Marcus Giles is gaining momentum as a candidate to be brought in to add to the second base muddle. In citing the interest in Marcus and pitcher Josh Towers, the Troy E. Renck article states that:
but believe me, by signing somebody like Giles the Rockies aren't trying to create anything as much as they're trying to eliminate risk as cheaply as possible. Giles and Josh Towers would be classic insurance signings, and while their MLB pedigrees might make East Coast types put to much into these moves -I suspect the team will get mocked for trying to turn the clock back to 2005- it would be wise for Rockies fans not to fall into that trap.
Giles, in particular -as long as he's not promised anything- would be a strong play for the Rockies at this point as he doesn't have nearly the downside of our other possibilities at the position, even if he lacks the upside potential of Nix, Stewart and Baker. Pretty much the worst we could expect is what he gave San Diego last season, plus a Coors Field boost. Towers seems like a AAA safety net, and that's a role he's well suited for right now and something the Rockies need given the uncertainty and unreliability of young pitching in general. The dream scenario for all involved, obviously, is that these two players can produce at the level they did three seasons ago, but we shouldn't anticipate it.
These moves actually make me kind of excited for another reason, as last season you might remember the team looked to guys pushing forty, or past it in Steve Finley's case, for this kind of bench help. Finley, John Mabry, Javy Lopez and Brian Lawrence were our big depth moves. This season, we got Kip Wells, we're going after Giles and Towers. All are much closer to their peaks, or further away from debilitating surgeries than the group we brought in last year. And after years of even worse stinkers to fill out our bench, I actually thought that bunch was okay.
"But Rox Girl," you say, "why don't we go after real upgrades at these positions like Brian Roberts or Erik Bedard?"
I'm going to get into that this afternoon in a separate post, I think it's interesting what the Rockies and other teams in the NL West are saying about their futures with the moves they've made or haven't made this winter, and it's not that terrible.