Sunday Rockpile: Pitch in or hitch out

some truth to Hurdle’s matching of the Spanish battery mates, although I’m not sure it’s a key to success. It definitely wasn’t working last night and I don’t remember it ever working better last year than the Spanish / English battery alternative.

That aside, Yorvit was going to catch one game and I’d rather have CDI catching Cook, today. Also, if CDI can get the bat going we should see him catch most of this week’s games due to the off days on the schedule.

Frankly, I like our team with the kind of potency it has on the bench right now, I really don’t think it’s hurting Stewart’s development, he’ll get his starting opportunity soon enough, and as long as all these players keep their egos in check, the team can do great things this year. That means no moaning from Barmes when Stewart starts at second or Atkins when he starts at third, no complaints from Smith when Dex is in center and Spilly in right. As fans we need to understand that sometimes our faves will have to sit to keep everybody happy too.

but he is just that a backup and I think as such should only play once a week. I know the game has changed and catchers are being coddled along, but I don’t see the Dodgers doing that w/ Martin. Martin is clearly a very good hitting catcher which are not easy to come by, although coming by w/ a little more frequency in the last few years, and I think Iannetta is a guy that can be a difference maker at that position. I don’t think sitting him so frequently will help him get in sync. I do agree that we have a quality bench and some guys will need to sacrifice time for the good of the team, but it is a very thin line and a dangerous game to be moving guys in and out of the lineup all the time, and could keep them from getting out of a funk or staying on a roll.

and how long has this been a rule?

we were the “negative ninnies” Does that make us the “Positive Ninnies” this year?

I think you have different tiers of cheap imported talent:

1) Rule 5 players – almost always the domain of also-rans. Clubs acquiring them are hoping for an upgrade two or three seasons down the road.

2) NRI’s/minor league free agents – depth in case of injury, sometimes comes with a lottery ticket upside.

3) Waiver wire claims. Like Juan Morillo, the only reason why they would be more valuable than the previous tier is because they fill some team’s specific need.

4) trades in advance of or during a DFA – slightly higher than tier three, these players have enough value that they fill multiple teams’ needs.

5) trades to allow higher quality young players a starting role – This would be the kind of move we’d be talking about were the Rockies to trade Atkins to give a space for Stewart or one of our outfielders for Fowler. These types of trades are what only contenders will pursue because they cost so much in prospects.

I think Hammel fits in tier 4, Rodriguez as a prospect is basically in tier 1 and I don’t know if Tampa will be able to protect him from the next Rule 5 draft. Players from all these tiers are capable of becoming quality contributors or busts, but the further down the list you get, the more likely they are to contribute soon.

The thing is though, if the consensus in baseball seems to be that Belisle’s tier 2, Morillo tier 3 and Hammel tier 4, we’ve ultimately wound up with the guy most feel will add to our team’s success this season. Talking about years of controllability becomes somewhat moot because this is clearly a “win now” type of move. What we have to talk about is whether it was the right time to make this sort of call. I think that given the way our team’s looking, it’s hard to fault O’Dowd for it. In retrospect, maybe that changes.

I just wish it was warmer

This will be his first start vs the Rockies in nearly three years: his last one was April 19, 2006 with San Diego, which he won. So it wasn’t a spot start, but he did do well in relief last year