Octavio Dotel began the season with the Pittsburgh Pirates and recorded 21 saves for them. Then on July 31 the Pirates traded Dotel to the Los Angeles Dodgers for James McDonald and Andrew Lambo. Move ahead to Sept. 18 and the Rockies are in LA. Dotel walked from the home clubhouse to the visitors' one. The Rockies gave up a player to be named later in order to acquire Dotel's services for a playoff push.
The Rockies won that night and then only once more over the rest of the season. OK, so Dotel isn't to blame for the end-of-the-season collapse. He appeared in eight games and you can see the results above. Is there much else to write about Dotel's time with the Rockies?
Buster Olney reports, to no surprise at all, that the Rockies will not pick up Dotel's $4.5 million option for 2011.
2010 Grade: D/D+. Dotel's time with the Rockies can best be summed up in his Sept. 28 appearance against the Dodgers, for which he took the loss. It was the top of the eighth and the score was knotted at 6-6. Catcher A.J. Ellis doubled off Dotel to start the inning. Ching-lung Hu pinch ran for Ellis and stole third base. Rafael Furcal tripled on a 3-1 count to score Hu. Dotel stayed in for one more batter, a Ryan Theriot single. Matt Reynolds relieved Dotel and gave up a sac fly to score the inherited Furcal.