Tuesday Rockpile: Signing Day Success

I will not make a Spiderman reference today, but the Rockies did sign their top two picks from June's draft yesterday, inking Clemson's Kyle Parker and Dana Hill High School's Peter Tago.

Parker's contract negotiations were as convoluted and intriguing as they come.  He made it clear early on that he was serious about playing football at Clemson this fall if he was not bowled over by a large sum of money.  The Rockies' reportedly offered him about $2.25million, about double slot money, but that was not enough.  Yesterday, a source claimed the Parkers were asking for $3million.

And yet, when the deadline came, the Rockies had signed their outfielder for just $1.4million.  On one hand, that seems like a lot (it is $203k over slot) for a player was not in Keith Law's top 100 draft prospects, especially when considering he will be playing football this fall.  But then consider some of the contracts given out around the Rockies' 26th selection:

• No. 25 - Zack Cox, 3B - Cardinals:  $3.0million, or $1.715million over slot.
• No 28 - Zach Lee, RHP - Dodgers:  $5.25million, or $4.116million over slot.  I fully expected the Dodgers to punt this pick given the large bonus Lee was asking for to pass over his commitment to LSU's football program.  Yet the reportedly cash-strapped organization spent more than double what they did on 2006 7th overall pick Clayton Kershaw, who was the organization's record bonus until yesterday.  Lee will not play football.
• No. 44 - Nick Castellanos, IF - Tigers:  $3.45million, a record for a sandwich pick.  Many Rockies fans hoped this guy would be the Rockies' pick at 26.

Parker could conceivably play football through his senior year, but Carl Parker says contract states he would have to forfeit some cash.

In all, the Rockies seem to have acquitted themselves from risk quite well in reeling in their raw but powerful outfielder.  He would likely play in Asheville to start next year alongside current Ghosts Rafael Ortega and Corey Dickerson, quite a collection of intriguing talent.

Tago will report to rookie level Casper soon, though it is unclear yet whether they will use him in game action.  There has been no news regarding 11th rounder Hommy Rosado, so it appears he went unsigned.

As for the rest of the NL West:

• Arizona:  Did NOT sign 1st rounder (4th overall) RHP Barret Loux, which was not surprising.  They used the money allocated to Loux to sign RHP Blake Perry (6th round), RHP Tyler Green (8th) and OF Ty Linton (14th), each well over slot.  AZSnakePit reactions
• Los Angeles:  DID sign RHP Zach Lee, as discussed above.  TrueBlueLA reactions.
• San Diego:  Did NOT sign 1st rounder (9th overall) Karsten Whitson, which was surprising.  GasLampBall "reaction."
• San Francisco:  Signed 1st rounder (24th overall) OF Gary Brown to $1.45million bonus.  Signed 2nd rounder (74th overall) Jarrett Parker and 18 of their top 20 selections.  McCoveyChronicles' recations, I think.

Plan for Rox, D-backs' spring home unveiled | ColoradoRockies.com: News
HKS Sports and Entertainment group revealed plans for the facility, called Salt River Fields at Talking Stick.  Not quite as slick as "Hi Corbett Field."  To be  honest, I was saddened to see Hi Corbett go by the wayside, particularly due to its unique feature of proximity between fans and players.  However, player access doesn't seem to be completely forgotten in the construction of Salt River Fields.

Designers say Salt River Fields is a destination-driven environment focusing on fans connecting with players while creating a unique environment that embodies the character, values and culture of the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community.

Street certain vintage form is close | Inside the Colorado Rockies - Street is in a results oriented business, and he understands that.  Sometimes though, the results don't match the performance, and Huston believes now is one of those times:

"These last two days, the results look terrible on paper _ the number of baserunners, the number of runs scored, the loss, the blown save, blah, blah, blah. The truth to me is the ball is coming out of my hand the last three days better than it has all season long. I've made my pitches, and that's all I can really worry about." via Jack Etkin.

The Denver Post didn't really bring their A-stuff to the table yesterday/this morning, as Troy Renck points out that the Rockies need to rally to make the playoffs.  Meanwhile, as the Rockies head to Dodger Stadium for a six game road trip, Jim Armstrong advances the fallacy that the Rockies' rotation is the weakness (it ranks 5th in the NL in FIP, 4th in xFIP, and 1st in Fangraphs' value).  While it has been less successful than last season, a great part of that is due to four starters landing on the disabled list.  Oh, and run support on the road.  With Cook and Francis on the DL, we do need Jhoulys Chacin and Esmil Rogers to step up though.  Chacin will get his second chance to beat Clayton Kershaw.  Still no news on who will be heading out of the clubhouse to make room for Chacin, but it won't be Eric Young Jr.

Source: Rockies place Hawpe on waivers - The Denver Post - We beat this to death yesterday, but one line in this story is interesting:  whether he has an inside source or a different hunch, Renck implies that it he would not be surprised to see the Rockies let Hawpe go on a waiver claim without a trade, yielding only about $2million in salary relief.

Twitter / Craig Baker: According to Craig Baker's twitterfeed, AA Tulsa's strength coach has been named Texas League Strength Coach of the Year.

And two stat-lines that you just knew were ugly.

Both need to pick it up, because having a black hole at the bottom of the lineup is suicide on the road.  Of course, Chris Iannetta and Dexter Fowler (indirectly through Eric Young Jr.) could solve this problem.