Headlines

  • Reds Fire Bryan Price, Mack Jenkins
  • Taijuan Walker To Undergo Tommy John Surgery
  • Braves Sign Jose Bautista
  • Taijuan Walker Diagnosed With “UCL Injury”
  • 2018-19 MLB Free Agent Power Rankings
  • Kevin Kiermaier To Undergo Thumb Surgery
  • Previous
  • Next
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Indians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2018 Arbitration Tracker
    • Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2018
    • 2017-18 MLB Free Agent Tracker
    • 2017-18 MLB Free Agent List
    • Top 50 MLB Free Agents With Predictions
    • MLB Depth Charts
    • Transaction Tracker
    • DFA Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • Last 100 Comments
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Offseason In Review: Colorado Rockies

By Tim Dierkes | March 25, 2010 at 2:12pm CDT

The Rockies are next in our Offseason In Review series.

Major League Signings

  • Rafael Betancourt, RP: two years, $7.55MM.
  • Miguel Olivo, C: one year, $2.5MM.  Includes $2.5MM club option with a $500K buyout.
  • Jason Giambi, 1B: one year, $1.75MM.
  • Melvin Mora, 3B: one year, $1.3MM.
  • Total spend: $13.1MM.

Notable Minor League Signings

  • Joe Beimel, Jimmy Gobble, Tim Redding, Juan Rincon, Justin Speier, Paul Lo Duca, Jay Payton, Travis Metcalf, Robby Hammock, Brad Eldred

Trades and Claims: None

Extensions

  • Huston Street, RP: three years, $22.5MM.  Includes $9MM player option for 2013 with a $500K buyout.
  • Todd Helton, 1B: two years, $9.9MM.  Rockies also saved money via deferrals and new 2011 salary.
  • Chris Iannetta, C: three years, $8.35MM.  Includes $5MM club option for 2013 with a $250K buyout.
  • Ryan Spilborghs, OF: two years, $3.2MM.

Notable Losses

  • Garrett Atkins, Yorvit Torrealba, Jason Marquis, Josh Fogg, Joel Peralta, Alan Embree, Glendon Rusch, Jose Contreras, Matt Herges, Matt Murton, Mike McCoy

Summary

Rockies GM Dan O'Dowd focused most of his offseason efforts on the bullpen and bench, with the lineup and rotation already in good shape.  He also locked up four of his own players.  Let's take a closer look.

Betancourt was the main offseason splash.  The Rockies acquired him from the Indians in July and enjoyed 25.3 dominant innings.  That was enough to convince O'Dowd to take the plunge with an arbitration offer to the Type A free agent, though he declined Betancourt's $5.4MM club option first.  Betancourt played it safe and accepted the offer, and the Rockies worked out a two-year agreement a couple months later.  Betancourt turns 35 soon and has been dealing with shoulder inflammation, so this was a risky signing.

The risk of the Betancourt signing was balanced out by a slew of minor league deals to once-effective relievers.  It's likely that a few of these work out, and the Rockies end up with a pretty good pen.

Tacking two, possibly three extra years on to Street's deal was unnecessary.  Street dealt with biceps inflammation in September and now faces shoulder issues.  A one-year deal in the $8MM range made more sense.  As dominant as Street was in 2009, closers aren't getting paid like this anymore.

The Rockies want Helton to retire a Rockie, but did they need to commit to 2012 and 2013 now?  A reworking of Helton's previous monstrous contract provides short-term financial relief, a necessity after O'Dowd committed $11MM to Street and Betancourt for 2011.  The Iannetta extension was a clear bargain, though it was surprising to see the Rockies pick up Olivo a few weeks later for a 2010 job-sharing arrangement.

Offensive changes were unnecessary, as the Rockies' offense stacks up with any team in the NL.  They might have the game's best fourth and fifth outfielders in Seth Smith and Spilborghs, and the bench was further solidified with Giambi and Mora.

It will be difficult for Jeff Francis to replicate Marquis' 216 innings of 4.04 ball, though letting the latter go and taking a draft pick was the right move.  Ubaldo Jimenez, Aaron Cook, Jorge de la Rosa, and Jason Hammel form an underrated front four.

Though O'Dowd overindulged on extensions, the 2010 Rockies have few weaknesses and should be in the thick of the playoff hunt once again.

Share 0 Retweet 0 Send via email0

Colorado Rockies Offseason In Review

White Sox Sign Scott Elarton
Main
Yankees Release Chad Gaudin
2 comments
newest oldest

Comments

  1. rockiesmagicnumber

    8 years ago

    Remember that Aaron Cook had a down year in 2009. If Cook can rebound to 2008, or even 2006 form, he’ll more than make up for the production from Jason Marquis. The Rockies really only need Francis to recover to the level of production that Aaron Cook provided in 2009, during his down year.

    0
    0
    Reply
    • bleedrockiepurple

      8 years ago

      Cookie has struggled this spring though, as has Francis. But like you said if Aaron can have a yr similar to Marquis’ and Francis finishes with 10 to 12 wins then we should be looking very good.

      0
      0
      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.
Log in Register

ad: 300x250_1_MLB

    Top Stories

    Reds Fire Bryan Price, Mack Jenkins

    Taijuan Walker To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

    Braves Sign Jose Bautista

    Taijuan Walker Diagnosed With “UCL Injury”

    2018-19 MLB Free Agent Power Rankings

    Kevin Kiermaier To Undergo Thumb Surgery

    Dinelson Lamet To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

    Travis d’Arnaud To Undergo Tommy John Surgery; Kevin Plawecki Placed On Disabled List

    Elvis Andrus Diagnosed With Elbow Fracture

    Alex Gordon Placed On DL With Labral Tear In Left Hip

    Recent

    Minor MLB Transactions: 4/19/18

    Mets Sign Vance Worley To Minor League Deal, Release A.J. Griffin

    Cardinals Promote Tyler O’Neill

    Reds Fire Bryan Price, Mack Jenkins

    MLB Daily Roster Roundup: Buxton, Camargo, Gamel, Hill

    Injury Notes: Anibal, Buxton, Hill, Swarzak, Brewers

    Yankees Re-Sign Adam Lind

    MLBTR Chat: Bautista, Cueto, Hader, Jansen

    Taijuan Walker To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

    Mike Napoli Suffers “Significant” Knee Injury

    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Top 50 MLB Free Agents With Predictions
    • 2017-18 MLB Free Agent Tracker
    • 2017-18 MLB Free Agent List
    • Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2018
    • MLB Depth Charts
    • 2018-19 MLB Free Agent List
    • Transaction Tracker
    • DFA Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Twitter/RSS Feeds
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
    • Roster Resource

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Indians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    ad: 160x600_MLB

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • Feeds by Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    hide arrowsFOX Sports Engage Network scroll to top
    Close

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version