Thursday Rockpile: Rockies still looking to add MLB talent, not to shed salary

And believe it or not, that might not be a terrible thing, even if Colorado should no longer look to be a contending team in 2011.  Troy Renck writes that the Rockies will continue to pursue starting pitching, and may look to add another bat in the coming weeks. Renck suggests that the Rockies won't go too far out on a limb in salary to add any piece, aren't looking for rentals (which is why this isn't a bad idea) and have no need to shed salary for the season, even if the on field situation continues to head south.

The issue with the rotation will need a solution between now and next April if we're talking about the 2012 season, it will need a solution very rapidly for 2011, and I really have doubts that Greg Reynolds is it. The question will be whether a quality SP will be more affordable in trade now (when teams might be shedding salary to rebuild) or later during the off season (when teams tend to hoard arms as much as possible.) As you can see with the way I just framed that, I don't necessarily think it's wise to wait if the Rockies feel that the trade route is the best way to fill this particular hole. The three major starting pitching trades of last off season, Shaun Marcum and Zack Greinke to the Brewers, and the Matt Garza trade to the Cubs, all took a considerable toll on the acquiring team's farm systems.

Meanwhile, in-season trades for starters in 2010 did not look so bad at the time of the trade relatively. That the Diamondbacks have made out like bandits in their deals for Dan Haren and Edwin Jackson (okay, not so much this one, it was a pretty bad trade by the White Sox at the time as well) has been largely a 2011 development that wasn't foreseen by many prospect watchers.

I guess what I'm saying here is that it's not necessarily true that the best value will come in the off season, and that Dan O'Dowd and his team should be looking to strike if needed right now, particularly if it could help what little hope of coming back during the 2011 season remains.  

More notes from the Denver Post

Jeff Francis did a Q and A mailbag there.

Todd Helton finds out today if he won the final vote among MLB fans for the last NL All-Star spot.