About the Tulo deal:
- Similarly to the Aaron Cook deal, it's not necessarily a bargain. Looking at arbi-buyout contracts given out to young shortstops over the last few seasons (e.g. Jose Reyes, Johnny Peralta, Jack Wilson) shows that it's easily at the high end of them.
- That certainly doesn't mean it's a bad deal for the Rockies, however, as Tulo's potential is still quite high. Looking over the comments at a couple of the Internet's more thoughtful baseball message boards shows that the consensus seems to be that the Rockies did well in this move.
- For Rockies fans, especially the die-hard cynics as well as the casual fair-weather types that weren't paying close attention until late last season, this move -along with Cook's deal- quiets fears that the team will become a farm to big-market clubs. It remains to be seen how much good comes of this aspect to the franchise's ticket base, but considering the state the fanbase was in last May, the role these deals have in the turnaround shouldn't be overlooked. What's more, should the team decide it's in its best interest to trade away say Brian Fuentes or Garrett Atkins for unproven players or prospects, the backlash won't be nearly as fierce. I really like this part of the deal from a preemptive marketing standpoint. The team doesn't have to worry about damage control (as happened with the Jennings trade) as it's already bought and stored some added trust among the faithful.