Rockies trade Luis Vizcaino for Jason Marquis

Per Troy Renck and Steve Phillips at ESPN.

6 months ago Rox Girl Comment 36 comments 0 recs |

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Glory, Glory, Hallelujah!

OK, it’s not exactly exciting news, but I like the move. Now the rotation only has competition for the fifth spot.

Oh, and FanShots shouldn’t have the “mlb hotstove” tag. The system doesn’t work with FanShots or Posts.

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by Russ on Dec 30, 2008 8:11 PM MST reply actions 0 recs

Dang it

Beat to the punch twice today! Just did my own fanpost on this. Not too sorry to see the Viz go, but not sure if Marquis is the answer to our rotation. I’m anxious to see what others have to say.

I cannot say whether things will get better if we change; what I can say is they must change if they are to get better. -Georg C. Lichtenberg:

by rockhead on Dec 30, 2008 8:13 PM MST reply actions 0 recs

After attending

the game that saw Jason Marquis hit a grand slam against the Mets in Shea back in September, I like the way his bat could play at Coors.

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by Russ on Dec 30, 2008 8:22 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

So a rotation of

Cook
Francis
U-Ball
De La Rosa
Marquis

Seems decent for me, and if Francis Rebounds and De La Rosa pitches like he did in the second half, I think we have the best rotation in the NL West

by wolf213 on Dec 30, 2008 8:19 PM MST reply actions 0 recs

I think

a mini-competition is in the air for De La Rosa and Smith for a spot in the rotation, De La Rosa being the favorite.

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by Russ on Dec 30, 2008 8:20 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Seems decent for me, and if Francis Rebounds and De La Rosa pitches like he did in the second half, I think we have the best rotation in the NL West

The really amusing thing is that the Giants fans at McCC keep claiming THEY have the best rotation in the NL West, and at the SnakePit… well, you know. The same.

Two things are for certain: The Padres suck, and the Dodgers will probably overpay for a FA starter and still only have the 3rd or 4th best rotation.

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by DbacksSkins on Dec 30, 2008 8:52 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

I think both the Giants and Snakes have a stronger claim to that title,

But the Rockies are probably closer than a lot of fans at either place realize at this point. I wouldn’t call our rotation the best in the division, but it’s certainly the deepest.

by Rox Girl on Dec 30, 2008 8:58 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Deepest, yes. Agreed.

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by DbacksSkins on Dec 30, 2008 10:00 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Additionally,

from what you were saying at the ‘Pit, it sounds like U-Ball’s progression might be more significant than Francis rebounding and De La Rosa building on his stretch run.

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by DbacksSkins on Dec 30, 2008 10:03 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Man

If he progresses he’s a legit Ace. I’ll settle for him staying constant….

by Hizilla on Dec 31, 2008 3:12 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Our starting rotation

going into Spring training is light years ahead of where it was last year. Depth and options, options, options..

This is the best thing the Viz has done since coming to Denver.

by muzia02 on Dec 30, 2008 8:38 PM MST reply actions 0 recs

One of the funny things

about this is that a couple of weeks ago, Marquis didn’t seem likely because of the money and the Viz wouldn’t be traded because of the money . . . and here we are.

"Never Surrender Dreams" - Inscription on J. Michael Straczynski's bench

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by Russ on Dec 30, 2008 8:39 PM MST reply actions 0 recs

Noticed

your fan post from about 3 weeks ago today. Found it quite ironic.

by Hizilla on Dec 31, 2008 3:12 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Hmmm....

Vizcaino, 34, was given the richest contract ever by a free-agent reliever a year ago – two-year, $8 million — after attempts to re-sign LaTroy Hawkins failed.

This can’t be correct, can it? Doesn’t seem right anyway.

Good trade for the Rockies, somewhat perplexing for the Cubs.

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by DbacksSkins on Dec 30, 2008 8:49 PM MST reply actions 0 recs

I think

we are to assume he meant in club history.

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by Russ on Dec 30, 2008 8:54 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

the only conclusion I could come to as well; it’s worded ambiguously. But there is a BIG difference in meaning and implication between “the richest contract ever by a free-agent reliever” and “the richest contract ever by a free-agent reliever in franchise history”.

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by DbacksSkins on Dec 30, 2008 9:58 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

OT

“this is not a signature”? Am I translating that correctly? My french is wayyyyyyy rusty, but thought I’d check before resorting to Babelfish.

BTW, always a pleasure to have you dropping by. :)

I cannot say whether things will get better if we change; what I can say is they must change if they are to get better. -Georg C. Lichtenberg:

by rockhead on Dec 30, 2008 11:16 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Indeed.

I don’t speak French myself; it’s a reference to a famous Magritte painting. It seemed a lot more witty when I first came up with it.

Thanks for the kind words…. though I’ve been around quite a bit, lately. Something about the holidays must bring out my ADD.

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by DbacksSkins on Dec 31, 2008 12:12 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

I think our rotation should be ok going into ST.

Especially considering Morales, Hirsh, and Reynolds waiting.

Is it 2009 yet? Seriously?........Now? no......How about now?

by The Lodo Magic Man on Dec 30, 2008 9:12 PM MST reply actions 0 recs

I worry a little about Hirsh

He is out of options, I wonder if the Rockies are thinking about using him out of the bullpen to take Vizcaino’s place.

by Rox Girl on Dec 30, 2008 9:33 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Hirsh

I’m pretty sure Hirsh still has an option left. Contract was purchased in 2006, optioned after Spring Training. There’s one. He was optioned last year after being returned from the DL. There’s two.

But was he ever optioned in 2007? He broke with the team, got hurt, came straight back, got hurt again. No options used in his transaction history as far as I can see.

by WolfMarauder on Dec 30, 2008 10:26 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Well that will be good then..,

I rely on other sites too much sometimes and read on one today that he’d be out in 2009, but it looks like it was mistaken. Thanks for the correction if that’s not the case, and I believe you’re probably right looking at it.

by Rox Girl on Dec 30, 2008 10:32 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Well...

I may be wrong. Sometimes sites disagree/don’t report things properly, etc. But I also don’t remember any 2007 option, so I think he’s still got one last year in that department. He definitely wasn’t optioned prior to 2006, so I think he’s just got 2006 and 2008.

by WolfMarauder on Dec 30, 2008 10:34 PM MST reply actions 0 recs

Hirsh in the bullpen = good idea

I like this trade. The Viz had to go. Just had to. And this way, we pick up a proven half-decent starter for $5m, and get rid of a problem spot. I like it.

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by Mondogarage on Dec 30, 2008 10:36 PM MST reply actions 0 recs

How much

time does Marquis have left on his contract? If this is the last year, I totally like it. If not… well it’s still not too bad. Vizcaino kind of sucked and Marquis is proven. He does provide a roadblock to Smith/Morales/Reynolds/Hirsh, but last year was a mistake when we relied on Hirsh and Morales at least we have options.

And yea our rotation is improving but it still isn’t quite as good as SF or AZ but if everything goes right for us we’ll be sneaky good in the rotation…

by Resolution on Dec 30, 2008 10:53 PM MST reply actions 0 recs

Last year on Marquis contract

That is correct.

Watching the purple row from high atop the big brown monolith on California Ave

by Mondogarage on Dec 30, 2008 11:01 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

I must say

I like this move, for all the above mentioned reasons. I’m glad we dumped Vizcainblow rather than moving a prospect.

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by RockiesMagicNumber on Dec 31, 2008 12:29 AM MST reply actions 0 recs

I think this says alot about our current pitchers

Ok, so I’m one of the few that expected Viz to have a rebound year. He’s only 34, and was way over used in NY. If the pattern for relievers, holds, last year he was hurt and tired, and thus not used…so 09 he should have a rebound year, but with Street in the pen we could loose Viz and have some depth left.

Now for the Rotation:
Cook
Uballo
Francis
George of the Rose
Marquis
Smith
Morales
Hirsh
Reynolds
Chacin

Now, I’ll repeat the old adage “You can never have too much starting pitching” but I think we have too much starting pitching. UNLESS…and I suspect this to be true, that the Rockies are starting to question Francis and his “injuries”, and wither Hirsch or Reynolds or even Morales will ever be affective at the big league level. I don’t want to say “giving up” but the Rockies seem to be hedging their bets now to cover some looses, which is actually a smart thing to do.

And on a side note: 9 million for Marquis…that makes him the highest paid Rockies starting pitcher right? Doesn’t that mean he’s our ACE now?

Thought Clint Hurdle should be fired before it was cool.

by Redhawk on Dec 31, 2008 8:04 AM MST reply actions 0 recs

And you can throw Glendon "Don't" Rusch into that list too.

It’s absolutely a hedge, but it’s absolutely necessary regardless of how confident the team is in the young pitching. Boston picked up Bartolo Colon last season despite having Clay Buchholz, Bowden, and plenty of other good young pitching. There are a couple of Yogi Berra-esque principles involved with young pitchers that you usually have to take into account:

1. You never know if they’ll really be good (until they are).
2. You never get as many innings from them as you hope you will (until you do).

The Rockies now have both principles adequately covered.

As for $9.9 million = ace, I’m just glad we’re the beneficiary of somebody’s contract dump for once rather than it being the other way around. Yeah, it’s only Jason Marquis, but baby-steps are a good thing.

by Rox Girl on Dec 31, 2008 8:36 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

1. You never know if they’ll really be good (until they are).
2. You never get as many innings from them as you hope you will (until you do).

And sometimes, even then….

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by DbacksSkins on Dec 31, 2008 9:18 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

9 Million for a starting pitcher

is kinda like going out again on a date (even if it is set up) for the Rockies after our bad marriages to Hampton and Neagle.

I’m still dreaming of Roy Halliday, but a guy can dream can’t he?

Thought Clint Hurdle should be fired before it was cool.

by Redhawk on Dec 31, 2008 10:00 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

I am starting to think that Chacin is like our David Price – we don’t have room for him this year (thank God), but he’ll help us down the stretch and start next year.

by onholliday on Jan 5, 2009 12:29 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

I could give two farts about Jason Marquis

as I expect him to be yet another 4th/5th starter type, but as I recall, he’s somewhat of a good hitter for a pitcher. Put him and Cookie together and we can win some silver sluggers…

On the bright side, I am quite thrilled that Teh Viz is gone.

Blast and botheration.

by Silverblood on Dec 31, 2008 9:25 AM MST reply actions 0 recs

I haven't been paying close enough attention....

and this is the first I heard of this. I really like this trade for the Rockies—from the Cubs standpoint, I don’t think it is anything more than a salary dump.

by DenverBears on Dec 31, 2008 11:53 AM MST reply actions 0 recs