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The Colorado Rockies have acquired outfielder Drew Stubbs from the Cleveland Indians for left-handed pitcher Josh Outman, according to ColoradoRockies.com's Thomas Harding.
Roster Addition
The move makes a lot of sense to anyone who believes that adding Boone Logan made Josh Outman redundant in the bullpen and also to those in the camp that believe Brandon Barnes isn't ideal for the role he is best suited for on this team.
Acquiring Stubbs gives the Rockies a right-handed hitter with superb defensive skills and speed who hits left-handed pitching very well. His career OBP of .310 isn't especially exciting for a team that desperately needs a lead-off hitter. A closer look, however, shows that he may simply be a much better version of Barnes for the Rockies as his splits against lefties -- .361 OBP last year in his worst season -- and the fact that he has 3.6 and 2.2 fWAR seasons on his record (2010, 2011) gives him a higher ceiling of production.
He doesn't walk a lot (career 8.8% BB) and strikes out too much (career 29.3% K), but he has some pop (22 HRs in 2010) and if used properly can likely be a weapon for this team, especially as a defensive replacement and against lefties.
The move leaves the team with a bit of glut in the outfield and it's harder to see now how Brandon Barnes fits into this whole thing, which makes the Rockies' most perplexing move of the off-season (the trade of Dexter Fowler) even more of a head-scratcher.
Still, I think it's hard to argue that this move doesn't help the Rockies depth and flexibility.
My only concern initially was that moving Josh Outman left the Rockies with a less deep bullpen and I was happy with how the pen looked. I am happy to hear, conversely, that the Rockies have also made a move to re-acquire an old favorite (or at least an old Rockie) in Franklin Morales.
I think the two moves together go a long way toward improving the depth of this club and give the Rockies a solid B+ for the day.
Oh, and hopefully Purple Row will continue to churn out articles like "Boring" and "Rockies settling in for winter."
Be on the lookout soon for "There is NO WAY the Rockies make any more moves!"
