Saturday Rockpile: Rusch stays home, Barmes keeps rolling, Hurdle desperately trying to win, and more

by Bryan Kilpatrick on May 23, 2009 9:58 AM MDT in Rockpile

Good day everyone. I'll be your go-to guy for all things on the Row today - starting with the Rockpile and ending with the game wrap of what hopes to be a Rockies winner. It's far too nice here to stay inside and watch a game while posting on the internet, so I'll be taking my laptop outside and enjoying a beautiful afternoon/evening while covering the team I love most. It doesn't get any better than that. Anyway, enough of that; let's get to some news:

Glendon Rusch told Troy E. Renck that he will not be reporting to AAA Colorado Springs. Rusch still seems rather let down over the whole situation:

I don’t feel the time was right or that it was the right decision,’’ Rusch said. “But it’s business. I miss being around the guys and wish them well.’’

The Rockies will most likely place Rusch on the restricted list rather than grant him free agency at this point.

Jack Etkin posted some quick hits from last nights game. Apparently, Clint Barmes has a quiet seven game hitting streak. Good for Barmie and hopefully he keeps it up. He's 8-for-22 over the course of the streak (for those of you who don't feel like busting out a calculator at this hour, that's good for a .364 batting average). Most everything else included in the stub outlines the struggles of certain individuals and the team as a whole.

Clint Hurdle has met the Lions and expressed excitement over watching the Red Wings, as he returned to his native Michigan yesterday for the weekend. He clearly wants to win a couple of games while he's there, as he managed his tail off last night (in my opinion, anyway) and certainly did it well enough to put his team in position to win. It's hard for me to blame the guy for the team's awful baserunning blunders. The Hurdle article also notes that the Rockies have played more road games than any team in baseball not named the Cleveland Indians. Coincidentally (or not), the two teams have struggled mightily to this point despite good talent and decent expectations.

Jason Marquis battles Armando Galarraga tonight at 5:05 MT. The Rockies look to avoid dropping to ten games under .500 at the earliest point of any season since, well, 2008.

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The Rockies will most likely place Rusch on the restricted list rather than grant him free agency at this point.

What are they holding onto him for? Are they expecting him to report to AAA make a huge turnaround and then support them in a late season push for the playoffs?

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Rock Drive 1.4

by Charlie77 on May 23, 2009 10:57 AM MDT reply actions

Why is he on the list at all instead of a FA?

Did he officially accept the assignment to CSprings and then change his mind?

Not sure why they’d put him on the list instead of just granting him FA. Maybe they think he might change his mind, and if he does, would like to have him at AAA for depth. (Teams always seem to be collecting roster filler at AAA for extra/emergency depth, a la the Red Sox claiming Travis Denker off waivers from the Padres.)

by FooMan on May 23, 2009 11:28 AM MDT up reply actions

What the restricted list is

“The restricted list is used for any long-term absence, whether it be for a drug suspension, for leaving the club without permission or for encountering a visa problem.” (From BA’s Transaction Glossary.)

As implied, the restricted list is most commonly used for drug suspensions (Kevin Clark, for example, is currently on the restricted list, as is Manny Ramirez), but it can also be used for other things; I assume in this case it would be for “leaving the club without permission.”

However, my impression was that players who have a certain amount of service time can decline a minor league assignment and become a free agent, and the club has no right to stop them. But in Rusch’s case, he was DFA’ed on the 15th, so the Rockies still have a couple more days to decide what to do with him; that’s why he’s not a free agent yet. The Rockies are probably holding out hope that somebody gets desperate for a LHP and wants to trade for him. The return for Rusch would probably be negligible, but it’s better than nothing.

by Tom (RFTN) on May 23, 2009 2:22 PM MDT up reply actions