Sunday Morning Rockpile:

by Russ on Jul 6, 2008 8:52 AM MDT in Rockpile

Silverblood asked why Clint Barmes didn't start last night and here's the answer:

When asked why he didn't start the hot-hitting Clint Barmes at short, Hurdle praised Quintanilla's recent string of quality at-bats. Quintanilla promptly singled in the second inning.

Tampa Bay appears ready to make a serious run for Brian Fuentes' services. Mentioned in the article is that the Rockies have interest in two of the club's Double-A pitchers, Wade Davis and Jeremy Hellickson. Davis was rated the #4 prospect in the Rays' system back in January and Hellickson #8 by Baseball America. Davis has spent entire year with Double-A Montgomery in the Southern League. He's 8-6 in 18 starts with a 3.98 ERA and a 0.91 GO/AO. He has 75 K in 101 2/3 IP. Hellickson started the season with Vero Beach in the High-A Florida State League, going 7-1 in 14 games with a 2.00 ERA. He struck out 83 in 76 2/3 IP. He's 0-1 in two starts with Montgomery since his promotion. SaberScouting has a report on Hellickson.

Also of note in the article, Willy Taveras should return to the lineup on Monday.

Tulo should have his stitches out in 12 days.

Last night, the New York Post's website reported that Brandon Webb would be named the starter for the NL All-Star team and had the other starters. The story is no longer available. Find out today at 2 ET who makes the All-Star team when TBS makes the announcement.

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Tulo...

I read that he’d be speaking to the media yesterday at 3:30 pm MT yesterday.

I haven’t seen that around…did it ever happen?

by roxintober on Jul 6, 2008 9:10 AM MDT 0 recs

Ignore.

Found it right in that link.

by roxintober on Jul 6, 2008 9:11 AM MDT up 0 recs

Foul ball catch gets props

It made SportsCenter #1 play of the day yesterday (all sports)... a guy in a black T-shirt & cap, maybe 18-20 years old, leaned way over the upper deck railing in right field to glove a long foul drive hit by Mat Holliday. It was the same AB where Holliday hit the 3-run HR in the 4th inning.. Really a nice snag that took some serious timing (and guts) . The fan received many high-5’s in the stands and the predictable “sign him up!” calls from the TV commentators.

by DeepPurple on Jul 6, 2008 10:23 AM MDT 0 recs

Dilemma anyone?

The facts:

On July 6th the Rockies are 6 games out of first and climbing…...
They’re also 14 games under .500 and streaky as Hell…..
They’re supposedly defending the NL championship title…..
They have three teams to climb over.
Their closer is A free agent after the season
As a type A he will net two high draft picks (which they will also have to spend to sign)
It’s possible they could get a very good starting pitcher in return
Said pitcher probably couldn’t/shouldn’t help until next year at the soonest
Bucholtz looks ready to step up to closer, and Corpas is getting back on track

Is it in the best interest of the club to trade Fuentes for a Hellickson type pitcher at this point? I’m leaning to yes, but considering the draft picks I believe we should be pretty demanding about what we get back.

by IowaRockie on Jul 6, 2008 10:24 AM MDT 0 recs

Rays fans seem to think that giving up Wade or Hellickson is too much

but I don’t think O Dowd is going to trade Fuentes unless he gets a real solid prospect back. If Manny can continue to keep it together, then trading Tito wouldn’t be the end of the world.

The 2008 Rockies: All loses, all season

by moomacher on Jul 6, 2008 11:22 AM MDT up 0 recs

Minimum bid

To trade him we are going to need to receive something in return that we feel is of equal value to what he will bring us in free agent compensatory picks. At this point that appears to be a first round pick and a sandwich pick, if I remember correctly (for a type A free agent).

Whether Fuentes is worth that type of package to another team is open for debate but he is already worth that type of package to the Rockies just by letting him leave after the season.

by MADness on Jul 6, 2008 11:26 AM MDT up 0 recs

Compensation

Also, the team that trades for him would then be in line for those picks if they don’t resign him.

by MADness on Jul 6, 2008 11:27 AM MDT up 0 recs

But don't we have to offer him a qualifying offer?

what if he accepts?

The 2008 Rockies: All loses, all season

by moomacher on Jul 6, 2008 11:29 AM MDT up 0 recs

Yeah

Yeah, there’s that too. However, barring any unforeseen massive break-downs I don’t see Fuentes accepting arbitration. The market the last couple of years for relievers has been handing out massive multi-year deals, and that would seem hard to pass up for a guy like Fuentes.

by IowaRockie on Jul 6, 2008 12:02 PM MDT up 0 recs

Actually, it's quite dangerous

Fuentes arb number could be in the 10-12 million range. If the Rockies plan on making any off-season personnel changes, should Fuentes accept arbitration, it could cripple all other off-season plans.

Plus, you have the opportunity to land two Double A types instead of two rookie league players. Trading Fuentes for prospects that could help next year should be much more appealling.

Bottom line, the Rockies need to act as if they are not in the running and make the wisest moves for the future. Trading Fuentes makes ions more sense than risking arb.

The offers will be there, they always are for closer types (see Gagne ‘08).

by David OhNo on Jul 6, 2008 12:47 PM MDT up 0 recs

Various views

Tulo. Really immature response to a no brainer situation. He was going to be pulled in the DS since they needed 2 innings out of a reliever and he was the most logicial choice (last batter, weakest batter) etc.

Fuentes/Tampa Bay: I say trade him if you can get value over and above the sandwich picks he will merit. Not sure if that is the case now, and if so keep him. The TB prospect here needs some delivery refinement. My concern is the violent arm movements on his hard OS stuff and his tendancy to rely on “too much” arm. He is a good candidate for elbow surgery.

As for the overall season. Six games out is close. If they could show any signs of winning road games, then I would be optimistic. So far they have been pathetic on the road and the recent trip showed no reason to believe it would change.

by PinchHitLancePainter on Jul 6, 2008 12:00 PM MDT 0 recs

Out of left-field

Just humoring the idea (should Fuentes be traded) of trying Morales in the bullpen. I can’t say I’ve followed his progression in the Springs very closely, but I remember he seemed to hit a wall after 4 or 5 innings last year in the majors. The wildness would not suit a potential closer very well, but perhaps that could be solved by focusing on his top two pitches and letting the secondary stuff go. It’d be a shame to give up on him as a starter, but one thing about losing Fuentes that troubles me is that we’d be seriously lacking in left-handed arms out of the pen. Just something that occured to me as I wait for today’s game to start.

by IowaRockie on Jul 6, 2008 12:45 PM MDT 0 recs