By Tim Dierkes | at
According to Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post, the Rockies have begun preliminary discussions with free agent-eligible pitcher Glendon Rusch.
Rusch, 34 in November, posted a 5.16 ERA in 83.2 innings with the Padres and Rockies this year. His peripheral numbers were respectable, and he held lefties to a .257/.261/.376 line. Rusch missed all of the ’07 season due to a blood clot in his lung.
By Steve Adams | at
Ken Rosenthal has a new column up, focusing largely on suitors for Jake Peavy, but also touching on some other news at the end… so let’s take a look!
By Tim Dierkes | at
Linkage for Thursday…
By Tim Dierkes | at
According to Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post, the Rockies declined their $2.5MM option on reliever Matt Herges. The buyout was $250K. Add a few more bucks to the Rockies’ budget. They still have roughly $70MM likely to be committed to current players though.
Herges’ ERA went up significantly this year, but his component skills didn’t change much. His strikeouts and walks are both up a touch, but the big difference was the rate at which batted balls fell for hits.
By Tim Dierkes | at
Let’s see what we can find in three new columns from Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post today.
By Nat Boyle | at
Some points of interest:
By Alejandro Leal | at
Brian Fuentes has expressed his desire to stay with the Rockies, but as we’ve written before, its likely that he’ll sign with another team.
The Rockies, however, are keeping an open mind in trying to retain the veteran pitcher as GM Dan O’Dowd told the Denver Post:
"On the surface it would seem like it would be a longshot to keep him, but that’s something we are still talking about."
Fuentes will be one of the most coveted free agent relievers this upcoming offseason, but he’s prepared to listen to any offer the Rox make:
"If they want to discuss that internally and decide what they are going to do, that would be great," Fuentes said. "I love playing here, and I believe the team is going to be a lot better in years to come."
According to the Post, it’s assumed that the Rockies would get two compensatory draft picks once Fuentes rejected arbitration.
Alejandro A. Leal writes for UmpBump.com and can be reached at: alexo05 [at] umpbump [dot] com.
By Tim Dierkes | at
Gerry Fraley wrote about Mike Hampton in the Rocky Mountain News a few weeks ago. One notable statement:
"The Rockies will be free of a financial obligation once they pay the $6 million buyout on his option for 2009 – a sum that was prefunded so it won’t impact Rockies finances."
In my Rockies Offseason Outlook, the $6MM was included when I said the team had $77.6MM committed before arbitration raises.
Since the buyout won’t impact finances, the Rox actually have about $71.6MM committed before possible arbitration raises to Clint Barmes, Garrett Atkins, Willy Taveras, Jorge de la Rosa, Jason Grilli, and Cory Sullivan. So figure the Rockies will come in a bit under $80MM to keep their current players (aside from free agents).
Even going from this year’s $68.6MM to $80MM in ’09 would be a 16.6% increase in payroll. To add players, they’ll have to go even higher or perhaps trade Atkins. The Rockies drew over 2.65MM fans this year, up from last year’s 2.38MM.
By Tim Dierkes | at
The Rockies are next in our Offseason Outlook series. Here’s a look at their 2009 commitments:
C – Chris Iannetta – $400K
C – Yorvit Torrealba – $3.5MM
1B – Todd Helton – $16.6MM
2B – Clint Barmes – $405K+
SS – Troy Tulowitzki – $750K
3B – Garrett Atkins – $4.3875MM+
IF – Jeff Baker – $403K
IF – Ian Stewart – $400K
LF – Matt Holliday – $13.5MM
CF – Willy Taveras – $1.975MM+
RF – Brad Hawpe – $5.5MM
OF – Ryan Spilborghs – $400K
OF – Seth Smith – $400K
SP – Aaron Cook – $8.75MM
SP – Jeff Francis – $3.75MM
SP – Jorge de la Rosa – $1.025MM+
SP – Ubaldo Jimenez – $400K
SP – Greg Reynolds – $400K
RP – Manny Corpas – $750K
RP – Taylor Buchholz – $400K
RP – Luis Vizcaino – $3.5MM
RP – Matt Herges – $2.5MM (club option; salary estimated)
RP – Jason Grilli – $420K+
RP – Ryan Speier – $400K
RP – Jason Hirsh – $400K
Non-tender candidates: Cory Sullivan – $1MM+, Willy Taveras – $1.975MM+
Other commitments: Mike Hampton – $6MM
That’s $77.6MM committed, plus arbitration raises to Barmes, Atkins, Taveras, de la Rosa, Grilli, and Sullivan. Outfielders Taveras and Sullivan could be cut loose, but raises will still push payroll past $82MM. The Rockies began the season with a $68.6MM payroll.
This should be an interesting offseason for Dan O’Dowd and company. First there’s the Helton issue. He’s owed $56.9MM for the 2009-11 seasons, so he’d be very difficult to trade. Throw in the back problems and he’s basically immovable.
Helton’s injury status may make it harder to trade Atkins this winter. Could Baker and/or Joe Koshansky handle first base if Atkins is traded and Helton is injured? Perhaps. The Rockies would like to move Atkins and his probable $7MM salary for a frontline starting pitcher, but his performance away from Coors has been poor. If the offers are weak, Atkins may stay.
Holliday could be traded instead; his road performance is not problematic. However, the Rockies will probably only trade Holliday if they can do so without hurting the ’09 team. A package similar to the one the Twins received for Johan Santana would be surprising; O’Dowd instead went after Carlos Beltran this summer.
The Rockies’ offense could be solid in ’09 with the current group. They could hope that Tulo and Atkins bounce back and give more playing time to Iannetta and Stewart.
For the rotation, the Rockies will probably add one veteran starter to their solid core of Cook, Francis, Jimenez, and de la Rosa. Derek Lowe would be a great signing if they are willing to raise payroll (or find a reasonable trade for Atkins). Losing Brian Fuentes will hurt the bullpen, but starting pitching is the more urgent need. Perhaps Atkins can be traded for a quality reliever like Huston Street (just an example – the A’s may not be interested).
If the Rockies take payroll past $85MM, maybe they can lure a veteran like Lowe while retaining Holliday for an ’09 run. That’d be my strategy.
By Tim Dierkes | at
Rounding up the day’s links…
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