Friday Rockpile: O'Dowd's in the stable, but he needs some more thoroughbreds

by Rox Girl on Jan 9, 2009 9:17 AM MST in Rockpile Comment 21 comments

Tracy Ringolsby's regular Friday column praises Carl Pohlad's hands off approach with the Twins, and the stability he left in that team's front office in making said team a perennial winner. The same stability in the Rockies front office is implied to be a good thing, as is the stability of front offices in the rest of the NL West outside of LA, but of course a counterargument would be that this is the division that's had two seasons in the last three years where the winner finished with less than 85 victories, and the division's 11 top 10 draft choices (meaning eleven bottom 10 placements in the standings, only one of which was the Dodgers) over the last five years are second most to the NL Central in that span. The NL West had three more bottom ten finishers in 2008 (the Rockies pick eleventh though, due to Aaron Crow not signing with the Nationals) so all that stability has led to some pretty crummy teams.

Further in Ringolsby's column, and in a separate blog post, he praises Jason Marquis as a workhorse, which is all well and good, workhorses are needed to keep the operation chugging along, but if the Rockies really want to be legit, the stable also has to produce some trophy getters. Let's hope the young legs have it in them.

***

Brad Hawpe has been asked to join Team USA for the WBC, and our rightfielder is mulling it over. At least one blogger needs to realize that for all his defensive faults, want of

a right fielder with a cannon arm might make runners at second base think twice before they tried to tag up

will not be an issue for Bradley. I'm really not sure why he's so dead set against Brad, particularly in favor of Ryan Ludwick, who could well be a single season fluke for the Cardinals, and who struck out more than Hawpe did last season (K's are a big part of this author's argument against Hawpe for some reason). His other choice, Andre Ethier, might actually be a better alternative, particularly if it keeps the Dodger from getting ready for the regular season. Former Rockies closer Brian Fuentes has accepted his bid.

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Adding Hawpe to Team USA

would be a very good idea if Brandon Webb were pitching for another country.

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by DbacksSkins on Jan 9, 2009 10:48 AM MST reply actions 0 recs

I still don't understand

why the Cubs didn’t make more of a move to get Hawpe. Seems like he ticks all the boxes they were looking for in an outfielder.

Second half run?

by moomacher on Jan 9, 2009 11:00 AM MST reply actions 0 recs

Well he's an awful defender for one, Bradley is much better on defense.

Also Bradley comes for just cash, whereas the Cubs would have to give up quite a bit of talent to get Hawpe.

by Brendan Scolari on Jan 9, 2009 7:15 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Say What!?!

I can see the issue with this blogger already.

I’ve got nothing against Brad Hawpe, I promise. He’s never killed my dog or stole my parking spot. I’m sure if we met, he’d be a really nice guy. He had the Rockies’ third highest VORP last season, and now that Matt Holiday is gone, he’s even more important to their long term plans.

Since when has Hawpe been part of our long-term plans?? He’s signed to a very attractive contract through his arbitration years and if he’s not traded for a couple of prospects, we’ll hope he qualifies for draft pick compensation when he leaves.

TGFPR!!

by jlot10 on Jan 9, 2009 11:53 AM MST reply actions 0 recs

Judging from

his assessment of a Sizemore/Hawpe CF/RF combo, I’m not sure this guy quite gets it. He’s talking about shallow fly balls, which with a little positioning help, Hawpe is capable of getting to and then throwing runners out. Not only that, but he’s also one of a few RFs that can do the same thing on deep fly balls, which I assume to be just as important of an asset, if not more. While definitely an adeventure on line drives (especially into the scoreboard at Coors), he’s not an abomination on other plays. With Sizemore in CF, Hawpe could play the line more effectively and cut down on some of his problems.

I don’t know if UZR/150 is that much better than PMR , but in Pinto’s 2008 rankings for RFs, Ludwick and Ethier aren’t even close to the greatest defensive upgrade over Hawpe. As RG notes, Ludwick’s bat could be a fluke. Ethier would be fine, maybe a slight overall upgrade from Hawpe, but Hawpe’s not a sinking stone compared to those two. Plus, DeRosa is already on the roster and could play some right. Hawpe would be a better power complement than Ethier if that is the goal.

If he wants American speed and hitting, where’s Hamilton (259inn in RF) or Bradley (157inn)?

by deacs on Jan 9, 2009 2:37 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

I like

the seemingly inadvertent use of the plural “long term plans” here. I’m sure he didn’t mean it, but I certainly feel like we’re always working on the next long term plan…

by Teekalong on Jan 9, 2009 3:05 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

I thought Ethier was playing for Mexico

but I’m not positive on that one.

by Brendan Scolari on Jan 9, 2009 7:15 PM MST reply actions 0 recs

Score one for Vinny...

Take that Davey Johnson.

by Rox Girl on Jan 9, 2009 7:29 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Danny Haren

was actually invited to play for the US team AND the Mexican team. (His mom is full Mexican, even though he doesn’t speak a lick of Spanish)

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by DbacksSkins on Jan 9, 2009 8:26 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

I remember hearing that.

Which one did he pick, or is he playing at all?

by Brendan Scolari on Jan 9, 2009 8:43 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

He's not.

He told both teams that he’d call if he changed his mind, but as of right now, no. (Webby turned down an offer as well in either November or early December to pitch for USA.)

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by DbacksSkins on Jan 9, 2009 9:02 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs