Here’s the latest from the game’s western divisions on a quiet morning:
- The Rangers will purchase the contract of lefty Wandy Rodriguez in time for him to make a start tomorrow, as Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports. Rodriguez will only earn a league minimum salary, but will begin marching towards up to $1.8MM in available incentives with his first appearance. He spent all of camp with the Braves, who released him rather than taking on what would have been a $2MM base salary.
- The Rockies have optioned former starting catcher Wilin Rosario to Triple-A in spite of his hot start in limited action, as Nick Groke of the Denver Post reports. Rosario seemed a plausible trade candidate over the offseason, though he was coming off of a tough 2014 and probably would not have drawn a palatable return. He has been productive at the plate since transitioning out of the regular backstop mix, but was not able to earn much playing time. Rosario was clearly disappointed by the move, though he said he expects it will be short-lived. It is worth noting that Rosario entered the season with 3.023 years on his service clock, meaning that a lengthy minor league stint could deliver an additional year of club control.
- While the Rockies enjoyed a hot start, questionable pitching has dropped the team back to earth. Mark Kiszla of the Denver Post argues that the club has continued to exhibit a “defeatist attitude” in the way that it approaches outside acquisitions. That explains why the team settled for Kyle Kendrick instead of going hard for James Shields, says Kiszla, who disputes the Catch-22 conventional wisdom holding that the Rockies must overpay to get starting pitching but that the team will never again be baited into doing so.
The Rockies are a tough out and signing Kendrick was a good one.
Plus, they are still in it.
For those unaware of who Mark Kiszla is, just imagine the worst of the worst of your local gasbag commentators, that’s him. He knows a bit about football, nothing else, and is unconcerned about being accurate.
I don’t care about Kiszla’s reputation. He makes a point. The Rockies have a “losing psyche”. This is pretty obvious. They have a 277-374 record over the past four years.
What he fails to mention is that the Rockies need to acquire starting pitcher via trade, not free agency. Guys like Shane Greene, who are young, have a high ceiling, and are under team control.
Greene is 26. He’s young, but not that young. Also Greene’s floor is about as high as his ceiling. He looks like he’ll be a solid #4 starter, no more, no less. That’s not a bad thing, but he’s no future frontline pitcher, despite the numbers he’s put up for the Tigers so far this year.
The problem with that is you need to give talent to get talent, and the Rockies really need to hang onto any talent they develop in their system to have any success. What they really need to do better is start developing pitching from within. Same result as what you mentioned, without giving up pieces they need in the process.
Developing pitchers from within hasn’t worked thus far (with a few exceptions). That’s why I think they need to acquire young pitchers via trade. Pitchers who have already developed in another organization.
I also don’t see why the Rockies need to hang on to any offensive talent. It seems like they can plug any average hitter in at Coors field and he will produce (at home at lease).
Sure they will produce at home, but the road has always been the Rockies undoing. I think the biggest reason is that Rockies hitter only see breaking balls on the road. They can hit breaking balls, but they are not used to hitting breaking balls because they don’t work as well at altitude. Which is the real “Coors Effect.”
That opens another can of worms. I was trying to isolate and only discuss the pitching issue, which is tough to do because the altitude affects everything.
I agree that that needs fixing, but I was pointing out why the Rockies can’t really just trade away offensive talent for pitching. It would be nice to move a Charlie Blackmon for a really good starter, but then two problems pop up. First Blackmon is overly scrutinized due to hitting at Coors so the return wouldn’t really be equal to his value. Second, and more importantly, the pitcher acquired has to be able to pitch at Coors himself. Jeremy Guthrie was a solid pitcher until he got traded to the Rox, then he looked like a guy that could barely get out of AA. Now he again looks fairly solid with KC. It’s a total guessing game about whether a pitcher’s psyche can handle pitching there.
Well, Jeremy Guthrie is a flyball pitcher. He also seems a little soft. I think you need tough, resilient pitchers at Coors. Not sure who thought he’d be able to pitch there.
But I agree with you regarding the scrutiny with Blackmon. However, what about Dickerson? Or Cargo 2-3 years ago at his peak? Like you mentioned above, the front office holds onto players way too long.
It is much easier to trade away offensive talent and replace it with something else (e.g. homegrown fringe regular with good defense or a free agent). Can you imagine Nelson Cruz playing 81 games in Coors Field?
I would be somewhat horrified seeing Cruz in the vast Coors outfield for 81 games. He might hit 50-55 HRs, but he would probably give up twice as many runs on defense.
My point is – unlike pitching, offense can be acquired through free agency. The Rockies should take greater risk and trade position players at their peak.
Wilin Rosario is the latest name that the Rockies have held onto until past the point of having any real value. Garrett Atkins, Brad Hawpe, Ian Stewart, and several others were kept past the point they were needed in Denver just because the Rockies either asked too much in return or stubbornly held onto them out of a misguided sense of loyalty.
The first word that popped into my head when I read those names, was “nosedive”. Atkins, Hawpe and Stewart fell and fell hard.
Yep. Hawpe went from All Star to quietly waived in less than a year. He was a reserve All Star and not the only Rockie that year, so you know he deserved the spot.