few other teams are involved on him, and Renck adds that Todd Walker remains an option.
Pitching-wise, the Rockies are targeting Josh Towers, who turns 30 in February. Victor Zambrano is still a secondary option. Towers seems a decent bargain, but his home run issues won’t play well in Coors (obviously). Chad Durbin only required $900K, so maybe Towers will be in that range. I don’t think Rodrigo Lopez is in play; I’m told he may not be ready until the All-Star break at the earliest.
