Rockies Rumors

Troy Renck is the Rockies/MLB beat reporter for the Denver Post.  You see his name here often with exclusive rumors and info from his columns for that paper.  Troy was kind enough to answer a bunch of my Rockies-related questions for MLBTradeRumors.  Below is the second half of the interview; you can read the first half here.

Which pitcher is more likely to be traded this spring, Josh Fogg or Byung-Hyun Kim?

This will play out slowly, not unlike how the Rockies originally ended up with Kim two years ago just as camp broke. Kim is cheaper and his funky arm angle can neutralize a hitter’s park. He hasn’t shown consistency as a starter and is only comfortable in the bullpen as a closer. Fogg’s contract — $3.625 million — complicates any trade. The Rockies brought up his name when acquiring Lopez from the Orioles, but quickly pulled him back. 

There was a lot of interest in Chin-Hui Tsao after the Rockies non-tendered him.  What do you think of that decision?

From the outside looking in, Tsao’s departure is a headscratcher. He only got $100,000 guaranteed from the Dodgers. But having watched his rehab play out last season, it was clear that Tsao wanted a fresh start. He’s the most talented Rockies’ prospect I have ever seen. But it just didn’t seem like he was every going to escape the black cloud if he stayed in Denver. I’d like to see him have a career given his talent, hardly certain given his two serious surgeries on his shoulder and elbow. Anyway, he definitely wanted a fresh start somewhere else.

The Rockies have more young talent than ever.  In your opinion, when does it all gel to create a playoff team?

The farm system, barren for years, is starting to churn out impact players, like Garrett Atkins and Matt Holliday. The key will be able to win and regenerate the young talent as the kids start to make money. If the payroll remains low and Todd Helton isn’t traded, the Rockies are going to face some difficult choices on which young players to keep this offseason. So, it’s difficult to answer when they will make the playoffs because of the roster issues looming. If they win, attendance theoretically increases, inflating the payroll. That would point to 2008 as a playoff year. But it’s too fluid right now for me to predict that with any certainty.

Troy Renck is the Rockies/MLB beat reporter for the Denver Post.  You see his name here often with exclusive rumors and info from his columns for that paper.  Troy was kind enough to answer a bunch of my Rockies-related questions for MLBTradeRumors.  Below is the first half of the interview.

Will the Rockies be able to rekindle Todd Helton trade talks with Boston, Baltimore, or another team year?  Do you take Todd at his word that he’d veto any deal at this point? 

Troy: It’s possible they could revisit talks, specifically with Boston. But Helton’s promise not to accept a trade during the season places a statue of limitations on any new talks. My calculated guess is that trade discussions won’t resurface in earnest until the offseason.

How would you grade Dan O’Dowd’s offseason?

Troy: O’Dowd made a terrific, if not unpopular trade by acquiring Willy Taveras, Taylor Buchholz and Jason Hirsh for Jason Jennings. Hirsh is the key. If he realizes his potential, he could become Jennings at a much cheaper price for several years. Taveras helps in center field, though I am not sure he’s a longterm solution. The preference would be to have more power from that position. Getting Rodrigo Lopez provides a potential innings-eater to ease Jennings’ absence. Lopez struggled mightily last year. The Rockies think he can have success again because he’s not coming off an injury and will be paroled from the AL East.

His best under-the-radar move was adding Brian Lawrence, who, if healthy, could give the rotation a jolt in May.