Hot Stove Round Up - Week #6

Sunday, 16 December 2012

As I mentioned last week, this year's edition of the Winter Meetings were boring to say the least with no movement of the biggest free agents and no big trades.  If the Meetings week was boring, then the week after the Meetings was as crazy as any.  Arguably, the two top free agents signed with new teams and two major trades took place involving some big names and big time prospects.  Let's take a look at the week that was in player movement in Major League Baseball.

ROYALS GET SHIELDS IN 6 PLAYER DEAL

In a trade that nearly caused the sabermetrics crowd to lynch Kansas City GM Dayton Moore, the Royals acquired veteran pitchers James Shields and Wade Davis from Tampa Bay in exchange for four prospects: outfielder Wil Myers, third baseman Patrick Leonard, and pitchers Jake Odorizzi and Mike Montgomery. 

In Shields, the Royals are acquiring their new ace.  Sure he is not Justin Verlander or Felix Hernandez, but those guys weren't available.  James Shields is without a doubt the best pitcher, or ace, on the revamped Royals rotation.  Davis had been converted to a reliever by the Rays and will most likely be made a starter again by KC.  He should fill a spot in the back of the rotation for the Royals.

To Tampa's credit, the prospects they received for Shields is comparable to those received in the past for CC Sabathia, Roy Halladay, and Cliff Lee among others.  Myers is one of the top prospects in all of baseball after hitting 37 homers in the minors last years.  Odorizzi has now been involved in his second trade for an ace.  He was acquired from Milwaukee in the 2010 Zack Greinke trade another top 50 prospect. Montgomery was once a top prospect whose star has fallen quite a bit in the last two years.  Leonard is a 5th rounder from 2011 that hit .250 in the rookie league.

I mentioned that the Internet nearly broke with people saying KC got ripped off.  I don't think so.  The Royals added two starters to their rotation in this deal including one at the top.  You can't do that in this day and age without giving up something.  Well, a small market team can't anyway.  The Royals built the best farm system in baseball and used it to both fill out their ML roster AND as trade bait.  Could KC regret this deal?  Sure, but they could have also traded their prospects at the peak of their value.  Top prospects fail every year and aces don't grow on trees.  I consider this a very fair deal for both teams.

CHOO MOVES SOUTH IN A 3 TEAM DEAL

The other big trade of the week was a three team, eight player trade between Arizona and the two Ohio teams, the Indians and the Reds.  The biggest name in the deal is former Indians outfielder Shin-Soo Choo ending up with Reds.  The Diamondbacks acquired former Reds shortstop prospect Didi Gregorius, while the Indians ended up with Drew Stubbs and Arizona pitcher Trevor Bauer.

The Reds acquired both Choo and utilityman Jason Donald along with cash in this deal.  Cincinnati is already saying that Choo will be their starting center fielder, despite his only having 10 career games in center.  This could be a good case study to see whether their is any real marketable difference between the three outfield positions.  Donald should carry over his super utilityman status from the Indians to the Reds as well.

Arizona ended up with potentially their new starting shortstop in Didi Gregorius along with reliever Tony Sipp and former Boston top prospect first baseman Lars Anderson.  Arizona's role here is puzzling to say the least.  Earlier in the offseason they acquired defense-first shortstop Cliff Pennington and lefty reliever Matt Reynolds.  In this deal, they acquired defense-first shortstop Gregorius and lefty reliever Sipp. 

Cleveland, clearly in rebuilding mode, acquired Stubbs from the Reds along with Bauer and relievers Matt Albers and Bryan Shaw from the Diamondbacks.  Stubbs should replace Choo in Cleveland's starting outfield, while Albers and Shaw should both be a part of the Indians revamped bullpen.  The key to this deal for the Indians is top prospect Trevor Bauer.  Bauer was ranked the #9 prospect in all of baseball and should join Cleveland's rotation in 2013.

In this deal I think there is one clear winner and that would be the Indians.  The Indians' haul could be great even if Bauer flops with the other three all proven major leaguers to one extent or another.  The Reds acquired the biggest name, but are moving him to a new position so if that doesn't work out they acquired some trade bait.  It pleases me a little to say that the D-Backs appear to be the clear loser of this deal.  Prospects are gambles, but a top 10 gamble is better than a top 75 gamble playing a position you already acquired this year.

What bothers me the most is that the Rockies could have easily taken Cleveland's place in this deal sending Fowler to the Reds and perhaps Colvin and Chatwood to Arizona for Cleveland's haul.  I would have been thrilled with Cleveland's take.

NOTABLE FREE AGENT SIGNINGS

Dodgers sign starter Zack Greinke  6yr/147mil

Angels sign outfielder Josh Hamilton  5yr/125mil

Red Sox sign starter Ryan Dempster  2yr/26.5mil

Yankees sign third baseman Kevin Youkilis  1yr/12mil

Twins sign starter Kevin Correia  2yr/10mil

Indians sign 1B/3B Mark Reynolds  1yr/6mil

The Dodgers gave Zack Greinke the second biggest deal ever for a pitcher.  The Dodgers now possess 5 starting pitchers making at least $11 million dollars in 2013 and 2 more that make $13 million combined.  Since the Dodgers are intent on becoming the new Yankees, I think I will combine the names.  From now on their name will be the Donkees.  I really hope that catches on.

Not content with one super-rich, overspending team in the L.A. area, the Angels pulled a surprise signing for the second year in a row.  After swooping in to sign Albert Pujols in 2011, the Angels did the same thing with Josh Hamilton in 2012.  I can't wait to hear how loud the boos are the first time the Angels visit Arlington.  Interesting fact, the 2016 Angels will be paying $57.4 million dollars for just Hamilton and Pujols.  I think the bubble is close to bursting.

The Red Sox snuck in with an under-the-radar signing of Ryan Dempster to a decent deal considering the market for starters.  I still think Boston will be closer to the bottom of the AL East than the top, but this deal could be very good for them.

Sticking with their attempt to start a one team seniors league in MLB, the Yankees signed Kevin Youkilis to a one year deal.  Youkilis will be the 8th player from the 2004 Red Sox to join the "enemy" in New York.  Youkilis should be a decent third baseman for the Yankees while A-Rod recovers from his hip injury.

The Twins may have gotten a bargain by signing former Pirate Kevin Correia to a 5 million per year deal.  Correia should give the Twins a good veteran presence in their rotation.  I think he could be good for 12 wins for Minnesota in 2013.

Finally, the Indians perhaps got a bargain signing as well by getting former Oriole Mark Reynolds.  He is probably going to be the starting first baseman for Cleveland and could challenge Adam Dunn of the White Sox for the AL Central lead in both home runs and strikeouts.  this could be a very good deal for Cleveland.

The big names in free agency are signed now, but there are still some good players that remain unsigned including Michael Bourn, Nick Swisher, and Kyle Lohse.  Since most of the big names are signed now, I will probably do the Round Up every other week barring unforeseen circumstances.

Thanx for reading.

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Hot Stove Round Up - Week #5

Sunday, 9 December 2012

AUTHOR'S NOTE - I wrote the majority of this post on Saturday prior to the Dodgers signing Zack Greinke and I didn't want to re-write the entire thing.  I will delve into that signing next week.

With the Winter Meetings taking place last week I figured I would be talking today about where Josh Hamilton and Zack Greinke will be playing in 2013.  Unfortunately, this year's edition of the Winter Meetings was possibly the most boring ever with neither big name choosing a destination nor any major trades going down.  I don't know why because that has historically been the reason for the Winter Meetings, but not this year.  It was just plain odd.  Even though the bigger names are still on the market, some things did occur last week and I will delve into a few of them right now.

RANGERS TRADE YOUNG TO PHILLIES

This trade is the most recent, but arguably contains the biggest name in longtime Ranger Michael Young.  After waiving his 10-5 no-trade rights, Young was traded to Philadelphia for reliever Josh Lindblom and pitching prospect Lisalverto Bonilla.

Young had spent 13 consecutive years with the Rangers and was the 6th longest serving "dean" as of the end of the 2012 season.  To say he had a bad 2012 would be a major understatement, because although he hit .277, he ranked in the bottom 10 of all players in WAR (whatever that's worth).  However in 2011, he was in the top 10 in AL MVP voting, so the verdict of this trade depend an awful lot on which version of Michael Young the Phillies get.

For their longest tenured player, the Rangers picked up reliever Josh Lindblom, who Philly acquired from the Dodgers in the Shane Victorino deadline deal.  On various sites, Bonilla was rated between the #12 and #17 prospect in the Phillies organization.  He had a really high strikeout rate and a really low ERA at AA in 2012, so he might turn into something in a year or two.

I think the Phillies win this deal especially if they get 2011 Michael Young.  Even if Young has lost a step, it only cost them two relievers to get a big bat and a starting third baseman.  So chalk one up for the Phils.

TWINS DEAL REVERE FOR WORLEY

Philadelphia was involved in the second most notable trade of the week as well acquiring center fielder Ben Revere (who just looks so happy) from the Twins for starter Vance Worley and pitching prospect Trevor May.

Revere is the second center fielder traded by the Twins in a couple of weeks following Denard Span to the Nationals.  I have always liked Revere because he went to high school right up the road from me, so part of me hopes he does well in Philly.  The other part of me is pissed that the Rockies didn't get this return for Dexter Fowler.

Going to the Twins is starter Vance Worley.  Worley had a bit of a sophomore slump in 2012 after finishing 3rd in Rookie of the Year voting in 2011.  Trevor May was the top pitching prospect for the Phillies and the #69 prospect in the minor leagues.  He has awesome strikeout numbers in the minors, but also a high ERA so at this point he could go either way.

I gave the Phillies the win in the previous deal, but definitely not here.  Revere is an outstanding defensive outfielder and speedster, but has NO power with 0 home runs in his career thusfar.  I think the even deal was Worley OR May for Revere, with both the Twins win this trade in a landslide.

ROCKIES, ASTROS SWAP PITCHERS

The final notable trade of the Winter Meetings week involved my Rockies and the newest AL team, the Houston Astros.  The Astros traded their closer Wilton Lopez and a PTBNL to the Rockies for starter Alex White and low minor leaguer Alex Gillingham.

After the Astros traded everyone that fans had heard of in 2012, Wilton Lopez became their closer.  For the past three years his ERA has been below 3 with decent strikeout numbers.  I have not heard anything about the player to be named later other than it might end up becoming cash.

Alex White is best known as the #2 pitching prospect acquired in the Ubaldo Jimenez deal.  For the past two seasons, White had been shuttling between the majors and AAA and wasn't very successful in either place.  Alex Gillingham was an 11th round pick in 2011 that I had honestly never heard of.  He was a starter in low A in 2012 with decent stats, but at 23 years old he was bit old for the level.

Normally I am a bit skittish when it comes to trading a starter for a reliever because a starter usually gives you 3 times the workload of a reliever.  In this case I think the Rockies did well in trading White because of the glut of starters vying for the 4th and 5th spots in the rotation.  It could be a case of addition by subtraction.  For the Astros, White is still young enough to pull everything together as well.  This could be a win-win trade.

NOTABLE FREE AGENT SIGNINGS

Red Sox sign outfielder Shane Victorino  3yr/39mil

Red Sox sign catcher Mike Napoli  3yr/39mil

Nationals sign starter Dan Haren  1yr/13mil

Angels sign starter Joe Blanton   2yr/15mil

Diamondbacks sign starter Brandon McCarthy  2yr/15.5mil

Rays sign first baseman James Loney  1yr/2mil

Mariners sign outfielder Jason Bay  1yr/1mil

The Red Sox made arguably the biggest splash at the Winter Meetings by signing both Mike Napoli and Shane Victorino to identical multi-year deals.  Did the Red Sox wipe the slate clean in August just so they could overpay a new crop of free agents?  13 million a year seems a bit high for both Napoli and Victorino, but I have been wrong before.

The biggest winner so far in offseason seems to be starter Dan Haren.  He got his 15 million dollar option bought out by the Angels for 3 million dollars, then he signed with Washington for 13 million for a net gain of 1 million dollars to join a younger and better team.  Great signing for the Nats.

To replace Haren, the Angels signed Joe Blanton formerly of the Dodgers.  To say this is a step down in skill level is a bit of an understatement.  So far this offseason, the Angels rotation has lost Dan Haren, Ervin Santana, and potentially Zack Greinke and has brought in Blanton and Tommy Hanson.  I think we have a clear losing team of the off season so far.

The Diamondbacks added to their stacked rotation by signing former Athletic Brandon McCarthy.  McCarthy was involved in a scary incident in September when a comebacker hit him in the head and he suffered an epidural hemorrhage.  Arizona got him on the cheap and this has the potential be the best signing of the year.  It hurts me as a Rockies fan to think that Arizona got the bargain of the year, especially since I wanted McCarthy as a Rockie.

Finally, a pair of well-known names that have not been performing well at the major league level recently were signed to relatively small contracts.  The Rays got former Red Sox and Dodgers first baseman James Loney which could be a good fit for both him and the team.  Jason Bay was a very hot free agent three years ago...oh how the mighty have fallen.  I hope Bay turns it around in Seattle, because I always sort of liked him as a player and because it would the Mets look bad for releasing him. 


Thanx for reading.

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Hot Stove Roundup - Week #4

Sunday, 2 December 2012

I was going to do a write up about the Hall of Fame today since the ballot was released this past week. However, I decided that since the Winter Meetings were taking place this upcoming week, I should clear the desk so to speak.  I will be doing an extensive Hall of Fame post in a couple of weeks, because I do love talking the Hall.  But for now, I will talk about my other favorite part of the offseason, the perpetual motion known at the Hot Stove League.

NATS ACQUIRE SPAN FROM TWINS

The most interesting position this off season is going to be, without a doubt, center fielders.  There are several high profile teams looking for them and several available on both the trade and free agent markets.  The Nationals were looking for one when they picked up Denard Span from the Minnesota Twins in exchange for their #2 overall prospect, pitcher Alex Meyer, the 23rd selection in the 2011 Draft. 

I like this trade for the Nationals.  Denard Span is an outstanding, albeit under-the-radar, major league outfielder.  With him in between Bryce Harper and Jayson Werth, the Nationals can stake a claim on potentially the best outfield in the National League or perhaps right behind the Dodgers.

For the Twins, this is a trade for the future obviously.  The 6'9" Meyer has done nothing in the big leagues so far, but he pitched very well in both classes of single A this year in his first professional season.  The Twins farm system ranks right around the middle of the league, but it is very weak in pitching.  Meyer immediately becomes their top pitching prospect.

Overall, I will say that I like the trade more for the Nationals no matter what happens with Meyer's future.  The reason I say that is because Span is a known quantity and no prospect is guaranteed.  This is why GM's usually get multiple prospects for big leaguers.  It could work out well for Minnesota, but I feel it's too big of a gamble for arguably the Twins biggest trade chip this season.

BRAVES AND ANGELS SWAP HURLERS

The Braves and Angels made an interesting trade last week as well.  Atlanta sent former top prospect starter Tommy Hanson to the Los Angeles for former All Star reliever Jordan Walden.  It is clear both pitchers were not on the best of terms with their former teams.  Walden had lost his closer job to Ernesto Frieri, while Hanson had been passed on the depth chart by several other young pitchers.

For the Angels, this gives them a cheap replacement for their rotation that lost both Dan Haren and Ervin Santana to cost cutting.  Hanson has seemingly regressed every year since his rookie year of 2009, but that year he was the #4 prospect in all of baseball.  Could he still turn it around?

The Braves pick up another big piece for their increasingly strong bullpen, possibly the strongest in all of baseball.  With O'Flaherty, Venters, Walden, and Kimbrel, the Braves might only need their starters to win the first 5 innings in 2013.

I personally like this trade more for the Angels.  I have always believed that if you trade a good starter for a good reliever, you lose more often than not.  As good as Walden has been, he has pitched less than 100 innings in the past two years combined.  Hanson did 174 innings jut in 2012.  If the pitchers are arguably equal, I'd prefer the one that is going to pitch more innings.

NOTABLE FREE AGENT SIGNINGS

Braves sign outfielder B.J. Upton.  5yr/75.25mil.

Angels sign reliever Ryan Madson.  1yr/3.5mil.

Pirates sign catcher Russell Martin.  2yr/17mil.

Yankees re-sign starter Andy Pettitte.  1yr/10mil.

Yankees re-sign reliever Mariano Rivera.  1yr/10mil.

The biggest signing of the week was the Braves picking up center fielder B.J. Upton from the Rays.  I wasn't surprised with the destination as it seemed inevitable that Upton would land at 1 of 3 NL East locations.  What did surprise me was the contract.  15 million dollars a year seems a bit too much for a guy that hasn't hit over .250 since 2008.

The best signing of the free agency signing period could be the Angel picking up former Phillies closer Ryan Madson.  Madson signed last year with the Reds, but missed the season due to injury.  A very inexpensive one year deal could work out very well for the Angels.  Plus, this signing enabled the Tommy Hanson trade I detailed above.

Three years ago, how many of you would have ever expected the Pirates to outbid New York on a Yankees player.  That is what happened here with former Yankees catcher Russell Martin joining the Bucs.  It was probably an overpay, but I believe a necessary overpay.  

Speaking of the Yankees, they did manage to re-sign two of their three holdovers from the mid-90s championship teams to matching 10 million dollar contracts.  Unless the Yankees make some kind of statement later this offseason (trading ARod for example), this might FINALLY be the year that age catches up to them.

Thanx for reading.

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Hot Stove Roundup - Week #3

Sunday, 25 November 2012

I skipped last week's Hot Stove Roundup because I wanted to do my prediction recap, but also because the biggest deal of the offseason wasn't complete yet last Sunday.  Well now it is and I get to delve into the Marlins-Blue Jays trade along with a couple of smaller deals involving the Rockies-Diamondbacks and the Mariners-Orioles.  I will also finish up with a look at some notable free agent signings and their impact.  I figure if you happen to miss a move when it happens this offseason, you might catch it here on the Roundup.  Let's get it started.

MARLINS TRADE PRESENT FOR FUTURE...AGAIN

The Marlins once again had a "fire sale" trade by sending Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle, Josh Johnson, and basically anyone else making money to the Blue Jays for gay-bashing shortstop Yunel Escobar, back up catcher Jeff Mathis, and 5 prospects of varying skill level.  The trade looks like a straight up salary dump, which is not a bad thing, but also not surprising in the least.  The Marlins tried something new and since it didn't work in the first two months they went back to their penny pinching ways.  

Some people are complaining that Jeffrey Loria lied to them in order to get public financing for his new, ugly-ass, stadium.  My response to that is they were dumb enough to give him the money for the stadium, what did they expect.  Loria killed baseball in Montreal and the Marlins organization have basically built the model on how to disassemble a baseball team.  Did these people think that Loria or the Marlins would change their ways if you gave them more money?  This situation reminds me of the naive woman that thinks she can change the convicted felon into a loving husband.  At some point you have to stop feeling sorry for the woman for continuing to make the same mistake over and over again.

ROCKIES TRADE REYNOLDS FOR WHEELER

The Rockies and Diamondbacks made an under-the-radar swap last week.  Colorado dealt lefty reliever Matt Reynolds to the Diamondbacks for corner infielder Ryan Wheeler.  

I like this deal somewhat because Reynolds had no real future with the Rockies and this is better than losing him for nothing like with Roenicke and Moscoso.  Reynolds should be easily replaceable in the Rockies strong (but weakening) bullpen.  He should do well in the desert.

What could really make this deal work for me is if Ryan Wheeler becomes Todd Helton's heir apparent at first base.  Wheeler plays both first and third and there is just such a logjam at third in Denver that if they try to play him at the hot corner, I think he will lost in the shuffle and quickly forgotten. 

Then again, this could be the beginning of several "blow up the team" type deals for the Rockies as well. 
For now, I will consider this trade a slight win for the Rockies with potential for much more.

MARINERS AND ORIOLES SWAP BACK UPS

The Mariners traded back up outfielder Trayvon Robinson to the Orioles for utilityman Robert Andino.  On the surface, this looks like a forgettable trade involving two guys that are unlikely to make a major impact in 2013.  I think this deal has a chance at being a major steal for the Orioles.  

In Andino, the Mariners will have a reliable a second stringer to middle infielders Dustin Ackley and Brendan Ryan.  However, barring injury, there is very little chance Andino passes either of them on the depth chart.

The Orioles have a hole in left field and Trayvon Robinson was a pretty good prospect for the Dodgers not that long ago.  I'm not sure if Robinson will be able to snag that starting job or not, but I do believe he has a chance to.  So the Orioles traded a probable third string second baseman for a potential starting left fielder.  

The Orioles win this one in a walk thus far.

NOTABLE FREE AGENT SIGNINGS

Tigers sign outfielder Torii Hunter.  2yr/26 mil.

Blue Jays sign outfielder Melky Cabrera.  2 yr/16 mil.

Yankees re-sign starter Hiroki Kuroda. 1yr/15 mil.

Royals re-sign starter Jeremy Guthrie.  3yr/25 mil.

The biggest name to move is Torii Hunter.  Hunter gives Detroit yet another big name free agent signing, even though he is probably on the downside of his career.  However, the Tigers were weak enough in the outfield that this should be a good move for them, especially on only a two year deal.

The biggest story is Melky Cabrera getting signed in Toronto.  After his PED suspension, Cabrera still got an 8 million dollar a year contract from the suddenly strong Blue Jays team.  I have never demonized these PED guys as much as some people, but this one just doesn't smell right.  The major jump in numbers while playing in a pitcher's park coupled with the PED's seemingly equals either a big time drop off in value or another suspension next year.

The Yankees resigned starting pitcher Hiroki Kuroda to a one year deal.  But 15 million a year for a soon to be 38 year old #2 starter seems a bit much even for the Yankees.  I think 2013 might FINALLY be the year that age catches up with the Yanks.  How cool would it be to see New York and Boston fighting over 4th place?

Finally, the second half rebound for Jeremy Guthrie in Kansas City parlayed into a three year contract.  Guthrie really does seem like a good guy, but the Rockies got fleeced twice in deals involving him in 2012.  First obtaining him for Jason Hammel and second for trading him for Jonathan Sanchez.  Good luck to him, but he is still an ugly reminder of the horrific 2012 season.

Thanx for reading.

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Hot Stove Roundup - Week #1

Sunday, 11 November 2012

Since I had Sundays open in my schedule for the Quarry Unlimited set, I figured I would set up a Hot Stove Roundup for the week that was.  I originally was going to focus exclusively on the Rockies, like I did last year.  However, I don't expect the Rockies to make THAT many moves despite their poor record last year.  Therefore, I am going to sometimes focus on the rest of the league as well.  This week will be Rockies heavy though because for just the 5th time in team history, there is a new manager in Coors Field AND it's a former Rockies player.  So let's get to it.

ROCKIES NAME WALT WEISS MANAGER

I was so very happy when this announcement came down, not because I was thrilled about Walt Weiss but because I didn't want either Matt Williams (former Giant and D-Back BOOOO) or Jason Giambi (buddy to too many players) to get the job.  It's about the same way I felt with the Presidential election, I wasn't so much for Obama and I was against Romney.  I don't know if that is a common way to view life, but I am not going to try and analyze my thought patterns here...so I'll move on.  

Anyway, now that I have had a few days to digest the announcement, I am less happy about it for several reasons.  First, Walt Weiss has no managerial experience except for leading his son's high school team to the playoffs.  There can't be that many managers/coaches that made the leap from high school to the highest professional job in any sport and I am not real happy that my team might be setting a precedent.  Secondly and more importantly, Walt Weiss was the special assistant to GM Dan O'Dowd from 2002-08.  Since when does being special assistant to the GM qualify you to be anything other than the GM?  Why weren't hot managerial candidates Sandy Alomar and Brad Ausmus brought in at least for interviews? From the outside looking in, it appears that O'Dowd wanted to hire a yes man that will basically just do his bidding. I still love Weiss as a player and I hope I am wrong about this, but I am not thrilled with the move. 

Onto Dan O'Dowd and I promise I won't go on very long, but I need to say a little.  Dan O'Dowd has been the Rockies general manager since 1999.  Even though the job titles were switched around in 2012 and Bill Geavitt is technically the GM, everyone knows O'Dowd is still in charge.  This is the man that broke up the Blake Street Bombers and got almost nothing in return.  This is the man that signed Mike Hampton and Denny Neagle to two of the worst free agent contracts in history.  This is the man that has wasted the Rockies first round pick more often than not on players that not only didn't work out, but were drafted higher than expected at the time like Greg Reynolds.  How does a GM stay employed for 13 years with decision like those?  The Rockies need the front office cleaned out completely and I am afraid they will not be successful until that happens.

Okay so I have a little bit of vitriol for the Rockies front office, but the next item on the list will show you why.

ROCKIES LOSE 4 PLAYERS TO WAIVERS

 

The Rockies entered this offseason with surprisingly few holes despite having the third worst record in baseball.   The pitching staff was horrible, but injuries decimated this team in both the rotation and the batting lineup.  That statement sounds like an excuse from the front office, but I believe it.  If healthy and managed better, this Rockies team was an 80-85 win team perhaps even more.  But injuries came and they ended up a 64 win team.  So even though the Rockies had the talent for an 85 win team, they actually were a 64 win team.

With that being said, the Rockies lost four players to waivers several days after the season was complete.  The Twins claimed pitcher Josh Roenicke and utility infielder Tommy Field.  The Cubs claimed relief pitching prospect Zach Putnam and the Royals claimed pitcher Guillermo Moscoso who had a rough year.  What do each of these four guys have in common?  They all had value.  I may not be a fan of sabermetrics and I have a bit of a blind spot for my favorite team, but the one thing I know about 64 win teams in baseball is they cannot GIVE AWAY value. 

How do I know they all had value?  Each of the four teams that claimed these players had a losing record and a relatively high waiver priority with the Cubs 2nd, the Twins 4th, and the Royals 8th.  A good front office would have been trying to move these guys for a while since they obviously had some value.  Surely at least one of the 27 teams below the Cubs in the waiver order would have offered a prospect or even cash for Zach Putnam.  The Rockies could have packaged Roenicke and Field in a trade to perhaps pick up Justin Morneau or someone of similar value from another team.  Guillermo Moscoso was at least worth a Class A prospect.  Instead, the Rockies front office gives away all this value for NOTHING.  I am disgusted with how my favorite team has begun the offseason.

How does a good front office work this type of situation?  The Royals (not really known as the best front office) were in a similar situation this year.  Instead of losing pitchers Jeremy Jeffress and Tommy Hottovy for nothing, they traded them to the Rangers and Blue Jays respectively.  The return for these two players that easily could have been lost for nothing was cash and a PTBNL or cash.  Not much granted, but a helluva lot better than nothing.

I am going to hope that the offseason starts to go better for my team, because it just isn't fun to be a Rockies fan right now.  My best hope right now is that some other team does something stupid so I can write about them next week.

Thanx for reading.

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