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Should Rockies Deal Holliday?

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The Denver Post has split opinions on whether or not the Rockies should deal Matt Holliday this season.  Columnist Troy E. Renck says the Rockies have been bad "from top to bottom."  He cites the rotation, situational hitting, leaky bullpen, and dealing with pressure as problem spots and that they would need to go "70-36 in their final 106 games" to be in contention.

As MLBTR has covered here, Woody Paige reports that the Rockies can’t tie up $40MM in three position players and that Scott Boras won’t accept a hometown discount.  Paige proposes:

Holliday would be a significant addition for Cleveland, and the Rockies also could send best friend Garrett Atkins or Brad Hawpe… [for] starting pitcher Cliff Lee (8-1, 1.88 ERA and four superb pitches), a middle reliever and an outfield prospect. The Rox, depending on the second player in the deal, play Ian Stewart at third or in left, and Ryan Spilborghs becomes a full-time starting outfielder who could be the next Holliday.

Alternatively, Mark Kiszla believes trading him would not bring enough back to justify not re-signing him and that trading him would send the wrong message to players and fans.  Instead, they should actively work to re-sign the slugger through negotiations.  Kiszla’s argument:

"When the Texas Rangers decided it could not pay to keep powerful young first baseman Mark Teixeira a year ago, the offer the Rangers finally accepted from Atlanta was for a rookie catcher and four minor-league prospects."

Interestingly, Jon Heyman thinks the Rockies won’t be able to get as good a deal as the Rangers got for Teixeira, a deal that’s not good enough for Mark Kiszla.

By Nat Boyle

Blocked Prospects: Joe Koshansky

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25 year-old first baseman Joe Koshansky played for the same University of Virginia team as Ryan Zimmerman and Mark Reynolds. Like Reynolds he was drafted in 2004, falling (to the surprise of some) to the sixth round (pick 190).

He’s moved steadily through the Rockies system and in 2005 was named Baseball America’s Rockies Minor League Player of the Year after hitting .291/.373/.603 with 36 home runs in 453 A ball at bats. He’s maintained similar averages at Double-A Tulsa and Triple-A Colorado Springs, although his power has steadily declined.  On top of that, Koshansky plays at the highest elevation of any pro park in the country. 

He’s also a bit of a stikeout artist — once every four plate appearances through his minor league career. In this sense he’s the antithesis of Todd Helton, the guy currently occupying first for the Rockies. Unless Helton (signed through 2011 for a mountain of money) goes into severe mid-30s decline or is injured Koshansky is officially blocked at first.

Koshansky has said he’s open to moving to a corner outfield position, but with Brad Hawpe having signed an extension, and ongoing talks to sign Matt Holliday long term, a switch to the outfield is even less likely than getting past Helton. For the time being he’s stuck in Colorado Springs where he’s currently leading the team in both HRs and total bases to go along with a .441 OBP.

Time to cast this line out and see who’s biting. With Franklin Morales off to a terrible start and Mark Redman being Mark Redman, one would think the Rockies might be on the lookout for a starter come July. Flipping Koshansky could be the ticket.  The Rox were able to snag a couple of live arms back in ’06 when they traded Ryan Shealy to KC. 

Aaron Shinsano writes for East Windup Chronicle.

Atkins, Holliday Wait For Big Payday

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With yesterday’s signing of Brad Hawpe the Rockies have now locked up five young players through at least 2010 over the past 14 months. Impressive. The Denver Post says Garrett Atkins would be "the next logical candidate" for a deal, but that his situation continues to be complicated by Ian Stewart, who the Rockies are attempting to move over to second to avoid a logjam.

Naturally Matt Holliday’s name came up in light of the Hawpe signing, but owner Dick Monfort tried to keep that at bay, calling the situation "a different animal, not related to these contracts." 

This spring training is Stewart’s third with the team. He started and played four innings at second today, but didn’t have anything hit his way. He’s battling Jeff Baker, Omar Quintanilla, Jayson Nix, Clint Barmes, and Marcus Giles for the starting job in what should be one of the more interesting position battles this spring. Nix may have the edge, but the team would love for Stewart to help them avoid the Atkins question altogether by making a smooth transition.

Aaron Shinsano writes for East Windup Chronicle.

Rockies Sign Hawpe Long-Term

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Troy Renck of the Denver Post is reporting that the Rockies and Brad Hawpe have agreed to a three-year deal with a fourth-year option. The contract is worth $17MM with the 2011 option expected to be close to $10MM. The deal will lock up Hawpe for each of his arbitration seasons while the team option could eliminate his first year of free agency. The right fielder hit .291-29-116 with a 129 OPS+ in 2007.

The Rockies who won the NL last year with a payroll close to $52MM have now committed $91MM to four of their core players this off-season. In addition to Hawpe, the Rox have given long-term deals to Aaron Cook, Troy Tulowitzki and Manny Corpas. Colorado will see their payroll rise to $70-75MM in 2008.

By Cork Gaines

Rockies Still Talking Long-Term With Hawpe

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Troy Renck of The Denver Post reports that talks continue between the Colorado Rockies and Brad Hawpe regarding the possibility of a long-term deal.  This seems to conflict with Tracy Ringolsby’s report that progress was not being made.

Priority number one, for the time being, is getting Hawpe inked for the coming season.  With an arbitration hearing looming next month, Hawpe has submitted a $4.35 million dollar asking price, while the Rockies have submitted a figure of $3.575 million.

But looking beyond 2008 is a priority for the team.  Discussions point to a deal that would secure Hawpe through 2011, his first year of free agency, with a club option in that final year.

According to Renck:

The key to these contracts is finding comparables, and creating a big enough club option to entice the player.  For Hawpe, Pittsburgh’s Jason Bay represents a potential one. As a first-time arbitration-eligible player in 2006, Bay signed a four-year contract worth $18.25 million.

By Matt Birt

Rockies To Sign Scott Podsednik

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Tracy Ringolsby of the Rocky Mountain News reports that the Rockies are "finalizing details" on a minor league deal for outfielder Scott Podsednik.  The idea is to let Pods battle Cory Sullivan for the backup center field job in Spring Training.

Podsednik as an extra outfielder seems like a decent idea.  He may have been treated as a starter for a bit too long.

Ringolsby adds that the Rockies haven’t made progress on a long-term deal with Brad Hawpe and will probably just ink him for one year for now.

Odds and Ends: Zimmerman, Tulo, Hawpe, Wang

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Some bits and pieces from today…

Rockies May Head To Arbitration Hearings

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According to Troy E. Renck, the Rockies have only had two arbitration hearings in franchise history. I dug around and found that they beat Sun-Woo Kim over a $200K difference in ’06 and lost to Dennys Reyes over a $200K difference in 2002.

This year, the Rockies will be prepared for the possibility of multiple hearings.  They’ve got to deal with Matt Holliday, Brian Fuentes, Garrett Atkins, Brad Hawpe, and Willy Taveras.  Renck notes that "significant gaps exist with Atkins and Fuentes."  Since we saw the Rox go to their only two hearings over $200K, we know it doesn’t take much of a disagreement sometimes.  If no contracts are reached by Friday each side must submit a salary for ’08 and an arbitrator will pick one later.  Teams typically like to avoid hearings partially because they can create some hard feelings.

The Rockies’ 2008 payroll should rise more than $10MM just to accomodate the five mentioned above.

Rockies Rumors: Atkins, Holliday, Giles

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Let’s see what’s going on with the Rockies this morning.

The Denver Post’s Troy E. Renck writes about the Rockies’ rising payroll.  They’re going to have to cough up over $10MM extra in 2008 just to retain current arbitration-eligible players like Garrett Atkins, Matt Holliday, Brian Fuentes, and Brad Hawpe.  Holliday might get the biggest bump, around a $5MM increase.  As far as team control, the Rox have Atkins through 2010, Holliday through 2009, Fuentes through 2008, and Hawpe through 2010.  There’s no rush but many of these guys might be trade considerations down the road.

Also, Tracy Ringolsby reports that the Rockies have agreed to a nonguaranteed deal with Marcus Giles.  He’s just insurance though – Jayson Nix is the favorite to play second base.  Nix’s Triple A performance in ’07 was equivalent to a .252/.290/.387 line in the bigs.

Angels Interested In Garrett Atkins

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Last year, Rockies third baseman Garrett Atkins was the second-best hitter at his position, behind only Miguel Cabrera.  Atkins isn’t set to reach free agency until 2011, making him a very valuable commodity.  The Rockies had talks with him this offseason about a deal covering his arbitration years and first year of free agency, but no agreement could be reached.

Now, both the Denver Post and L.A. Times are reporting that the Angels are interested in trading for Atkins.  Troy E. Renck of the Post says Atkins’s name first came up during the Winter Meetings when the two clubs were discussing a Todd Helton deal.  Renck writes that Ervin Santana would be a must in any trade and that the Angels also have interest in Brad Hawpe and Jeff Baker.  He also says Atkins is still considered a core member of the team, so a deal is unlikely.  I wonder if Bill Stoneman is trying to take advantage of a subpar start for Atkins – his defense hasn’t been pretty and his power has been MIA.

From the L.A. side, Mike DiGiovanna adds several players on the Halos’ radar:  Kevin Mench, Jacque Jones, Pat Burrell, Emil Brown, Morgan Ensberg, and Edwin Encarnacion.  DiGiovanna agrees that Santana is the top trading chip.  Santana could really blossom in the National League.  With Freddy Garcia and Adam Eaton struggling and Brett Myers in the pen, the Phillies probably have the strongest need.  Starters Joe Saunders and Dustin Moseley could be used if the Angels want to make a smaller deal.

As long as the Angels are making an all-out blitz for a third baseman, let’s speculate on some other possibilities.  Mike Lowell, Chad Tracy, Hank Blalock have all been rumored in the past; the Rangers clearly have the biggest need for a starter.  Santana, however, could be Brandon McCarthy all over again with his flyball tendencies.

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