Royals Sign Franmil Reyes To Minor League Deal
The Royals have signed outfielder/designated hitter Franmil Reyes to a minor league deal, per a report from Anne Rogers and Juan Toribio of MLB.com. He has been invited to major league Spring Training.
One year ago, the idea of Reyes settling for a minors deal would have been quite surprising, as he had seemingly established himself as a reliable middle-of-the-order threat. From his 2018 debut through the end of the 2021 season, he had launched 92 home runs in 529 games. His 29.5% strikeout rate was certainly on the high side, but he paired that with a solid 9% walk rate. His 119 wRC+ in that stretch indicates that he was 19% better than the league average hitter.
Unfortunately, 2022 was easily the worst season of his career. His walk rate dropped to 6.3% while his strikeout problem got worse, as he was punched out in 33.2% of his trips to the plate. The Guardians designated him for assignment in August and he was claimed by the Cubs, but the latter team cut him from their roster at season’s end. He finished the campaign with 14 home runs and a batting line of .221/.273/.365, wRC+ of 80.
That drop was quite disastrous for a player like Reyes who doesn’t really bring anything else to the table. He’s not a burner on the basepaths and he’s not a strong defender either. He was given poor grades for his glovework at the start of his career and has been mostly a designated hitter of late. He played more than 500 innings in the outfield in each of 2018 and 2019 but hasn’t reached even 100 innings in any of the past three.
With that kind of profile, Reyes really needs to get back on track at the plate in order to have any value. There are reasons to think that his power is still in there, as he still made loud contact last year when he did connect. Statcast placed him in the 92nd percentile in terms of average exit velocity last year, in the 85th percentile in terms of maximum exit velocity, 79th in hard hit rate and 80th in terms of barrel rate.
The Royals are an interesting team to have brought Reyes aboard, since they seemingly already have a number of candidates for corner outfield work and the designated hitter slot. The trade of Michael A. Taylor opened up center field for someone like Drew Waters, but they still have Kyle Isbel and Edward Olivares as candidates for the corners. There are also players who could get bumped to the outfield from other areas, including MJ Melendez. With Salvador Perez taking the bulk of the work behind the plate, Melendez will end up in the outfield or serving in the DH often. Corner infielders like Hunter Dozier, Nick Pratto and Nate Eaton could also see some time on the grass, with Vinnie Pasquantino likely taking first base and Nicky Lopez perhaps getting some time at third since Bobby Witt Jr. and Michael Massey could be the primary middle infield combo.
It will be a challenge for Reyes to force his way into that mix, but most of those other players are young and can be optioned to the minors. If he can make 2022 seem like a fluke and get back to being the 30-homer per year kind of guy that he was prior to that, the club would likely find a way to make it work. If Reyes can get his way back onto the roster, he still has a couple of option years and could also be retained for 2024 via arbitration since he has between four and five years of service time.
MLBTR Is Seeking A Podcast Producer
As you may recall, MLBTR had a podcast that launched in October 2014 and ran for about a year and a half. It was hosted by the esteemed Jeff Todd, and we had a lot of fun.
We have decided to relaunch the MLB Trade Rumors podcast! This time, it will be hosted by Simon Hampton. In this 30-minute weekly show, Simon will bring on members of the MLBTR writing staff to analyze MLB transactions and to dig in on the sorts of topics we cover regularly on this site. We’ll be featuring some outside guests as well.
The show is not ready yet, because we need a producer. We’re seeking someone with experience as a podcast producer. This person will help us record the show, edit it, and put it on the various platforms. If you’re interested, please email us at mlbtrhelp@gmail.com and include your qualifications.
If you’re a podcast listener, we’d love your thoughts in the comments about what you’d like to hear (or not hear) in this show.
Tigers To Sign Matt Wisler To Minor League Deal
Feb. 15: Petzold reports that Wisler will make $1.5MM if he makes the team, with $750K in incentives available.
Feb. 13: The Tigers and right-hander Matt Wisler are in agreement on a minor league contract with an invitation to Spring Training, reports Evan Petzold of The Detroit Free Press.
Wisler, 30, is coming off a strong season of results with the Rays, posting a 2.25 ERA over 44 innings. Despite keeping earned runs off the board like that, he was designated for assignment in September and cleared waivers.
Despite that low ERA, there were some concerning elements that led to Wisler losing his roster spot. He struck out a huge 32.1% of batters faced in 2020 and 2021, but that number dropped to just 19.9% last year. That coincided with a drop of his velocity, as his fastball averaged 89.7 mph last year, a dip from 91.5 mph in 2021 and 94 mph back in 2015. Perhaps more important than the fastball is his slider, since Wisler has been increasing its usage throughout his career, throwing it 91.5% of the time last year. His velocity on that pitch was 79.8 mph last year, after being at 81.5 mph the year prior and 83.5 mph in 2019. With that diminished stuff and fewer punchouts, it’s likely his .198 batting average on balls in play last year was helping him seem more effective than he actually was.
It appears that the teams around the league recognized those facts, which led to Wisler going unclaimed on waivers last year and now settling for a minor league deal here with Spring Training getting started. For the Tigers, they’re taking a no-risk look at Wisler by bringing him aboard on the minor league deal, given them a chance to see if he can recapture his strong form in 2020-2021 or perhaps continue finding success without the strikeouts.
The club has subtracted from its bullpen mix this offseason, trading away established arms like Joe Jiménez to Atlanta and Gregory Soto to the Phillies. That has left a relief corps that’s fairly open, as many of the remaining arms are young and have limited experience. Wisler will be looking to have a strong spring and earn himself a job in that mix, alongside other non-roster invitees such as Chasen Shreve and Trey Wingenter.
Diamondbacks Sign Andrew Chafin
Feb. 15, 2:40pm: Jon Heyman of the New York Post provides details on the bonuses. Chafin will receive $250K by appearing in 55, 60, 65 and 70 games. There’s also a one-time $250K bonus for getting traded.
Feb. 15, 11:40am: Chafin has passed his physical, and the Diamondbacks have formally announced his signing.
Feb. 11: The Diamondbacks have agreed to a reunion with Andrew Chafin, as the veteran left-hander will rejoin his original team on a one-year deal with a club option for the 2024 season. Chafin will earn a $5.5MM salary in 2023, and Arizona’s club option is worth $7.25MM (with a $750K buyout). Up to $1MM in bonus money is also available for Chafin if he makes at least 55 appearances in 2023. Chafin is represented by Meister Sports Management.
Chafin was drafted 43rd overall by the D’Backs in 2011 and he spent his first seven MLB seasons in an Arizona uniform before being dealt to Chicago in a 2020 deadline swap. That initial stint with the Diamondbacks led to mostly positive numbers, as Chafin logged a 3.68 ERA over 271 2/3 innings in his first go-around with Arizona, though he was struggling (albeit in the small sample size of the abbreviated 2020 season) at the time of his trade to the Cubs.
In the two full seasons since that trade, Chafin has taken things to another level while pitching for the Cubs, A’s and Tigers. Over 126 innings since the start of the 2021 campaign, Chafin has a 2.29 ERA, 47.9% grounder rate, 7.5% walk rate, and 25.7% strikeout rate. That above-average K% is further bolstered by very strong chase rates in the last two seasons and an 87th-percentile 31.4% whiff rate in 2022. Chafin has also done a very good job of inducing soft contact.
On the basis of a good platform year with the Tigers in 2022, Chafin declined a $6.5MM player option for 2023 in order to seek out a longer-term contract in free agency. Even though Chafin was one of the better relievers on the marker this winter, he couldn’t find a multi-year pact, and will now end up receiving slightly less (in guaranteed money) than the amount he rejected on his player option. The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal recently wrote that Matt Strahm‘s two-year, $15MM deal with the Phillies seemed to throw off the market for left-handed relievers, to the extent that Chafin, Matt Moore, and Zack Britton were all still looking for new deals despite quite a bit of interest from multiple clubs.
It puts some added pressure on Chafin to continue his good form as he enters his age-33 season, yet he’ll get to pitch in a comfortable and familiar environment in Arizona. The deal becomes a two-year, $12.75MM pact if the Diamondbacks do exercise their club option, which still unexpectedly puts Chafin behind Strahm in total value.
From the Diamondbacks’ perspective, landing Chafin at a relative discount price is a very nice outcome for a team in sore need of bullpen help. After the relief corps was a weak link in 2022, the D’Backs have responded by signing Miguel Castro and Scott McGough to MLB contracts, and brought in a wide array of experienced arms (including Jeurys Familia, Austin Brice, Zach McAlister, Jandel Gustave, Sam Clay, and several others) to camp on minor league deals.
Arizona heads into Spring Training with plenty of competition for bullpen jobs, so Chafin will be one of relatively few Diamondback pitchers that are assured of spots on the Opening Day roster. With an unsettled closer’s position also up for grabs, Chafin could even be a candidate to make some saves, even though he has mostly worked as a setup man throughout his career.
MLBTR ranked Chafin 39th on our list of the offseason’s top 50 free agents, and projected the left-hander for a two-year, $18MM deal. Jurickson Profar and Michael Wacha are the final two players still unsigned from that 50-player list.
The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal (Twitter link) was the first to report the signing, and the general financial parameters. Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic (Twitter links) had the specific financial breakdown, and reported that the D’Backs held a club option.
Tigers Have Shown Interest In Will Smith
The Tigers have shown some interest in free-agent reliever Will Smith, per Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press. However, the left-hander has also received interest from multiple clubs that expect to contend for postseason berths in 2023, Petzold adds, which makes them an unlikely landing spot unless they significantly outbid any other suitors.
The 2022 campaign was a tale of two seasons with Smith, who posted a 4.38 ERA and 12.3% walk rate in 37 innings with the Braves before being traded to the Astros for Jake Odorizzi and immediately turning things around. In 22 frames with Houston, Smith worked to a 3.27 ERA (2.66 FIP, 2.83 SIERA) with a 26.7% strikeout rate — an uptick on his 24% mark in Atlanta — and a 4.4% walk rate that was miles below his bloated rate with the Braves. I noted back in January that the Astros upped Smith’s reliance on his slider and four-seamer at the expense of his curveball and also made some alterations to both his horizontal and vertical release points.
The results were impressive, although the Astros didn’t use him in the postseason. Smith wasn’t on the ALDS or ALCS roster and didn’t pitch in the World Series upon being added. And, as encouraging as his turnaround was, the ‘Stros unsurprisingly weren’t heartened enough to exercise a weighty $13MM option (which came with a $1MM buyout).
Smith is now one of the few unsigned, clearly big-league caliber relievers remaining on the free-agent market. He won’t match the three-year, $40MM contract he received from the Braves in the 2019-20 offseason, but it stands to reason that his strong finish in Houston and his track record ought to land him a big league deal somewhere.
Dating back to 2013, the now-33-year-old Smith carries a 3.26 ERA with an excellent 31.5% strikeout rate against a 9% walk rate. He’s tallied 91 saves and 106 holds in that time, frequently operating as a high-leverage reliever with the Brewers, Giants and Braves. His time with Atlanta didn’t go as well as hoped, although it’s worth noting that was dominant during the team’s postseason run in 2021, firing 11 shutout innings as the Braves secured a World Series victory.
With a non-contending club like the Tigers, the opportunity would exist for Smith to even work his way into the closer’s role. There’s no established option in that spot for the time being, and at the very least, Smith would seem likely to find himself in a high-leverage role — be it as a setup man or ninth-inning specialist. Right now, Tyler Alexander looks like the Tigers’ lone lefty in the bullpen, though Chasen Shreve, Jace Fry and Miguel Del Pozo are all in big league camp as non-roster invitees this spring.
There hasn’t been much chatter about Smith’s market — or lack thereof — this offseason. Left-handed bullpen help has remained the one area of free agency with some actual depth for interested clubs, and the fact that so many southpaws lingered so long into the offseason figures to create some potential bargains. The D-backs scooped up Andrew Chafin on a one-year deal with a club option over the weekend, but the likes of Smith, Matt Moore, Zack Britton and Brad Hand all remain available. Britton just worked out for six clubs today, and the Twins have reportedly shown some interest in Hand. There’s likely some degree of overlap in the markets for the remaining lefties, and now that pitchers and catchers are beginning to report, it’s possible there’s an increased sense of urgency among the remaining unsigned free agents to find a job for the upcoming season.
Dodgers Re-Sign Jimmy Nelson To Major League Deal
The Dodgers and right-hander Jimmy Nelson are in agreement on a major league deal, reports Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic. Nelson’s deal contains a $1.2MM base salary and contains various incentives.
Ardaya breaks down the bonus structure (on Twitter). Nelson receives a “point” for every outing in which he either starts or records 10+ outs from the bullpen. He would lock in $250K each at 10, 12, 14, 16, 18 and 20 points, followed by $500K apiece for 22, 24, 26, 28 and 30 points. Any shorter relief appearances counts as a “non-point” appearance. Nelson would receive $300K each at 35, 40, 45 and 50 such appearances, followed by $400K for hitting the 55 and 60 game marks.
Nelson, 34 in June, has had a stop-and-start career over the past decade. He debuted with the Brewers in 2013 and made 104 starts by the end of 2017. That last season seemed to be a tremendous breakout for him, as he posted a 3.49 ERA over 29 starts. Already a ground ball pitcher, he added strikeouts to his repertoire that season, punching out 27.3% of batters faced, a big jump from the 17.3% rate he had the year prior.
Unfortunately, that season was cut short when he suffered a torn labrum and a partially torn rotator cuff while sliding into second base in an early September game. He missed the rest of that season and also the entirety of the 2018 campaign. He returned to the mound in 2019 but struggled to a 6.95 ERA in 22 innings. The Dodgers signed him for 2020 but back surgery wiped out all of that campaign.
In 2021, he seemed to get back on track in a big way, pitching essentially as a full-time reliever. He made a single start though it was an “opener” situation where he went less than two innings, while the rest of his 27 appearances were out of the bullpen. He posted a miniscule 1.86 ERA in 29 innings of work, striking out an incredible 37.9% of batters faced. His 11.2% walk rate and 37% ground ball rate were a bit worse than average, but that didn’t stop him from posting excellent results.
But another setback came when he required Tommy John surgery in August of that year, putting an end to his stellar season. Though he was likely going to miss all of 2022 as well, the Dodgers re-signed him to a one-year deal plus a $1.1MM option for 2023 with performance bonuses. The Dodgers declined that option back in November but have worked out a new deal with a slightly higher guarantee. The details of the bonuses aren’t known.
Nelson will now be a huge wild card in Spring Training for the Dodgers. Over the past five years, he’s been mostly injured but was excellent for that brief period in 2021 when he was healthy. The club has shown that it’s not afraid to bank on injured players, with mixed results. Both Blake Treinen and Max Muncy were extended while dealing with injuries last year, with Muncy finishing the season strong while Treinen seems likely to miss all of the upcoming season.
The Dodgers will need to create room on their 40-man roster for Nelson whenever this deal is made official, and the same is true of their recent deals with David Peralta and Alex Reyes. However, that could be somewhat easy this week, as players are eligible to be moved to 60-day injured list once pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training. This year is a little murky because some players have arrived early due to the World Baseball Classic, but the Dodgers’ official report date for pitchers and catchers is tomorrow. Treinen, Reyes, Walker Buehler and J.P. Feyereisen are all candidates to move to the 60-day IL and could do so this week, helping out with that roster crunch.
If Nelson is healthy and is anywhere close to his 2021 form, he’ll give the club a potent weapon for its bullpen, alongside arms like Daniel Hudson, Evan Phillips, Brusdar Graterol and others.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Zack Britton Working Out For Six Teams Today
Former All-Star closer Zack Britton is hosting a workout for six interested clubs today, tweets Jon Heyman of the New York Post. Anthony DiComo of MLB.com reports that the Mets are one of the six teams in attendance. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic adds that the Angels, Giants, Dodgers, Cubs and Rangers were also in attendance. The Angels, in particular, have been linked to Britton in recent weeks. Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press, meanwhile, writes that the Tigers have had interest in Britton, though it doesn’t seem they attended today’s showcase.
It’s the second time the 35-year-old Britton has thrown for teams this offseason, though the first was more of a leaguewide showcase. That took place back in mid-January, and it stands to reason that today’s workout will offer his most interested suitors a chance to get another look at him as he gears up for a potential signing. That Britton would offer multiple showcases to interested teams isn’t necessarily a surprise, given that he pitched just two-thirds of an inning in 2022 and only 18 1/3 frames in 2021.
Once one of the game’s elite relievers, Britton has seen his star fade in his mid-30s as injuries have begun to take their toll. The lefty had his elbow scoped in March 2021, which cost him the first two months of that season. He returned in June but quickly went down with a hamstring strain that sidelined him another few weeks. The return from that balky hamstring proved similarly short-lived, as an elbow strain again sent him to the injured list.
In Sept. 2021, Britton underwent surgery to address that second elbow issue. The hope was that, like the arthroscopic procedure in March, removing some bone spurs would alleviate the issue. Instead, surgeons determined that Britton’s ulnar collateral ligament had suffered enough damage that a Tommy John surgery was required. He missed almost all of the 2022 season but did make an improbable late-September return. However, that amounted to just three games, during which time Britton walked six of nine batters faced before going back to the injured list yet again. He averaged 92.8 mph on his fastball in that time — nowhere close to the 94.9 mph he averaged during his last healthy season in 2020 (and even further from the 96.9 mph on his sinker at its peak).
That peak, of course, was one for the ages. From 2014-20, Britton notched a superhuman 1.84 ERA in 367 1/3 frames. He punched out 24% of his opponents against a 9.2% walk rate in that time, and Britton’s 76.2% ground-ball rate over that period cemented him as the best ground-ball pitcher since 2002, when batted-ball data of that nature began being carefully tracked. Britton posted a laughable 80% ground-ball rate in 2016 and was at 79.1% in 2015 and 77.2% in 2019 — the three highest single-season marks ever posted by a qualified pitcher.
Whether he can get back to that form in his mid-30s is an open question. Given his diminished velocity and recent elbow woes, it seems like a long shot. But, given that Britton isn’t likely to command more than an incentive-laden deal with a low base salary, there’s plenty of sense in taking a low-cost risk, given the obvious talent and track record of dominance.
Tigers Sign Jace Fry To Minor League Deal
The Tigers announced they have signed left-hander Jace Fry to a minor league deal, as well as announcing the previously-reported deal with righty Matt Wisler. Both pitchers have received invitations to major league Spring Training.
Fry, 29, was a mainstay of the White Sox’ bullpen from 2018 to 2020. In those three seasons, he made 145 appearances with a 4.43 ERA, with control being a notable Achilles’ heel. He struck out 29.6% of batters faced in that time and got grounders at a 51.2% rate, but his 13.7% walk rate was well above average.
Going into 2021, he underwent a microdiscectomy procedure on his back and didn’t make his season debut in the big leagues until July. He struggled in his return and was frequently optioned for the rest of the year, eventually posting a 10.80 in six appearances and getting outrighted at season’s end.
Last year, he signed a minor league deal with the Nats and posted a 3.77 ERA over 15 Triple-A appearances but then opted out when he didn’t get a roster spot and signed another minor league deal with the Phillies. Unfortunately, things soured from there, as he made 18 more Triple-A appearances with a 6.75 ERA after switching organizations. The profile was still fairly similar to his previous work, as he struck out 30.1% of batters on the year between those two stints, but walked 11.3% of them.
For the Tigers, there’s little harm in bringing Fry into camp to see how he looks. Their bullpen should look quite different from a year ago, with Michael Fulmer, Gregory Soto and Joe Jiménez having been traded and Andrew Chafin departing via free agency. That could potentially open up some opportunities for others this season.
Right now, the only lefties on the club’s 40-man roster are Matthew Boyd, Eduardo Rodriguez, Tarik Skubal, Joey Wentz and Tyler Alexander. Boyd and Rodriguez will be in the rotation, with Skubal joining them whenever he recovers from flexor tendon surgery. Wentz figures to be starting in the minors, leaving Alexander as the only southpaw likely to be in the big league bullpen. Fry will be competing with other non-roster invitees in camp such as Chasen Shreve and Miguel Del Pozo. If he can make his way onto the roster, he still has one option remaining and can be shuttled between the majors and minors. He could also be retained for future seasons via arbitration as he’s currently between three and four years of MLB service time.
Diamondbacks Designate Tyler Holton For Assignment
The D-backs announced Wednesday that they’ve designated lefty Tyler Holton for assignment in order to open a spot on the roster for fellow southpaw Andrew Chafin, whose one-year deal to return to Arizona has now become official.
Holton, 26, made his big league debut with the Snakes in 2022, yielding three runs on eight hits and a pair of walks with six strikeouts in nine innings of work. The 2018 ninth-rounder spent the remainder of the season in Triple-A Reno, where he worked to a 4.43 ERA with a 23.5% strikeout rate against a 9.3% walk rate in 44 2/3 innings (22 relief appearances, two starts).
The 2022 season as a whole represented a sizable turnaround for Holton, who split the 2021 campaign between Double-A and Triple-A, combining for a 6.72 ERA in that time. There was some promise under the hood even amid those ugly bottom-line results, however, as Holton fanned 26.5% of his opponents against a solid 6.5% walk rate.
Holton has regularly posted strong strikeout and walk rates and a solid 45.2% ground-ball rate in parts of three minor league seasons. He’s also generally avoided the long ball, even when pitching in hitter-friendly settings like Reno. Since he was just selected to the MLB roster last year, he has a pair of minor league options remaining. All of that could hold appeal to other clubs either on waivers or via a small trade, but Holton has never been considered among the D-backs’ very best prospects and doesn’t have the type of power arsenal teams so frequently covet, averaging just 90.5 mph on his heater in this past season’s brief MLB debut.
The D-backs will have a week to trade Holton, attempt to pass him through outright waivers or release him.
Rockies Sign Manager Bud Black To One-Year Extension
The Rockies have signed manager Bud Black to a one-year extension through the 2024 season, Black himself announced at Rockies camp this morning (Twitter link via Danielle Allentuck of the Denver Gazette).
The 2023 season will be the seventh at the Rockies’ helm for the 65-year-old Black, who’s thus far compiled a 417-453 record in that role. That losing mark is many ways reflective of persistently sub-par rosters that Black has been handed in recent years, though not for lack of trying. The Rockies have extended various players they’ve deemed core contributors — German Marquez, Antonio Senzatela, Kyle Freeland, Ryan McMahon among them — and as recently as last offseason put down a hefty $182MM investment in outfielder Kris Bryant as they’ve sought to put a contending team on the field.
That said, the Rox have also not only traded Nolan Arenado away but paid $50MM of his salary in order to facilitate that swap with the Cardinals, and they’ve at times sat out the free-agent market almost entirely (this season included). Colorado has endured four straight losing seasons and turned over the GM’s chair from Jeff Bridich to longtime scouting director Bill Schmidt, while also seeing an exodus in the assistant GM ranks and some turmoil in analytics department that’s among the smallest in the league.
Along the way, owner Dick Monfort has steadfastly refused to embark on any sort of rebuild, and even short-term “sell” moves at the deadline have been passed over. The Rockies, for instance, opted not to trade either Trevor Story or Jon Gray when both were impending free agents and the Rox were out of contention. Story walked and netted the Rockies a draft pick after rejecting a qualifying offer. Colorado did not extend a QO to Gray, essentially agreeing to let the former No. 3 overall pick leave with no compensation. Last summer, when closer Daniel Bard would’ve been one of the market’s most sought-after arms, the Rockies instead extended him on a two-year, $19MM contract. They took a similar approach with first baseman C.J. Cron the summer prior.
The commitment to fielding a winning club is commendable, but the decision-making behind those good intentions has often proven faulty. Schmidt is only entering his second full season as the team’s general manager, and he’ll surely have a fair bit of leash with regards to his autonomy in the baseball ops department.
Extending Black through the 2024 season assures hat the veteran skipper won’t play out the 2023 season under dreaded lame-duck status. It’ll also provide some further continuity and stability as Schmidt looks to turn the team’s fortunes and get the Rockies at least back to a respectable level of play. Monfort’s proclamation of a 94-win season prior to the 2020 campaign (before it was learned that the schedule would need to be shortened) drew plenty of criticism, and even his recent, more-measured suggestion that his club could play .500 ball this season has drawn similar scrutiny.
It’ll be incumbent upon Black to maximize the results from what looks like another flawed roster in 2023; the Rockies went into the offseason with the goal of acquiring a center fielder but came up empty in those pursuits, and the team’s already shaky rotation and bullpen went largely unaddressed as well. Colorado’s farm system has improved in recent years, but they’ll need some impactful contributions from the minor league ranks to right the ship. Black, entering his 16th season as a Major League manager, has plenty of experience in working to harness the young talent of up-and-coming prospects, but the Rockies will need to work some magic to avoid a fifth consecutive season finishing either fourth or fifth in the NL West.