Word this morning is that the Rockies were trying to pick up Millwood last month, by offering him $1 million with another $1 million in incentives, but he wanted something closer to $3 million. Not sure if Millwood saw the Slowey contract before or after his price settled on $3 million, but with Slowey given $2.75 it seems like he would want more for his mound time. Troy Renck also tells us that the Rockies haven’t ruled out Millwood, but they might not be able to afford him. With the signing of Slowey and Cuddyer they are running low on cash, even though they still want a veteran in the rotation.
Two veterans they will not be pursuing, as of now, are Francis and Lidge. Neither are on the Rockies radar, even though both have been discussed this off-season. Dan O’ Dowd feels that the players he have so far are talented enough, if inexperienced, and is willing to take what comes with that decision.
Currently our rotation can be made up of: Chacin, Hammel, Pomeranz, Slowey, White, Chatwood or Rogers. What are your thoughts on this group? All of them are under 30.
Millwood was one of the Rockies’ better power hitters last year.
ha! yeah, that can’t be discounted – there is our right handed power hitter we’ve been needing – we could have saved a girp-o-cash on cuddy!
I hope that we can get a fifth starter (to go with Chacin, Hammel, Pomeranz and Slowey by trading Smith).
We should have DLR and Nicasio at some point next year, and maybe one or two of the other young guys are ready to step by my the end of next year. But we are likely to have a weak rotation in the first half of next year. In a perfect world, White and Chatwood should start the year in the minors and pitch in the rotation and get experience; they shouldn’t start the year as major league starters or in the bullpen. Esmil should start the year as the long reliever/spot starter.
Slowey is currently climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro with R.A. Dickey of the Mets, to benefit an organization that helps girls and women in Mumbai who are at risk of being abused and exploited.
Dickey’s blog appears periodically in the sports section of the New York Times.
Chacin, Hammel, and Slowey are the only proven/solid starters ready to start the season. I’m guessing Nicasio surprises us and makes a big charge for a rotation spot to start the season, with Pomeranz as the remaining starter. If Nicasio isn’t ready, or is someone gets hurt, we’ll be pressed into rushing White or Chatwood or letting some veteran NRI take a bunch of turns. Not a promising scenario …
If O’Dowd is talking about money running out, it’s looking like what we see right now is what we’ll get. That means if LeMahieu doesn’t impress in spring we’re right back to the Jonny and Chris show at 2B. And if Casey Blake’s back doesn’t hold up I guess it’ll be Pacheco or some minor league contract signee at 3B.
Bottom line: the Rockies had 3 major needs to fill this offseason: 2B, 3B, starting pitching. I’m not seeing any improvement.
Do I bite my tongue or get on my soapbox? I’ll just go with a short summation … Like I said in another story. Way too many question marks with the rotation for me.
Julian, I know you know how I feel because you repsonded to me in the other story. I believe we already have plenty of 5th starters.
MLBtv talked about the Rockies not having the money for a solid starter a couple of weeks ago.
The Tebow as a LH starter isn’t looking that bad right now.
Mike Raysfan,
Maybe I should have said “another starter” instead of “a fifth starter”. Can the trade of Smith get us a starter who is better than a fifth starter? I hope. Yes, I agree that we have too many fifth starter quality starting pitchers.
definately need more than a 5th starter. Time to bundle a package (including Smith) and find someone closer to a low end 3rd or 4th starter. I agree that we have an abundance of 5th starter potential and we need more firepower. You can’t get someone to bite unless you dangle some players out for bait.
It’s not that the Rox can’t afford Millwood, they just don’t think he is worth $3M. If you think about it, they could probably get a pitcher like Rich Harden — with a lot more upside — for about $1M or 2M more than Millwood’s asking price. I think the team probably has a few guys in mind already either via FA or trade and Millwood was someone who they could simply cross off the list with his expected salary. I definitely agree with all the other posts: it would really, really be nice to find that #2 or #3 starter for 2012. Slim pickings though unless DOD can get creative.
Kinda glad Millwood, Francis and Cook are not in the mix though any other day I’d be fine with them as 5s. The problem is we lead the league in 5th starters the same way we led the league in backup 2nd basemen or 4th outfielders a few years ago.
Rockies need to trade from their positions of depth and fill the shallow ones.
Here is what we need to do. Find a team that lacks 1 each INF, OF, SP.
Give them 1 choice each from 3 menu courses (for example, the actual names can change):
1 of EYJ, Herrera, or Nelson
1 of Seth Smith, Wheeler or Blackmon
1 of Esmil Rogers, Alex White, or Hammell
Based on the combination they select in return we get ONE high quality player at one of those positions.
There has to be some team out there that needs depth in these positions. The Rockies are not one of them.
I would even add Dexter to the OF group.
good choices Prog….I would take the list minus Wheeler and White. However we all know you aren’t going to trade a proven starter without some top talent.
Unfortunately that looks like the rotation of a 90 loss team to me.
I have to believe that Smith is worth more than a #5 starter. My big question that I have been grappling with is if Dex is really worth NOT trading for someone like Jurrgens. I realize his 2nd half was strong last year and he still has upside, but are folks forgetting about his 1st half? Both in 2010 and 2011. Why not do a package of Smith, Dexter, EY, and White for Jurrgens and Prado? DOD has a history of holding onto guys too long and I seriously wonder if Dex is the next guy to fit that criteria.
I really hate the idea of giving up on both Stewart and Fowler in the same year. Fowler has shown glimpses of having a breakout year as at 26 he is just coming into his prime. His defense in center field improves the defense of the rest of the outfield, no matter who is in the lineup. His switch hitting has shown improvement (I’ll make that a general observation and leave the stats details to the rest of you!), which has added value of course.
The Rox have had one of the best, if not the best, defenses for several years. I hate the idea of compromising that as it really takes a toll on the pitchers at Coors Field. The humidor has been a large factor in equalizing Coors, but I have to believe that the improved defense is an overlooked factor at times. I’d weigh that heavily before moving the likes of Dexter.
I’d hold on to Fowler and see if he plays at a level at least equal to the second half of last year. I agree that his defense is important. He’s a Boras client, so we may lose him at some point and should trade him before we lose him, but that’s probably a few years away.
I saw that the Rockies traded Brad Emaus to the Red Sox for a player to be named later or cash. Even though he plays 3B/2B, positions that we are weak in, Emaus hasn’t been mentioned all winter. Is there any reason to think that we will regret this deal, or is this a guy who in all likelihood was going to end up lower on the depth chart than the other guys who we have who play 3B or 2B?
So continues the exodus of Rockies players to the Red Sox…Emaus hasn’t been brought up at all this winter, from what I’ve seen…this possibly is a way to get some money for a pickup?
A few decades back the Kansas City Royals were considered somewhat in jest to be the “extended” farm team for the New York Yankees. Although the Royals played in the MLB, they had a lengthy history of trading/selling promising players to the Yankees whenever they needed cash.
Not sure that this is quite the same thing but it seem like the Red Sox love to get their hands on many of the Rocky cast offs. Related thought I am really surprised that CDI didn’t find himself traded to Beantown this off season. Maybe we should just change the team name from the Rockies to Red Sox West.