Friday Rockpile: The Rockies travel to Oakland to face Matt Holliday for three games

by Russ Oates on Jun 26, 2009 8:45 AM MDT in Rockpile Comment 23 comments

Rockies' closer brings stability to bullpen - The Denver Post
Huston Street is quite thankful for the persistence Bob Apodaca had in changing his approach to pitching.

Holliday finding his way with A's - The Denver Post
Troy Tulowitzki on Matt Holliday:

"I wonder all the time if we will be teammates again," Tulowitzki said. "I would love for that to happen."

A's beat: Trade works out for Street, Rockies - San Francisco Chronicle
Susan Slusser has some quotes from Street and Holliday about this upcoming series.

Holliday still lookin' to get groove back with new team, the A's - ContraCostaTimes.com

"It's not (on par with) what I expect, but I'm not worried about the past," Holliday, a three-time All-Star, said of his offensive season thus far. "I'm focused on today and the rest of the season. "... I'm hitting the ball hard. If you feel like you have a good swing but bad results, that's part of the game."

Barry who? Rockies' Tracy finds success - San Francisco Chronicle
John Shea writes that Jim Tracy is no longer haunted by Barry Bonds.

Young's stellar play earns Futures Game nod - The Denver Post

In case you missed it in yesterday's Rockpile, Eric Young Jr. was named to the Team USA team in the Futures Game and Jhoulys Chacin will pitch for the World Team.

Nationals president Stan Kasten calls himself the 'village idiot' - MLB - SI.com
I like Stan Kasten.

The WPA Inquirer -- The Hardball Times
Ever wanted to find out what the WPA would be of a specific situation? The Hardball Times now has the WPA Inquirer tool to let you fool around with in-game situations.

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Carlos Gonzalez on mlb.com

Thomas Harding has a piece on Carlos Gonzalez up on mlb.com.

It’s more of the puff-piece type, without a lot of new info for those who already follow the team daily. It does quote Tracy as believing it’s just a matter of time before CG breaks through (I believe this quote has appeared in Post stories as well):

“He is going to get going. There is no doubt in my mind,” Tracy said. “He is an extremely talented player.”

Free Seth Smith!

by FooMan on Jun 26, 2009 9:04 AM MDT reply actions 0 recs

Doesn't look like Dave Cameron will get his wish

FREE SETH SMITH

For the gist of it:

Both Clint Hurdle and Jim Tracy should be embarrassed by how they’ve handled Smith this season. The team consideres themselves contenders now that they’ve caught fire, and yet they continue to let one of their best players languish on the bench.

"I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious." - Albert Einstein

by Andrew T. Fisher on Jun 26, 2009 9:20 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

I saw that

nice to see Smith get some recognition. Not so nice for someone from a sabermetric site throw out so much info from past performances to overreact to 150 PA—a small sample size. (And this is coming from someone who has “Free Seth Smith!” in his sig!) Smith is good, but he did a lot more in those 150 PA than he did in 4 of his 5 minor league seasons.

And those who follow the team know why there’s been a log jam, and that it’s not necessarily going to last all season. The decision to call up CarGon came when the FO probably thought the season was likely lost. If the team stays in the hunt, well, I’m sure they can read the stat sheet.

Free Seth Smith!

by FooMan on Jun 26, 2009 9:28 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

All solid points

I definitely agree. Though our last LF produced much more in the majors than his minor league number would suggest as well. And there’s nothing unsustainable about his peripherals this season. His BABip is lower than his MiLB career, he’s walking more but also striking out more, and his LD% is very reasonable. Sample size is certainly an issue – he could be Spilborghs 2.0 – but there’s nothing to suggest that in numbers.

"I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious." - Albert Einstein

by Andrew T. Fisher on Jun 26, 2009 10:19 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

It's Cameron's certainty

that gets me. He writes as if it’s obvious Smith should be playing everyday. To those like us who follow the team closely, it isn’t so obvious.

There’s nothing unsustainable in his peripherals this year, but his minor league stats (and common sense) suggest he’s due to regress. (The common sense part is that there’s few players with .420-ish or even .400-ish OBP’s). Unless there’s some pattern of Rockies LF’s outhitting their MLE’s (and only Rockies’ LF’s, otherwise they wouldn’t be outplaying their MLE’s).

He rips Hurdle for not playing him fulltime, but one of Hurdle’s things was getting everyone playing time. Perhaps another manager buries Smith in favor of Spilly, and then we’d have an even smaller sample to go on.

So I guess it comes down to whether the evidence is so strong that they should they immediately send Gonzalez (or Fowler) down and start playing Smith fulltime in left. Is it? Even if Gonzalez continues to stink and forces the team’s hand, is there no value in continuing to spot Spilly against lefties in order to keep him fresh?

I think there’s a good chance Smith is the Rockies’ best LFer. But I don’t think it’s so obvious at this point that he should be playing everyday given the rest of the roster.

Free Seth Smith!

by FooMan on Jun 26, 2009 11:14 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

I think that it's obvious Seth Smith should be playing more than he is...

starting everyday—not so obvious, but I believe that he deserves that opportunity and not a relegation to a super pinch hitter.

Eschew Obfuscation!

by Jeff Aberle on Jun 26, 2009 11:59 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Besides, how do we factor in defense

I’m sorry I don’t have the numbers to back it up, but CarGo seems to be a huge advantage defensively over anyone else we could put out there.

It takes a big man to cry, but it takes a bigger man to laugh at that man.

by smokinRox on Jun 26, 2009 12:03 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Whom do you replace?

Free Seth Smith!

by FooMan on Jun 26, 2009 12:56 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Fewer ABs for CarGo and Fowler (something of a platoon in CF)...

and relegation of Spilborghs to pinch hitter extraordinaire. Smith is simply a better player right now.

Eschew Obfuscation!

by Jeff Aberle on Jun 26, 2009 6:03 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

/whistles inconspicuously

Chris Iannetta status: DOOM
Seth Smith status: Badass
Matt Murton status: Prisoner Exchanged for CarGon
Mike McCoy status: FREE MIKE MCCOY

by Andrew Martin on Jun 26, 2009 9:36 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Stark on the quiet trade market

I tried to create this as a fanshot, but I kept receiving the error “URL can’t be blank” despite populating the URL field with the URL. So here it is:

Jayson Stark on the quiet trade market

Stark’s June 25 column meanders its way around its usual variety of topics, but also touches on the quiet trade market:

From a high-ranking official of one contender: “The deadline is still 5½ weeks away. Everyone wants to start churning the rumor mill already, but it’s way too premature. The only calls right now are introductory call. It’s, ‘What are you looking to do?’ And it’s, ’Here’s what we might do.’ That’s it.”

Another source states that his team is looking for a reliever, but that none are available yet.

A couple more Rockies-related points slip in—Stark looks at the team’s June hot streak and mentions that the Mets kicked the tires on Garrett Atkins but likely see Aubrey Huff and Nick Johnson as better fits.

Free Seth Smith!

by FooMan on Jun 26, 2009 9:21 AM MDT reply actions 0 recs

Also, Fangraphs Sophomore Report in the NL West

Here

Most interesting, at least to me, is that Ian Stewart dropped his K-rate by 12% from last year, but his LD% is halved, dropping his BABip from .364 to .235. I’m guessing his all or nothing approach (52% FB%age anyone?) factors in to that as well as poor luck.

"I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious." - Albert Einstein

by Andrew T. Fisher on Jun 26, 2009 9:25 AM MDT reply actions 0 recs

Iannetta was having the same problem

to the point he had his own fangraphs post (which likely was linked earlier).

My one nit with the article is that the author probably didn’t mean what he wrote here:

but [Stewart] has yet to truly display the same potential that he hinted at as a prep player.

Oh, he’s displayed the potential all right. That show in St Louis was Pujols-esque.

Free Seth Smith!

by FooMan on Jun 26, 2009 9:32 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Here's a thought on the trade front

Was scrolling through MLBtraderumors.com and noted that the Red Sox may make Saito available. Given their interest in Spilly, I wonder if that deal would work. We could certainly use the bullpen depth. Red Sox may want more for Saito, hard to say.

Right now Saito is striking out a batter per inning, with a WHIP of 1.26. Seems like a nice 7th/8th inning guy to me, especially with Corpas on the DL.

Just a thought I had on a slow Friday morning.

by Roberbola on Jun 26, 2009 9:45 AM MDT reply actions 0 recs

Could be interesting

I wonder if that’s the ceiling of what we could get from Spilborghs, an older, injury prone reliever who is nails when healthy.

I’d hope we could get a prospect out of it too, you know?

Chris Iannetta status: DOOM
Seth Smith status: Badass
Matt Murton status: Prisoner Exchanged for CarGon
Mike McCoy status: FREE MIKE MCCOY

by Andrew Martin on Jun 26, 2009 9:49 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

good question

I have no idea what to expect. I worry a little about rumors of teams’ interest in relievers. It does seem like a common wishlist item at trade deadline time year after year, which could drive up the price. An extra bullpen arm would help. I don’t really see what else the Rockies would need, at least in terms of something they could trade for without making huge sacrifices. Even then, I suspect teams that are willing to give up a reliever will more likely be seeking prospects than ML players.

Free Seth Smith!

by FooMan on Jun 26, 2009 11:23 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Doubtful, IMO

I’ve said this before, so sorry if you’ve seen it before.

One thing about Saito is that he’s expensive. He has a OHudson type deal—low-ish base ($2.5M), but with playing time incentives where it could easily reach $6.5M (If he stays off the DL all year and makes 60 appearances, he gets $6.5; max is $7.5.)

The other thing that makes me skeptical is that I think a lot of teams will be looking for relievers. Right now, with a struggling Matsuzaka, and Penny and Smoltz coming off injuries, the Sox’ pen is really bailing out the rotation slots that aren’t making it deep into games. So I think the Sox will want to make sure that if they trade Saito, it’s for someone who will really help them.

Despite all the reported interest, I have a hard time believing the Sox see Spilly as that guy given the modest upgrade (at best) that he would provide over Baldelli and Kotsay.

Free Seth Smith!

by FooMan on Jun 26, 2009 11:19 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

I wouldn't trust anything the Red Sox said

see Kelley Soppach.

"I've had pretty good success with Stan Musial by throwing him my best pitch and backing up third." - Carl Erskine

by pedalpusher on Jun 26, 2009 11:53 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

And also don't forget about

Kelly Shoppach

by Roberbola on Jun 26, 2009 11:56 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Congratulations!!!

You move on to round two of the MLB Spelling Bee.

"I've had pretty good success with Stan Musial by throwing him my best pitch and backing up third." - Carl Erskine

by pedalpusher on Jun 26, 2009 12:05 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

All good points

I too find the Sox’ interest in Spilly to be odd.

Still, the one thing that sets apart the good from great teams the last few years is the presence of a devastating bullpen, and with a healthy Saito, rejuvinated Corpas, plus Street I think we’d really have something there.

by Roberbola on Jun 26, 2009 11:58 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

I just checked out

the WPA Inquirer tool. Mmmmmm…mathematical WPA…

"Admirably obsessive." - Uni Watch, March 24th, 2009
NA34 | HK | RMN

by oo_nrb on Jun 26, 2009 12:38 PM MDT reply actions 0 recs

Just a thought...

I might be totally off on this, but could Holliday’s huge drop in production be linked to his total lack of protection in the lineup for the light-hitting A’s? He has Giambi, but he’s not nearly what he used to be and the rest of the A’s lineup is…well. Not particularly productive. The Rockies had a horrible year last year, but at the very least they had good hitters around Holliday in the lineup, and of course it was the case in the years previously.

by Squeaky on Jun 26, 2009 4:49 PM MDT reply actions 0 recs