Okay, cards on the table. I would have picked up Anderson’s option no matter what. It was $12 million. Note to Jeff Bridich, you know what you get for under $10 million? Kyle Kendrick! Look, stand-up guy, every few outing he goes okay. But he leads the league in homers! So here’s the thing, for $7 million more the Rox could have kept Anderson. Oh wait, in choosing to not take the option, they had to pay to say goodbye?
Look, the fact is that they blew it. Yes, he represented a risk. Guess what all players do. They could argue that the the threat didnt match the returns. But his injuries last year were freaky in nature. He’s already done the TJ surgury. Kyle Kendrick could have hurt his shoulder in Spring Training. Oh no, that was mid-season. So, why not Anderson.
And yes….that’s right….27 starts from Anderson.
Starts for the man who was going to eat innings….24!
And do i have to mention the $5.5 million they spent on Jhoulys Chacin
And do i have to mention the $5.5 million they spent on Drew Stubbs
And your going to tell me you were risking $5.5 million on Chacin didn’t fall into the risk category?
So your pitching choice was Anderson or Kendrick and Chacin. There you go!
I am going to say it right now. I have defended the Monforts for years and will do so in the future. I have defended the management becasue baseball is a lot easier for a fan to play and decide than those guys making the decisions. In other words, I get not taking Anderson’s option.
But i think they just need to say it. “We went cheap. We made money but we hoped a health Tulo and CarGo would provide enough offense and guys like Kendrick could lead the rotation with DLR (to the Monforts credit, the ponied up for DLR and should do so again next year) would be decent enough the team would be at 78 wins and close enough to the Wild Card to make September at least…interesting. Of course no one new the Cubs and Pirates would race out to win totals that will probably exceed the Dodgers and Mets.
But….they went on the cheap and they new it was at best 85% against their idea. And we fans are the ones who pay for it. The only reason we are watching now is to watch Gray and Adames, Parker and Diaz maybe? Of course, if they do anything exciting we can skip the game and just watch the highlight videos on mlb.com.
Look, when the Monforts and Bridich make the right moves, such as trading Tulo, I will give them the right praise. But this year…we were sold a bill of goods.
Wow…sorry for the rant friends. Guess the Rockies have done something I never thought could happen…I don’t really care about baseball. Now i am sick (my Lyme Disese is back…antibiotics doing well so far), so maybe that is the reason for the lack of interest. But I am in bed about 18 hours a day. With just a TV remote becuase my brain doesnt work well enough to read books! And so with hours to kill i would rather watch the American Hereos Chanel (formerly the Military Channel) than MLB on 213! I just don’t care. That is what they did to me!!! Okay, I still look at MLB.com and watch the videos and play-by-play. I guess i do care. But not about baseball itself. This year looks like a great playoff and….I don’t care.
So word to the wise Monforts and Bridich….you can lose a fan for good. I drink purple coolaid while looking through purple tinted lenes. And you lost me! Of course, I have the sneaking suspicion that come November 1 and the Hot Stove season begins, I will be scanning the web constantly for rumors and watching MLB network (if we decide to turn back on Direct TV – we are cancelling as of September 27, you know, after the My Little Pony movie (I am not kidding there, I have a PhD covering Psychology, Anthropology, and Theology and I have got hooked…its very philosophical – not kidding). See Monforts….I am cancelling Direct TV before the playoffs but keeping for My Little Pony! I now drink Pinky Pie coolaid now, and that from a Pinke Pie mug (serious there). Win me back Monforts. Show us something this offseason. And not another version of Kyle Kendrick! I mean yes, you got a great catcher, but that was so you didnt waste what you have in Gray, Butler (oops), Matzek (oops opps), and guys like Freeland (injury) and Anderson (injury). So yes, that was a strategic move but…spend some money to give us a realistic shot at the Wild Card. We are not sticking around to 2017 if we keep watching the dreggs of baseball society.
Okay…now I am done….wait, if i cancel Direct TV…how do i watch MLB during the offseason? Hmm…
Again, apologies to all of you for going off like that. Seriously, feel much better.
So tonight we get to see an interesting battle of lefties. As you all know i have blamed the Rox for really missing it on Colin McHugh (EYJR trade). Dan O’Dowd is on record as saying…ooops. Now the Rox have rarely gotten any luck wtih pitchers (DLR the last I can think of). But…they did. Look, Chris Rusin is not Colin McHugh (but he did K Stanton 3 times earlier this year). But…he has been really nice this year. He has the two complete games of the season. At home (and yes, i am wondering if he spent a lot of time with DLR because on the road laterly he stinks). But, he has been a real surprise and I can see him in 2016 (if I am still watching) as the number 4 in the rotation.
So, it might be an interesting game. As Rusin gets to pitch in a great pitchers park. If he can be sharp he might just out battle….(gulp) Brett Anderson. The Rox let Garneau catch him. He has been good as a receiver and the occasional jolt of power. So far Murphy looks a little lost up here. Will be an interesting Spring Training seeing who gets the backup spot.
| Rox | Position | Dodgers | Position |
| Blackmon | CF | Ruggiano | LF |
| Reyes | SS | Utley | 2B |
| CarGo | RF | Turner | 3B |
| Arenado | 3B | Gonzales | 1B |
| Morneau | 1B | Ellis | C |
| DJ | 2B | Seager | SS |
| Dickeson | LF | Heisey | RF |
| Garneau | C | Pederson | CF |
| Rusin | P | Anderson | P |
Was going to argue Doc_ until I realized how incensed you are about this.After reading your reasoning I actual think your point is valid,albeit with hindsight being 20-20.I would also argue we should have kept Nicascio for the BP if the price were right.
Oh not get me started on dumping a power arm with the ability to go more than one inning just because its a $2 million price tag! Yea, because the Royals proved that a bad starting group can get to the World Series with a bunch of a power arms in the bullpen. No….we want to save $2.1 million rathe than, you know, do something!
Guess the rant didn’t get all that out….
Dr. C – I’m here to make you feel better (I hope). I’ll spare everyone a bunch of stats and go seat-of-the pants on this one. Let’s go back in a magic time machine and resign Brett Anderson and not sign Kyle Kendrick. Let’s also assume Anderson would have been injury free for us – as he has been for the Dodgers. My guess is that we would now have 6-7 more wins now. So instead of 60-84, let’s say… Read more »
My friend, you just renewed my faith. They evidently have Dr. Who working as their asst. GM, and he was able to help them cleverly plan this strategy out! If i had known we had the Dr. on the staff I would have just gone fishing and waited for our version of Kershaw to appear! I feel more confident now. Unless the Dodgers get a Dalek, which of course they can afford, we should be good. Yes…the years in England… Read more »
Good! (I made you laugh). Mission accomplished.
The Organization is a train wreck. No need to agonize over little things. Focusing your anger toward Monfart is a step in the right direction. If we can figure out how to solve that problem, everything else will gradually fall into place.
Carp, the other issue is what did we do with the extra dollars that we didn’t spend on Anderson. If it went to Stubbs that was a waste. But if we can say it went somewhere else that was useful, then that’s potentially another upside of signing Kendrick (yes, I know that I’m stretching here).
I am sure that Stubbs is dating the Monforts grandaughter or something because if they read his baseball card they would know he has a good season about every president electoral cycle. There were “rumors say” trade rumors around Stubbs this winter. I mean we got Diaz for Josh Rutledge for goodness stakes. They should have been able to deal last year’s Stubs season into I don’t know, a 6th inning reliever or something. $5.5 million…for a man who went… Read more »
The Rockies early round drafting has been horrible at times.
I frequently criticize Rockies player development, but Ag has pointed out at least once maybe the focus of our ire should be directed towards scouting more than PD. Your anecdote above points that way as well.
The Rockies used 13 pitchers last night. Crazy.
If I’m NoDo’s Agent, I storm into the Front Office after the season is complete and demand the bonus money my client could have won as NL MVP if he only he had played on a decent team. Oh wait……..NoDo’s Agent is Scott Boras, so he’s probably already done that.
carp, Dodgers used 11 pitchers, and finished with Mat Latos, who is still (I guess) nominally one of their starters. 28 Dodgers played in this game; 30 Rockies. What yesterday helped to prove: expanded rosters are the great equalizer! I’m hearing a lot of talk about how wholesale expanded rosters distort pennant races (too bad we don’t really have any of those this year, except maybe the AL East). My best example of how to exploit expanded rosters? Our own… Read more »
I agree – I don’t think it’s negative. I also noticed the Loone Bogan exploits, as well as the Rex Brothers futility. But………some of the young, no-name guys in our Pen (Diaz, Miller, Castro, Castro, German, etc) are intriguing. I’m beginning to think if we could strike gold with a “proven” (I use that term in a very relative sense) Closer to stabilize the back of the Pen, the other pieces could fall into place. Maybe someone like Bobby Parnell… Read more »
Don’t forget the very cheap and when healthy solid Brooks Brown. And who knows, maybe this time next year Zero is back painting the black with one of his 22 sliders.
Let it be said,”this was their finest moment”. Proves Walt can manage with the big boys if you give him 35 players.Two blown leads yet they didn’t quit.The escape in bottom of ninth was amazing and masterfully managed[or lucky] by Walt.
But he still can’t pull Logan when a righty comes out and he has more relievers in the pen than are in the HOF! Its not May, its September, you have two Castros for Pete’s sake! Use one after he walks Seager….
Oh well….they won….that is what matters (I think) in the end.
Dr. C – My prayers and best wishes to you. I almost know how you feel as my wife has health problems for which there is no cure yet. But most days she can function and we can enjoy some things together. So baseball, and other sports, are called games because they are not real life. But escape from the real stuff. I called it a night after the 11th, and hadn’t turned it on, until the 7th or 8th.… Read more »
Apologize for my lousy grammar.
Bill…thank for prayers and wishes. What really hurts is to be back in bed and not have enjoyable baseball to watch. At this point I am not sure which I want more, good health or good baseball? Actually I do know, and I think I am more likely to get well than the Rox are to win a division at this point.
Wilin catching? Am I reading the gameday incorrectly?? Surely DLR has already walked half a dozen guys without a Hundley to whisper sweet nothings in his ear. What’s that? DLR, 2 runs with only 1 walk in 7 innings? Impossible!
Ha! I heard Drew say Wilin has DLR for the rest of the year. Another WTF strategy for the Rox.
Not really.With the kiddy corps catching situation you don’t want JDLR becoming unglued and beating or berating the youngsters.Plus it means the youngsters get experience catching guys they are either familiar with or may have to catch next year.Be happy-if Wilin does a good job it may give him some trade value this winter
Gary, I think you’re right. Wilin catches a few games to showcase him (ouch…what if he allows half a dozen passed balls?) for a trade. Which is what I thought they should have been doing since the All Star break at the latest.
He’ll be 27 entering next season. He’s arbitration eligible (but still cheap in the big scheme of things). Can catch (cough, cough), play 1B, and DH. He’s an Oakland A’s type of project EXCEPT that his OBP is awful (276 this season – but has been in the 305-315 range the past couple of seasons – a little less awful). The A’s currently three catchers on their 40 man roster – Carson Blair, Josh Phegley, and Stephen Vogt. Vogt is… Read more »
Earlier McKenry had become JDLR’s personal catcher since he didn’t do well with Hundley. Last year JDLR was one of the few pitchers that Rosario caught well and as per last night’s results Rosario and JDLR do well together.
Gary, good point.
So, the Rockies get one hit over 8 innings (0 walks) by the Dodgers’ #4 or #5 pitcher. That’s why they are leading the division and we’re in last place.
Couple of (mostly)non-Rockies, and unrelated notes:
Looks like the Pirates very good Korean SS Jung Ho Kang hurt his knee in this afternoon’s game. The Pittsburgh Twitter folks say it looked serious. That guy has been really good after a slow start.
I’ve seen several blogs/new articles this week guessing that Jason Heyward is going to command something like a 8 year, 180-200M contract. Cargo should look better and better to teams considering Heyward.
Confirmed. Broken tibia and torn MCL for Kang. That sucks!
Looks like Mat Latos’s reward for giving up the gopher ball to NoDo the other night is the dreaded DFA.
Latos is a great example of a really solid pitcher ravished by injuries and now a shell of his former self. He’s a type guy that if I could get for “cheap” on a two year contract, I would do it and just have him rest and recover the first year. No pitching.
Wow, DFAing him when you have expanded rosters? It’s understood that Latos has always been a jackass, so I’m guessing that played into it. Too bad on Kang. I am actually rooting for Hurdle and the Pirates. Now I’m all in on the Mets.
I know nothing about Latos’s personality, but your claim makes some sense in this case.
I should make a disclaimer about all my crazy trade/FA signing ideas regarding personality/clubhouse demeanor. In the world of instant media and a stat for everything, we still have (basically) no clue what goes on in the clubhouse.
Latos: carp, you say he’d make sense for some clubs to take a flyer on in the offseason on a relatively cheap/short deal. Which brings me to another Rockies Reality Check: if Latos were a Rockie, where would be fit in our rotation? FIP (which is park adjusted), minimum 10 starts:
Latos 3.55
Lyles 3.80
Bettis 4.14
DLR 4.20
Rusin 4.57
Hale 5.02
Butler 5.91
Kendrick 6.03
The moral of our story: the Dodgers’ trash is the Rockies’ treasure!
Guys, the 40 man roster thing is another reason to do the Big Rebuild. All those 25 players on the big league roster count against the 40 man. So if you stock the big leagues with lots of Flande and Barnes types, that’s fewer young players that you can protect. Julian, I’m not saying get rid of all the guys I identified (in fact, I kind of like what we’ve seen of Garneau and Miller just to choose a couple);… Read more »
This is absolutely correct – and has not been lost on me when I’ve thrown out these rebuild concepts. Here’s a bit of a timing problem – I believe (someone please correct me if I’m wrong) the Rule 5 draft is in early December. The Winter Meetings are also historically in the same rough time (early/mid December). Most years, the Winter Meetings are when the big trades begin. So we may have to make some tough 40 man roster decisions… Read more »