Monday Morning Rockpile: It is done.

CF-  I think this is the one luxury need we may entertain.  Willy is not the long term answer, but he was a pretty decent fill in for the time being.  Based on WARP, that factors in a players offense with his defense to give you a rough estimate of wins added to the team, Taveras was actually worth almost as much to the team in limited duty as Atkins was all season (3.5 wins to 3.2).  So if the Rockies are to actually improve on Taveras, it will be looking at a limited pool of possible replacements that actually represent improvement.  Possibly, if the Rockies were to handle their needs in the pen and rotation fairly cheaply, they may look to dip into free agency, though outside the big two, the other CFer's have plenty of warts.  Cameron's age and injury history are concerning, and Rowand is just as likely next year to have the more common bad year than replicate the one or two good years he's actually had, and he's not the linedrive hitter that could expect the biggest Coors bump.

The Rockies may sniff around, but I wouldn't expect any big change here.  Taveras is still a solid but unspectacular option, and I'm sure the development guys will push for O'Dowd to give Fowler a full look in AA before making any long term commitments at the position (or for that matter, Nelson as well, who won't stay at short, and may be waiting to see which position between 2nd and CF that will be open.)

SP-  I've long been on this bandwagon, but it shouldn't be at the expense of our elite, near ready prospects.  More specifically, Morales doesn't need to go anywhere.  Franklin is exactly the type of potential pitcher we hope to soon acquire, and he'll make the league minimum for the next three years.  He's not all the way there yet, but it wouldn't be out of the ordinary if he was pretty close to being that by next year's all-star break.  Maybe if you're talking Bedard I'd relent, but I just don't see it happening with any other available starter and Morales (Kazmir isn't available, but I get where you're going with that one).

Every other name you mention has to be moved this off-season, and here are some ideas:

-Koshansky to Texas for Benoit/Otsuka:  This one is part me and part malakian.  I've pushed for Benoit for a few weeks, and mal has put the appropriate trade return down.  Either Benoit or Otsuka could either take the eighth inning from a departed Fuentes, or share it with him as a right handed option.  Benoit was excellent in high leverage innings this year, and seems to be the type of guy the Rockies could count on to come through in big spots.  

-Barmes to Detroit for Jose Capellan/Yorman Bazardo:  Neither Capellan nor Bazardo are great shakes, but both are power relief "prospects" that could potentially be useful.  Bazardo has a power sinker that could work well as a middle inning damage control guy, and Capellan was actually one of Milwaukee's best relievers a year ago, and the stuff is all there.  The point here is that if you shotgun spray the bullpen with enough power types arms (Morillo, Bautista, Capellan/Bazardo), chances are you'll at least get one to stick.

-Sullivan to Florida for Miguel Olivo:  Sullivan represents some thing of a safety net for the Marlins should they not finally land the starter they would like.  He may not be enough to land Olivo, but let's say there is little market for Miguel, which is likely.  Olivo has proven to be a solid backstop that has the potential to control the running game.  He's not an ideal starting backstop, but he has roughly two years left under team control and carries about the same on field value as Torrealba.  Actually, Olivo has shown considerable pop for a catcher, and Coors could really play to his strengths.  Starting two games a week for Iannetta while always threatening to take a pitcher deep isn't a bad number two catcher.

-Jeff Baker to Washington for Felipe Lopez:  Baker could go any number of places because he has the most potential of this group.  I'd entertain this trade because Lopez has a history of filling in several infield positions while showing better offensive numbers in the past.  Coors Field could revitalize his offense and he would be a better long time fill in option at second than Carroll.  Lopez brings offensive potential, bench speed, and versatility

Deal Morales and two more A/B prospects for one year of Santana?

Just for some perspective, how would Santana have changed our lot in the World Series?  Would he have held the Red Sox to one run through nine to keep us in game one?  Possibly.  Let's say he does win game one, we're still down 3-1, and still looking at eventual defeat.  When they year would end, we'd lose Santana and have no Morales, Nelson, and Hynick to show for it.

I believe we need a starter, but not at the expense of our elite young, CHEAP guys, and not for a one year rental.

Now if we had a negotiating window and then a mutli-year deal, things would be different.

Ubaldo may well be a #1 starter.  Is he a legitimate #1 starter right now?  No.  Could he be down the road?  Yes.

Packing Jimenez or Morales with a couple of other prospects for a year of Santana is not a smart idea.  If the Rockies do that, and don't win in 2008, what then?  Surely Santana will be out of the Rockies' price range, unless he blows out his arm.

As for the Dodgers getting him -- well, first of all, a move to get Santana would necessitate trading away some of their young talent (like, say, Billingsley.)  I really don't see how the Dodgers could get Santana without giving him up, and they'd probably still have to throw in a James Loney or someone like that.  And if things were decided on talent alone, the Dodgers would have been the NL West champions this year.  Talent is why the Dodgers were widely picked to win the division; team chemistry (and, to a certain extent, injuries) were why they finished fourth.

He was most certainly exposed at the big league level, but I'm not ready to write him off that easily.

I'm willing to give him a winter to make some adjustments and see what happens.  Hopefully, he'll play winter ball (anyone know if he is?) and will get his confidence back.

And thank God for that.

Francis
Cook
Baldo
Hirsh
Fogg or other generic starter while Morales gets a little more AAA seasoning?

Sounds pretty good to me.

"I understand the disdain for Hawpe right now, but how are you going to replace a guy who is going to hit 25 HR and 100 RBI for at least the next 4-5 years?"

My feeling isn't based on the postseason, it's from watching him for a couple of years and consistently thinking "he's just not the player he really should be."  Kind of a gut thing -- he just underwhelms me, regardless of his numbers.

As for replacing those numbers, power hitting, run producing corner OF'ers aren't that rare a commodity.  The bigs are filled with the likes of Michael Cuddyer, Curtis Granderson, Corey Hart kind of guys.  Not saying those guys in particular are better than Hawpe, just that it's way easier to replace what Hawpe gives you than it would be to replace, say, Tulo.

This isn't really that big a thing for me.  If Hawpe's there in 2008, I can live with that.  Just see it as a position for a possible upgrade.

at least Steinbrenner understands the importance of winning and won't fire a manager over a silly disagreement.

Wait, this is the same guy who fired Billy Martin six times, right?  What am I saying?

Here's what has me nervous about Willy -- the BoSox played Lowell way in and took away the bunt as a weapon.  Without that, Tavares showed a complete inability to get on base.  Plus, he doesn't pull the ball, so he can't take advantage of the drawn in 3B.

Now, hopefully, his inability to get non-infield hits was a result of rust and injury.  But what if it wasn't?  

Obviously, everyone will take the cue from Boston and play their 3B 45 feet away next season.  If Tavares can't adjust, we're screwed.

I'm fine with brining him back, but there had better be a plan B.  And I'm not certain that's Spilly.

the "No Rowand Train."

Beyond the free agency bump that is a statistically supported phenomenon, Rowand isn't significantly much different than Ryan Spilborghs.  

For starters, Rowand can't hit hard stuff.  He gears up for the fastball which causes him to flail miserably at breaking stuff away.  Why does that matter much?  He's getting to the 30 year range where his lack of bat speed could become an even bigger concern.  

While he plays a very good centerfield, speed isn't one of his tools out there, so his range will decline much quicker as he leaves his 20's.  Besides, of the defensive tools, speed is the single most important one in Coors' centerfield.

Rowand's right for some but not this team.  I don't think he's ever going to be as good again as he was this year.

$21.3 million to be exact.  

Why, oh why, couldn't Hampton have opted out of his deal?  :)

Never underestimate Sabean's ability to be stupid.

a pretty thin list of starting pitchers. Not sure who on that list (apart from Garland and maybe Wolf) is an improvement over Fogg.  Even the younger guys like Gaudin don't do much for me.

If Willis comes cheap, he's an obvious candidate for change of scenery improvement. But enough teams will think that to end up driving his price up.

Yet more reasons to at least take a gander at JJ and Chacon.

As for other positions, Felipe Lopez is a little bit interesting if Matsui is priced too high.

I like Riske as a possible set up guy.

I like Jimmy Gobble only because it would be cool to have a guy named Jimmy Gobble.

In fact, he seems better suited for late and close than middle work.

You're welcome to come to Coors anytime.  The middle of next October may be just the time to do it.  :)

As i reflect upon it, I think the 21 out of 22 thing is probably what caused the Rox to come up empty in the WS.  It's like, in basketball, when one teams storms from 25 points down to make a game of it in the final minutes, but is so wiped out from the effort that they can't finish.

The Rox played with their backs agains the wall for so long that I really do think it just drained them.  Hopefully, next year they'll get off to a good start and not have to kill themselves down the stretch.