It's already been a busy day for the Rockies what with their declined options on Jeff Francis, Octavio Dotel and (possibly) Miguel Olivo, but the Denver Post's Troy Renck has even more news from the Mile High City. All of Renck's links are from Twitter…
- John Buck is not a candidate to play for Colorado next season, but Renck "knows for a fact" the Rockies like the Angels' Mike Napoli.
- The Rockies are interested in Jose Lopez, among several other right-handed hitters. Lopez had his 2011 option declined today by Seattle and could be non-tendered next month.
- Lopez could be a right-handed option at first base to platoon with Todd Helton, which would make Jason Giambi "unlikely to return." Then again, Renck notes Giambi "really didn't fit last year" in terms of a platoon situation and he was very popular in the clubhouse.
- Melvin Mora wants to come back next season, but there might not be enough playing time available to satisfy him.
- Renck says there's about a "60%" chance that Francis returns to Colorado. He notes that Pittsburgh could be interested in Francis if former Rockies manager Clint Hurdle is hired to manage the Bucs and if Zach Duke is non-tendered.
- It's "uncertain" if Joe Beimel will be pitching for the Rockies next year.
If Napoli plays in Colorado and gets regular playing time, he will hit 40 HR’s.
Napoli will have one 2-for-15 slump and Tracy will bench him for 4 months.
What they need to do is sign Victor Martinez. Napoli could be a nice back up plan. If the Rockies sign Martinez, De La Rosa bails though. Lots of choices for the Rockies to make this off-season.
Napoli for Gonzalez straight up. Fine.. we’ll throw in Wood too.
haha.
Mike Napoli isn’t a backup plan. The guy can flat out rake.
If Colorado somehow got him, kudos, because he would put up monster numbers “nobody saw coming”.
I’m just saying, I would rather go after Victor Martinez. Napoli would be nice though.
Think of Napoli as a cheap man’s Victor Martinez, with an upside.
damn, Colorado love these kind of players…
Napoli, Olivio, Ianetta
Low average… good power catchers
we learned last year that, the only reason Napoli’s average was in the .270 range was because he was being protected by the platooing… so he’s more of a .235-.255 hitter, probably a little higher in Colorado, and with near 500 ABs, he’d get about 30 HRs, and once again, a few more in Colorado…
Ianetta has about the same HRs numbers, but he’s only a .190-.230 hitter right now, IN Colorado… but he’s clearly the better fielder, and could turn into a .235-.250 hitter, if his rookie season means anything…
Olivo is a .250-.260 hitter, with 17-20 HR power in a full season, and has a good arm, not a great fielder…
Napoli reminds me of a Matt Nokes, Craig Netles, Mike Pagliarulo type player, power and a low average. Napoli is still a pretty valuable players, especially from the catchers spot.
Unlike Nokes and Pags, though, Napoli can take a walk (or at least he could before 2010) so he could at least provide a .350 OBP, even if with a .240- BA.
Nettles isn’t a half-bad comparison, actually, though Napoli has better power – .249/.329/.421 vs. .251/.346/.485 (Nettles vs. Napoli). I’d go with Mickey Tettleton as a comp (.241/.369/.449).
I’m predicting Giambi signs with the Rays
I like Jose Lopez as a buy low type of signing. He’s not as bad as he was last year, but probably not as good as the year before. He’d be a good fit at 2b, giving more offensive potential than anyone else that mans the position currently. Again, he isn’t going to put up huge numbers, but he has some good pop that will resurface in Colorado. I think the culture within the Seattle clubhouse went a long way to interfering with a number of their players’ performances.
As far as Napoli goes, I’m ambivilent. I’d like to see the Rox commit to someone behind the plate and to stop jerking Ianetta around. But I think people would expect too much out of Napoli. He’s a very good platoon player, but not an everyday player.
Jose Lopez at 1B would be brutal. He doesn’t even hit lefties that well. Actually, he doesn’t hit anything well.
I’m not convinced that Reynolds can carry a bulk of the load as the primary lefty out of the bullpen…I’m fairly convinced that Morales cannot and should not…I don’t understand why they wouldn’t bring Beimel back and keep that veteran presence there in case Reynolds truly isn’t ready…it shouldn’t cost them much…
Napoli is more like .265 hitter over a full season. He’ll hit at least 35 hrs if he plays over 120 games.
The Mariners will attempt to trade Lopez before they either non-tender him (Which I’m not so sure they will do because they need a 2B to fill in ’til Ackley is called up), or agree to a deal before or in arbitration. If the Rockies are interested, a trade is possible. How about 2B/3B Jose Lopez for a young RP (Esmil Rogers?).
Wow, how about not. Nobody will want him.
“The Rockies are interested in Jose Lopez, among several other right-handed hitters.”
Yes, after he is non tendered. Why the heck would the Rockies trade Rogers for him?
The M’s have control over Jose Lopez for 2011. They have better options than to just release him into the FA market. The Rockies have interest, and the return doesn’t have to be Rogers or a prospect of his caliber, just a useful young arm for the Pen isn’t asking a lot.
Naps for Fowler…how close is that? What more would it take?
Fowler seems like a guy who could use a change of venue.
Seth, CGon, EY with Spill as the #4 is pretty solid.
I wouldn’t trade Fowler…I’d rather trade Smith. Plus, EY is a terrible outfielder.
No. Napoli’s worth more than that
Bringing back Mora makes a LOT more sense than pursuing Jose Lopez. Mora provides a nice RH bat that can play 1B or 3B (a need for this team) and, in a pinch, he proved he could play LF as well. There ought to be at least 300-350 ABs for him in 2011 with the Rockies, low end.
Not bringing Beimel back is asking for trouble. He proved his worth here the past two seasons and at roughly $2 million it shouldn’t even be a question. If they let him go then they’re hanging their hat on Franklin Morales as the other lefty (with Reynolds) in the bullpen. That has “disaster” written all over it.