Sorry for all the posts today, but there's been a bit of news.
Chris Carpenter wins the NL Cy Young, although I'll let the rest of the internet community parse over why these awards frequently miss the boat, as they seem to have done here. Carpenter and Colon were both very good pitchers this season, they just weren't the best in their leagues.
Nope, this is a Rockies blog, so we'll instead talk trade: Ryan Shealy for Josh Bard? That's not really a square deal in my book, but apparently the Indians are interested in our spare first-baseman/hopeful outfielder as well as some other unspecified teams. According to the article there has even been mild interest in Aaron Miles. Also a note on the price range and length of contract Elmer Dessens is looking for. With other teams apparently interested, he might get close to what he's looking for, but whether it's the Rockies who give it to him remains to be seen. At 2.75 million for two years, he's kind of pushing it whether I think he's still worth it or not.
The interesting proposition at the end is the AAA free agency idea put forward by the Braves. The idea of a developmental league where all the teams pick from the non-protected players would result in fewer of the minor trades you see during the season, and I imagine there would be other ramifications as well.
One minor league note from the article regards the uncertainty still surrounding Ian Stewart's wrist. I'm sure I'm with most Rockies fans in hoping his agent is right about it just being a relatively harmless cyst.
Finally, in another note, I want to mention that despite reading (and reporting here) that Marcos Carvajal was going to be starting last week for Caracas, all the game reports I have seen still show him pitching in relief. Franklin Morales is still getting starts, however, and his fairly strong performances against the more advanced competition (compared to low A Asheville, the winter leagues draw up to MLB caliber players) that he's facing there has me tryng to guard my enthusiasm that his 2006 season will be huge. Will he be able to advance all the way to Denver by the end of the year? I wouldn't have thought it as likely a couple of months ago as I do now. While I still think it's an outside shot, I see it now as more a half court shot than say a three quarter court prayer.