Rockies Decline Option On Rafael Betancourt

The Rockies declined their $5.4MM club option on reliever Rafael Betancourt, tweets Ed Price of AOL FanHouse.  Rockies GM Dan O'Dowd told Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post he'll continue to negotiate with Betancourt.

Betancourt, 35 in April, found the NL to his liking after coming over in a trade with the Indians.  He posted a 1.78 ERA with 29 strikeouts and five walks in 25.3 innings for the Rockies.  Betancourt is a Type A free agent, and if he gets to December 1st unsigned it'll be interesting to see if the Rockies offer arbitration.  Other teams would find Betancourt much less appealing with a draft pick cost attached.  Troy Renck of the Denver Post feels that the Rockies will offer, as does Tracy Ringolsby of Inside the Rockies.

Saunders also mentions that the Rockies will "explore re-signing" Jose Contreras and Joe Beimel.