…yes. Again, after the Tulo and CarGo contracts the Rockies made a VERY public show about “taking care”of Jimenez. Mid-point during the season it became clear that he for 365 days he had not been the same pitcher. The choice was clear: trade Jimenez while his value was at its peak or be forced to trade him while the rest of MLB could simply bide their time and wait for him to hit the market (see Boston with A-Gon and the Yankees’ mis-played moves surrounding not trading for Cliff Lee) and receiving half the package they got in return or nothing at all. After the first half of this season, particularly in light with his performances at Coors stretching back, U-Ball was never going to throw a pitch for the Rockies in 2012. It doesn’t matter how many years he had left on his deal.

and Ubaldo’s performance this year, I would have called the management insane to sign Ubaldo to a deal like this.