Rosenthal On Rockies, Cain, Pirates

Another column from Ken Rosenthal at FOX Sports?  Sure, why not.

• The Rockies, 12 games out in the NL West, "appear headed for a selloff."  Garrett Atkins isn't popular (although deep in today's chat, Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch suggested there could be a match with the Cardinals), and Todd Helton is too pricey.  But Brad Hawpe, who has $12MM coming to him from now through 2010, could be an appealing trade chip.  Hawpe has a 2011 club option for $10MM, but he can void it if traded.  Rosenthal likes the Rays; the Braves would also be a nice fit for Hawpe in my opinion.
• Rosenthal believes it would be hard for the Giants to find a young slugger who would be equal value for Matt Cain, who can be controlled cheaply through 2011.  We learned earlier this week that Cain is not being dangled.
• The Pirates have no financial need to dump veteran contracts, an idea we've read in the past.  They're getting calls on Jack Wilson, but teams are reluctant to take on all the $5.8MM he still has coming.  They have the same problem for Adam LaRoche.  And Rosenthal says the Bucs are "philosophically opposed to the idea of a low-revenue team sending money to a high-revenue team to secure better prospects in a trade, the way the Indians did last season when they moved third baseman Casey Blake to the Dodgers."