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In Memory of Keli McGregor (Jan 23, 1962-April 20, 2010)
You will be loved and missed always by Rockies fans. Thank You.
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Tuesday Rockpile: Are We There Yet?
by Andrew T. Fisher on Dec 28, 2010 6:30 AM MST
in Rockpile
If it seems that the offseason has slowed to a crawl, it has. It isn't just you. It isn't just that the Rockies checked out from their 2010 season thirteen games before the end of the regular season rather than thirteen games after. Check out the Rockpile from a year ago today. 378 comments. We haven't reached that since December 9, ironic given the final comment in that thread.
So why is the Good Bad and Ugly theme running through my head every time I click Purple Row? Simply, Dan O'Dowd got a quick start on building the next season's roster this off-season. There isn't much to banter about, as the budget seems filled while the publicized targeted holes have been filled. Compare that to last offseason, when Miguel Olivo signed on January 4, resulting in the final chapter of the Catcher Wars. We are not likely to see any ground-breaking Rockies news in the coming weeks.
As a result, the staff has to get creative entertaining you folks until pitchers and catchers report in about fifty days. We have talked Hall of Fame. Written 1500 words about Cliff Lee. Reflected on this date in 2009. Created an xtranormal video. Now we are outright talking about the elephant in the room. Hmm...what's next? Hmm..anyone like Mad Libs?
41 comments2010 Rockies Player Review: Joe Beimel
by Andrew T. Fisher on Dec 27, 2010 12:15 PM MST
in Rockies Player Reviews
Right after questions about the long-term contracts with Carlos Gonzalez and Ubaldo Jimenez, the most frequent question Troy Renck has had to answer on twitter this offseason has been: "Why aren't the Rockies bringing Joe Beimel back?" Renck's answer has held unwavered - great faith in lefty rookie Matt Reynolds, hope and faith in former top prospect Franklin Morales, and it doesn't hurt that top relief prospect Rex Brothers will be pounding down the door at 20th and Blake in 2011.
Those are all fantastic and valid reasons, but there is one that Renck has not mentioned. Joe Beimel is just not the type of pitcher you sign to a guaranteed MLB contract in December.
On July 31, 2009, Dan O'Dowd dealt minor league pitchers Ryan Mattheus and Robinson Fabian for the veteran southpaw. Beimel pitched fairly well in 15.2 IP in 2009, yet he wasn't retained as a free agent until March 23, 2010. Despite the late start and early rust, Beimel became a critical part of the bullpen, acting as the late inning lefty and teaming up with Matt Belisle and Rafael Betancourt to cover the seventh and eighth innings.
He held his ERA below 1.00 until June 24 (the Pedroia game) with help from a 17.0 IP scoreless streak, starting April 18 and ending June 4. So why are the Rockies so carefree about letting a talented veteran reliever who loves Colorado walk away?
I will get to Matt Reynolds more tomorrow, but in terms of just Joe Beimel, solid reliever, he was nothing spectacular as a Rockie, despite the fan love. He managed a paltry 4.20 K/9, quite low for a guy you count on to strike out a dangerous lefty in late innings. Part of that was being over-used against right-handed batters given his struggles with RHB.
While his ERA was great (3.40), the ERA-predictor stats FIP (4.59), xFIP (4.94) and tERA (4.91) suggest he did not pitch all that well. While I am all for giving a pitcher his due for beating sabermetric predictive stats in a season, that really does not apply to left-handed relievers, who generally don't pitch full innings on a consistent basis. Are those innings relacable internally? I would argue they most certainly are. At the very least, they are not the kind of numbers you must lock into an MLB deal before spring training.
Grade: B-
Monday Rockpile: Colorado Rockies Players Matching Albert Pujols' Greatness
by Andrew Martin on Dec 27, 2010 6:30 AM MST
in Rockpile
Over the weekend, Joe Posnanski pointed out an incredible fact: Over the course of a 162 game season, St. Louis Cardinals' 1B Albert Pujols averages a .331 batting average, 42HR, 44 2B, 123 R, 128 RBI. In baseball HISTORY, only 9 players have mustered this line even ONCE, and they include: Albert Pujols (duh), Babe Ruth, Hank Greenberg (the original Hammerin' Hank), Lou Gehrig, Rogers Hornsby, Hal Trosky, Chuck Klein, and Colorado's own Todd Helton and Larry Walker.
Todd Helton's 2000 was a season to stand in absolute awe of. In 160 games, Helton batted .372/.463/.698 (1.162 OPS, .476 wOBA, 165 wRC+) with 42 HR, 59 2B, 138R, 147 RBI. If you recall, Helton also had a .400 batting average through June 10th and had a .390 average on September 3rd. Helton's 165 wRC+ was 6th in the majors (3rd in the NL) and his 8.6 WAR was 3rd in the majors (1st in the NL). Helton finished 5th in the MVP voting behind Jeff Kent, Barry Bonds, Mike Piazza, and Jim Edmonds. Helton DID receive a single 1st place vote, so there's that.
Larry Walker was nothing to sneeze at either in 1997. Over 153 games of epic awesomeness, Walker posted a .366/.452/.720 line (1.172 OPS, .494 wOBA, 184 wRC+), hitting 49 HR, 46 2B, 143 R, 130 RBI, and 33SB. Walker DID win the MVP that year, if you recall. Nearly unanimously, too, as only Mike Piazza and Jeff Bagwell received 1st place votes (3 apiece). Walker's 9.0 WAR was 3rd in the NL (5th in the majors) behind Craig Biggio and Mike Piazza.
Sunday Rockpile: El año de "Car-Go" is coming, Stewart works on hitting left handers.
by Rox Girl on Dec 26, 2010 9:32 AM MST
in Rockpile
After the bump, I will have a few links and commentary on the off season negotiations and preparations of both Carlos Gonzalez and Ian Stewart, but first, the debut of a hard hitting interview series previewing the 2011 National League season:
I'm expecting my Emmy anyday now.
Saturday Rockpile: Christmas Comes a Day Early for Two Former Rockies
by Bryan Kilpatrick on Dec 25, 2010 10:07 AM MST
in Rockpile
To echo Andrew's sentiment from earlier, I hope all of you have the merriest of Christmases. Share the time with your loved ones, and never take anything for granted.
Yesterday was a good day for a couple of key pieces to Generation R, as Brad Hawpe inked a one-year deal with the San Diego Padres, and will likely be their opening day first baseman. It will be interesting to see how Hawpe bounces back after an injury-riddled 2010 which saw him finally fall off from his unbelievably consistent four years prior. As we all know, the biggest hit of Hawpe's career to date came at Petco Park in September of 2007. Let's hope he doesn't get too many more of those.
In addition, Garrett Atkins signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates, reuniting with Clint Hurdle. Atkins will be brought to the Steel City on a Minor League deal with an invite to Spring Training. Atty wasn't the only former Rockies farmhand brought in by Hurdle and the Bucs, as they acquired Corey Wimberly from Oakland for pitcher Ryan Kelly.
Finally, Troy Renck has this blurb regarding the Rockies' lack of urgency in trying to re-sign Joe Beimel.
That will do it for today. Enjoy all of the good things that Christmas has to offer (which hopefully includes some crucial new Rockies gear).
Merry Christmas from Purple Row
by Andrew Martin on Dec 25, 2010 12:14 AM MST
To all of our users, staff, lurkers, and friends, I want to extend the Merriest of Christmases to all of you. May your Red and Green Holiday be filled with Purple things.
Yeesh, that just reads awkwardly.
Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, and Happy Festivus (for the rest of you).
Friday Rockpile: Lindstrom + Old Friends on Late Christmas Shopping List, 2011 Schedule Notes
by WolfMarauder on Dec 24, 2010 7:00 AM MST
in Rockpile
The Rockies finally settled on Matt Lindstrom as their final bullpen piece, trading minor league pitchers Jonnathan Aristil (who had been re-signed after leaving as a free agent earlier in the year) and Wes Musick, who spent the year with Asheville.
Read web coverage here:
- Troy Renck of the Denver Post
- Thomas Harding of MLB.com
- Steve Foster of Inside the Rockies
- Rox Girl of one of those internet webzone log things
Lindstrom will be the pitcher that the Rockies brought in Octavio Dotel to be at the end of last year, ensuring that the Rockies have alternatives to Matt Belisle and Rafael Betancourt before handing the ball to Huston Street. He also provides insurance for Street himself should something go wrong there. The heavy lifting of the offseason is now done, unless some money for more catching or outfield depth grows on a tree somewhere by the front office.
But the Rockies were active on the minor league side as well, and this will likely continue into January. Before taking off for the holidays (or possibly after, who knows, one can be a GM from home too), the Rockies added three more players to their list of incoming minor league faces, two of which are familiar. In addition to infielder Tug Hulett, who can play anywhere in the infield, the Rockies re-signed former draftees Jeff Salazar (who left via waiver claim for the Arizona Diamondbacks after a September callup with us in 2006) and Matt Macri (who was traded to the Minnesota Twins in 2007 for Ramon Ortiz). So far, none of these three players have Spring Training invites, but may change when the list is being finalized. All three have some major league experience. Read about the signings from Thomas Harding here.
Back to Lindstrom, the bullpen has now reached what will almost certainly be its final form on opening day, barring injury or surprise meltdown. Street, Betancourt, Belisle and Lindstrom will control the late innings, with Matt Reynolds joining in for lefty situations. Franklin Morales backs Reynolds from the left side, with Felipe Paulino rounding out the team pitching middle and long relief. This all assumes that Esmil Rogers will have his fourth option year - if he does not, the options become limited to dumping one of the optionless players or optioning Reynolds to AAA and going with Morales alone from the left side. By my calculations, Lindstrom has an option year left because his 2008 option was not long enough to count, but they signed him to pitch here, obviously.
Like most people (or at least those clogging up my streets trying to get into the Cherry Creek Mall), the Rockies wait until the last minute to get their Christmas shopping done. Also, with two Matt signings today, the Rockies are well above their Matt quota for the year.
After the jump, I'll be taking a brief initial look at the 2011 schedule.
Rockies trade for Matt Lindstrom
by Rox Girl on Dec 23, 2010 3:02 PM MST
in Transactions & Rumors
According to Mark Berman of myfoxhouston.com, the website associated with Houston's Fox affiliate, the Astros and Rockies are close to working out a deal for Astros RHP Matt Lindstrom for two minor leaguers, the report mentions Wes Musick as one of the minor league players apparently involved.
The hard throwing Lindstrom is coming off of two somewhat disappointing seasons, one with the Astros, one with Florida, after a very strong start to his MLB career with the Marlins in 2007 and 2008. This would mark the third time that he's been traded since originally signing with the Mets in 2002. For the Rockies, Lindstrom is expected to take some of the set-up burden from Rafael Betancourt and Matt Belisle.
Lindstrom was a part-time closer for Florida and Houston over the last 2 seasons, and his career 4.00 ERA (3.53 FIP, 4.18 xFIP) marks a solid middle reliever. Additionally, his 7.48 K9 and 3.64 BB9 set Lindstrom as an effective if not flashy reliever who sits 96mph+ on his fastball. One additional boon to Matt Lindstrom is very solid HR control (0.52 HR/9). While this HR control has seen a bit of a decline the past 2 seasons, it's still never reached over 1.00. All good things for a Coors Field pitcher.
Musick, a promising but still developing LHP from the University of Houston was drafted by the Rockies in the ninth round of the 2009 draft as a senior. He had been drafted by the Astros in 2005 before deciding to go to college, and this trade would reunite him with the city nearest his Texas home.
UPDATE: Thomas Harding is reporting the deal as done.
The second minor leaguer has been named as RHP Jonnathan Aristil, a longtime Rockies farmhand from the Dominican Republic. Aristil's spent 2010 bouncing between Modesto, Tulsa and Colorado Springs.
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NL West Standings
| W | L | PCT | GB | STRK | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
San Francisco
|
92 | 70 | .567 | 0 | Won 2 |
|
San Diego
|
90 | 72 | .555 | 2 | Lost 1 |
|
Colorado
|
83 | 79 | .512 | 9 | Lost 8 |
|
Los Angeles
|
80 | 82 | .493 | 12 | Won 2 |
|
Arizona
|
65 | 97 | .401 | 27 | Lost 2 |
(updated 12.28.2010 at 11:18 AM MST)
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