The Rockies have re-signed lefty Yohan Flande, according to the list of recent official minor league signings from Baseball America’s Matt Eddy. Colorado will also bring back fellow southpaw Jason Gurka.
Both Flande and Gurka were non-tendered by the Rockies earlier in the winter to clear 40-man space, though neither was eligible for arbitration.
Flande, soon to turn 30, has seen quite a bit of time in the majors over the last two years as the organization sought to fill in its staff. Working in a swingman capacity, he’s tallied 127 1/3 innings of 4.95 ERA pitching, with 5.4 K/9 against 2.9 BB/9. Flande carries an impressive 58.9% groundball rate, though he also showed a susceptibility to the long ball last year (1.84 HR/9, 25.5% HR/FB).
Gurka debuted in Denver last year, allowing eight earned runs in just 7 2/3 innings. Soon to turn 28, the longtime Orioles farmhand has turned in some solid seasons in the minors recently. Last year, he worked to a 2.86 ERA over 63 frames at the Double-A and Triple-A levels, with 7.6 K/9 and 2.6 BB/9.
You know this is a move that will really help this organization who is in need of a pitcher in this capacity.
Good lord why? The Rockies non-tendered three guys are then proceeded to resign all of them when no one else wanted them. Loyalty is a great trait in a wife, a soldier, or a pet, but this franchise is so loyal to its personnel that it hinders success. Dan O’Dowd stayed as the GM for 15 years despite building a .500 or better team 4 times and two of those were barely over .500. He would still be the GM if he didn’t resign. Jim Tracy was a horrible manager that deserved firing, but he was not fired…he resigned because the owner values loyalty above results. The Rockies will never improve until they get competent ownership. Sorry for the long diatribe, but I needed to say it.
Here comes the usual baseball fan that complains about a rebuilding team. These signing are not a big deal. That’s why they are minor league signings. They don’t affect the 40 man roster at the moment
Where do you see ANY complaints about rebuilding? My complaints were about the ineptitude of the front office and ownership. I WANT a rebuild starting with the owner and front office. If Flande and Gurka were part of a rebuild, even a minor part, then why were they non-tendered before arbitration instead of outrighted? If you outright them, you have the same end result without taking a chance on losing the players. Either the FO foolishly took the chance of losing potentially useful players when it didn’t have to, or they resigned players that no one else wanted. Call me crazy, but signing guys that have already failed with you and were passed over by 29 other teams to minor league contracts is a big deal and a sign that the FO doesn’t have a clue how to run a baseball franchise. A franchise is a lot more than just the 40 man roster.
Why did they let Rex Brothers go if there loyal not a bad Relief pitcher
You didn’t end your sentence with the necessary words “in 2013.” Brothers was awesome in 2013, but was awful in 2014 and barely made it out of the minors in 2015.
Cant outright someone who isnt under contract. You speak down on someone else’s baseball knowledge but actually showed you know less than the “usual fan”.
They were technically under contract until they were non-tendered. They could have been tendered a contract and then outrighted off the 40 man roster. They were still under team control. The FO still either took an necessary chance of losing the players or resigned players that are useless to the organization.
What exactly do you mean by “usual baseball fan?” I am not only a baseball fan, I am a Rockies fan. But it seems like you were implying that you were somehow better than the “usual baseball fan” which judging from your comment seems to be highly, highly unlikely.
It seems any sports fan complains about their team just like you did. Anyways, rebuilding doesn’t have anything to do with it. I just added it
It’s not about the loyalty. It about money. Had they tendered the 3 contracts the minimum amount they could have offered. 1 would have possibly resigned for what they got all 3 for.
Your not smarter than their front office. More goes into than you could even think of. They may not make the best deals but the f.o. is just like the team on the field. If someone fails 70% of the time then they are likely considered an all star.. (just think about that)
It’s you’re not your, so maybe I am smarter than you think. And I never said I was the right answer anyway. I don’t have any desire to be a GM or an owner, I would just like my team to have one that seemed competent combo. I don’t need to think about your hypothesis because it’s not the same thing. Here’s something for you to think about that is a better comparison. A .300 winning percentage puts you in last place every year, not in the WS. If you make a trade and win 30% of the time, that means the other guy wins 70% of the time. The goal should not be to maintain a good batting average, it should be to beat the other guy more often than he beats you.
Seems like there is a lot of truth to that