Well, we’re up to 259 posts, and only halfway to the Winter Meetings. So one thread for this Hot Stove time block is getting clumsy. Let’s create thread 1A and post the next wave of comments here. Jaredean – please feel free to add some cool photo like you did in the first thread. That makes me appear smarter and cooler than I really am.
Quick recap of thread 1:
1. Lots of jealousy and awe of the playoff teams and how far away we are from being at that level.
2. Some good discussion about our guys in the AFL.
3. General panic and dismay at the notion of signing Daniel Murphy.
4. Bud Black and Mike Maddux envy.
5. Me attempting to explain that Byung ho Park has some redeeming qualities (at least when compared to FAs with qualifying offers) but he’s nowhere close to Jose Abreu.
6. RMH saying PUT THE BALL IN PLAY.
Alright – carry on!
Happy Thanksgiving RWOers! This whole Rex Brothers for Wander Dailes Santana Cabrera (maybe the coolest name ever!) trade has sent me down the road of researching the current status of Domincan baseball. This in turn has uncovered my gross ignorance on the subject. I knew that Dominican Winter League ball is a big deal. I also knew that there was a Dominican summer league. But….I didn’t know every single freakin’ MLB team has a Dominican summer league team. I thought… Read more »
Alright Denver locals – remember Kevin Gausman at Grandview HS in Aurora? Went on to LSU. Drafted 4th overall by the Orioles in 2012. Remember? Watch the Orioles very, very closely as next weekend’s winter meetings begin. They are in extreme need for OF help – regardless of Chris Davis’s situation. If they lose Davis (a FA), they’ll still be in extreme need for OF help…..and the OFer will need to swing an impact bat. We’ve got one of those.… Read more »
From Oakland A’s beat writer Susan Slusser regarding Brett Lawrie; “Slusser says the trade for Lowrie “all but ensures” the A’s will deal either Lawrie or Danny Valencia, and Lawrie “is considered the better bet to be traded.” The report adds that both Lawrie and Valencia “are drawing interest” from American League clubs. Lawrie hasn’t come close to reaching his full potential, hitting only .263/.316/.420 in his first five big league seasons, but he’ll turn just 26 in January and… Read more »
Yaisel Puig in trouble again. Bar fight in Miami. I see this as beneficial to us. We seem to be competing with the Dodgers in the “trade surplus OFer for pitching” category. Notably, the Indians and Orioles come to mind immediately. One way to look at it is Puig is a good buy low candidate. My opinion……he’s too risky. Teams don’t want to babysit. Cargo is a much better option. I also see that the Red Sox appear to be… Read more »
Really good stuff out there this AM as all the Bloggers get ready for the Winter Meetings. First, great article from the Pittsburgh perspective regarding Cargo: http://www.thepointofpittsburgh.com/crazy-pirates-trade-corner-of-carlos-gonzalez/ I like the logic the writer uses to value Cargo: “Gonzalez has two years remaining on his deal — $17M in 2016 and $20M in 2017. That’s a lot of money, but hang in there with me and I’ll get to that. First we have to decide what Gonzalez is worth. His last… Read more »
I’m OK with giving up McMahon but not Tinoco side we need volume of pitchers. Plus we don’t need Teheran now unless we are contending before 2018.
How bad is Wilin Rosario? He cleared waivers and will presumably be an Isotope in 2016. 29 teams had a crack at him. No takers.
Jordan Zimmermann to the Tigers for 110M over 5 years. Johnny Cueto turns down 6 years, 120M from DBacks. Cueto’s decision may end up being a mistake. Regardless, the Snakes are being aggressive.
Barry Bonds being considered Marlins hitting coach. I find that interesting. He might be pretty good.
Rosario going unclaimed shows how warped the salary arbitration system can be. Based on those 25 HR years, he probably would have gotten 3+ million bucks in arbitration, which is way more than anyone thinks he’s worth. So it’s back to AAA for him, the Rockies apparently deciding that it’s worth seeing if he can go on a tear in Albuquerque and restore some value. I think Rosario had the ability to decline that assignment and become a free agent,… Read more »
Ag – it’s that sunk cost concept the Rox can’t come to grip with. It’s particularly bad in Rosario’s case because they really didn’t have that much money (in the baseball “big scheme of things” world) tied to him.
I’m shocked he didn’t declare for FAgency (like Axford). Surely his Agent looked into it. As you note, the landscape for Wilin must be very bleak.
Rosario elects Free Agency.
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2015/12/wilin-rosario-free-agency-elects.html
This makes much more sense that the original report of Rosario remaining with the Rox.
Yep, that makes sense. Rosario is not worth what he’d get in arbitration (which is why arbitration is a freaky system — shouldn’t it try to hit his market rate or some percentage of it?), but he’s worth more than a minor league contract. A horribly mismanaged Rockies career comes to a typical end: gone, for nothing.
Headline on MLBTradeRumors: “Mariners “Trying Hard” To Deal Mark Trumbo; Have Talked With Rockies” This is funny to me. I’ve thrown out at least a half-dozen potential Cargo trade scenarios. I’ve considered the Mariners…..and have even considered taking back Trumbo’s final arbitration year as a way to get even more in return. But…………the Mariners Farm isn’t particularly strong, especially in pitching. So I haven’t found an obvious match with them UNLESS they’re willing to deal Tijuan Walker. Walker is apparently… Read more »
“Big picture” follow-up to comment above.
If the Rox do the right thing and commit to rebuilding with an eye towards the contention window opening in 2019 (and even 2018 being a decent season – shot at 500)…..then there are ALL SORTS of possibilities for 2016. Trumbo and Austin Jackson are just two. The Braves snagged Jim Johnson yesterday….we fits this mold as well. “Relatively Inexpensive Guys That Need 1 Year Deals to Restore Value.”
carp, on Trumbo: I was about to scream “hell no” since he’s the worst fielder since Cuddyer … but then, well … the advanced defensive stats suggest he’s actually kind of o.k. as a first baseman only. DO NOT under any circumstances (short of a 15 inning game) ever let him play the outfield. Hey, maybe we can take some other bad contracts in exchange for Jose Reyes too.
I went to the Black Friday sale at Coors Field where everything in the store was half price. I had planned to snag an Arenado jersey, but not surprisingly they took down all jerseys and hid them so they wouldn’t lose them at half prices. 🙂 There was however lots of Rosario jerseys they were trying to get rid of. Now that he’s cleared the waivers, they might as well lower the Rosario jersey to 80% off. FWIW, I did… Read more »
RMH – I’m not a jersey type guy in general, but I have vowed to buy a Cargo jersey if he’s traded and we get a good return AND Cargo is cool about it (which I’m willing to bet he will be – at least publicly).
David Price to Boston for 217M.
Byung-ho Park to Twins for “only” 12M….plus the original posting fee. All-in-all, an economical selection that doesn’t require giving up a compensation pick.
The “big picture” here is that the AL East “arms” race for 2016 has begun in earnest. The Red Sox now have Price and Craig Kimbrel. Toronto has lost Price…..with JA Happ as the “replacement.” Baltimore is fighting (perhaps a losing battle) to retain Chris Davis and Geraldo Parra. The Yankees can’t sit this out (in my opinion). You’ve got to figure they’ll be “in” on Zack Greinke. So will the Cubs, So will the Giants. If the Yanks miss… Read more »
Trumbo to the Orioles for Steve Clevenger. Who would have thunk it. As Ag notes above, Trumbo IS basically a servicable defensive 1B (not OF). He could have been a nice platoon mate for Paulsen. To some degree, this again shows how bad Wilin really is……because you’d hope the Rox would have done Wilin for Trumbo.
Not sure what this says about Chris Davis. I still think Cargo is a fit for the Orioles if they lose Davis….independent of Trumbo.
Fun with numbers:
David Price – 7 years, 217M.
Let’s say he averages 200 IP over those 7 years, and for shits and giggles let’s assume he averages 15 pitches per inning. That’s 21,000 pitches. Or, drumroll…….$10,333 per pitch. Good work if you can get it.
Following the Rockies around the world during the winter season:
http://www.purplerow.com/2015/12/1/9819618/colorado-rockies-alex-balog-correlle-prime-australian-baseball-league-winter-updates
Alex Balog is doing very well in Australia while others are meh including Antonio Senzatela.
I’ve been watching the non-tender list (with the Rox in mind of course). One “thing” I think we need is a short-term Closer. Someone that can man the position for 2016. By 2017, I think one of the young guns, or Otto, can man the position…..well! Steve Cishek was non-tendered today by the Cards. Of course Cishek was the Marlins Closer in 13 and 14 and generally did a nice job. But he imploded in early 15, lost his job… Read more »
Jordan Lyles has a $2.975MM deal with the Rockies.
Not bad for two months a year of actual pitching!
Boy…..the shine has come off Will Middlebrooks’s star! Non-tendered by the Padres. I’d take a flier on him if the price is CHEAP. I’d stash him at AAA and have him play 1B.
Rox non-tender Johan Flande.
I see this as a calculated gamble. Clear a spot on the 40 man, bring him back on a minor league contract. I’m going to laugh if he signs elsewhere and is servicable. This smells a bit like the Daniel Winkler mis-calculation. We’ll see.
Things that make you go “hmmmmmmm:” By non-tendering Flande (?), Gurka, and Herrera – we only have 37 on the 40 man roster. This tells me a few things (I think) in the following order: 1. We’re definitely positioning ourselves to make a rule 5 pick. 2. We’re expecting to pick up multiple players via trade that will go immediately to the 40 man. So the return for Cargo should be major league ready, or very near major league ready.… Read more »
More things that make you go “hmmmmmm”
Once again – if you believe Twitter – Jeff Samardzjia has a 100M offer on the table (that’s only 10M less than Jordan Zimmermann got from the Tiggers). Most blogger types speculated Samardzjia would get 80M….but he’s long been a darling of the scouts.
So what team would put an offer on the table that’s over 20M over what’s seen as market value?
Yeah, yeah, it’s still early and all that, but … carp’s 62-100 prediction is looking pretty good. Optimistic even. This is setting up as a truly awful team. Carp, no offense, but this comment actually got a laugh out of me just because it shows how low expectations are: “Rox non-tender Johan Flande. I see this as a calculated gamble. Clear a spot on the 40 man, bring him back on a minor league contract. I’m going to laugh if… Read more »
You could have all the planets line up and all their moons as well and it still wouldn’t happen. My mantra last winter was “I will not be optimistic in the spring”. No need to repeat that this year as everyone is on the same wavelength.
I think I have a pretty good track record of coming on here and fessing up to my erroneous predictions. I’ve done that a number of times. It happens on a regular basis. That being said……I also think I’ve been correct way more than I’ve been wrong. The Rox were at a cross-roads during the 2013/2014 offseason. They should have traded Tulo then. I stated that numerous times. But we have yet to grasp the “sell high” concept. Now we’re… Read more »
Hope Bridich gets his shot and doesn’t turn into O’Dowd – smart guy, but long years with hands tied.
If Monfort is Trump’s running mate, that means Trump was nominated, and the world is in a lot more trouble than fans of teams like the poor Colorado Rockies!
Freakin Snakes snag Zack Greinke. As if we needed the NL West to get any tougher. Now our (sometime) bottom-feeder friends have an Ace!
This is when it gets fun for everyone except us Rockies fans. The Braves are licking their chops. Both the Giants and Dodgers will be all over Shelby Miller…..and the Dodgers have plenty of ammunition in their Farm to get him.
Things are about to begin moving really, really quickly.
Fact – Rockies open 2016 season April 4th in Phoenix, against Zack Greinke no doubt.
Wouldn’t it be fun if, someday, OUR team was the dark horse (when a dark horse wasn’t even rumored, that I heard of)?
That long and expensive a contract is dumb, like Price’s with the Red Sox, but it’s what has to be done these days. At least they can figure on a couple-few good years if injury is avoided.
On a serious note – if anyone needed more convincing that the Rox should go the rebuilding route – Greinke to the Snakes should be the final nail in the proverbial rebuild coffin. Greinke with Goldschmidt and that freak AJ Pollock now makes the NL West a 3-headed monster just like the NL Central. It will be interested to see if the Snakes are still going all-in for Arolodis Chapman.
Wow, enjoying the news! Samardja to the Giants, Zak to the Snakes… how exciting! What are the Rockies doing? (crickets)
I’d rather have the Denver Bears back. If you’re going to be minor league, might as well admit it. At least the Bears/Z’s tried, and often won. This outfit is a joke.
Why would the Rockies bring in Parra? I don’t get it, then again what else is new when it comes to the Rockies. I can see exchanging a left handed OF for a right handed OF on the roster for better balance, but Parra is a huge downgrade from any of the 3 OFs we have already. If you’re okay with downgrading, why not just promote Kyle Parker or someone for the full season? Even if the rookie struggles, at… Read more »
The only reason I can think of is that the Rockies have idiots in upper management. I also believe they should have traded Kyle Parker for anything they could get for him a long time ago.
Lots to digest here. Really big picture and attempting to read the tea leaves…..all signs point towards the BSCS still not coming to grips with the fact that we suck, that we WILL be bad in 2016 and 2017, and yet not fully committing to rebuilding. Instead, we’re getting a milquetoast pseudo rebuild will attempting to also field a competitive team in the meantime. Extremely flawed logic. Hopefully I’ll be proven wrong. That being said….I definitely do like Parra as… Read more »