Sunday Rockpile: O'Dowd: Ubaldo Jimenez requires a Herschel Walker type of deal

There still seems to be some confusion among fans of the Rockies and those of the MLB about whether Ubaldo Jimenez might be dealt this summer, so Troy Renck tries to clarify the situation. The answer in a sensible world would be no. No team in their right minds would offer the kind of package that the Rockies would seek for their staff ace by the deadline. However, playoff chases make teams lose their right minds, and the Yankees have enough money that they don't really need prospects anyway. It's not going to be a sensible deal that moves Ubaldo, the Rockies are under no onus to deal, they can easily afford to keep Jimenez for the next three seasons.  Dan O'Dowd says it would take a Herschel Walker trade, the better recent baseball examples would probably be what the Diamondbacks gave up for Dan Haren a few seasons ago (CarGo, Brett Anderson and Greg Smith and then more) or the Expos for Bartolo Colon (Cliff Lee, Brandon Phillips, Grady Sizemore and Lee Stevens.)

The Yankees probably make the most sense, of a team that would be able to go out on that kind of limb and not blink so long as their media wing doesn't blow their chances with bad-mouthing idiocy, but the Tigers, with owner MIke Illitch being single minded at times in pursuit of championships for both his baseball and hockey teams, also could become a player. The Cardinals have a need, and they have the prospects/personnel to get this kind of deal done (Shelby Miller and Carlos Martinez are both aces in the making) but they haven't really shown the level of risk taking required for this sort of trade in the past. The Reds have quite a bit of minor league position talent, but a lack of top quality available arms might kill their chances. 

Ian Stewart is trying to repay Jim Tracy for his manager's confidence, and so far since his return to the lineup has been doing just fine. While the two K's last night were a bit disconcerting the triple that led to the Rockies first run and follow-up hit made up for it.

Troy Tulowitzki's glove has been also playing a part in what success the Rockies have had since the break. Tulowitzki has been the most valuable shortstop and fifth most valuable player in baseball according to UZR.

While he's certainly cooled off since the All Star break, Mark Ellis has been refreshed by the trade that sent him to Denver from Oakland. The Rapid City Journal provides the first in depth look at what the trade has meant to the second baseman.

One of the Reds top prospects, center fielder Yorman Rodriguez, recently needed an attitude intervention at the low A level because the organization felt he wasn't playing hard, taking lazy routes and respecting the game that gave him a huge signing bonus and opportunity. I bring this up not to disrespect to Rodriguez, who still might turn out to be a great MLB player, as there were similar concerns with Carlos Gonzalez at that age and level and Gonzalez has turned out just fine, thank you, but more as a foil and credit to Rockies shortstop prospect Rosell Herrera, who's already playing the game the right way and not taking anything for granted. It's nice not having to worry.