Denver Post sports writer Troy E. Renck posts his Rockies Mailbag every other week on Tuesdays during the 2005 Major League Baseball season. The next installment is slated for Aug. 23.
To drop a Rockies or Major League Baseball question into the Mailbag or visit DenverPost.com’s .
I’m a diehard Mets fan – I’m a N.Y. transplant – and I’m baffled as to how the Rockies are making my team look like a AA one. Even the most hardcore MLB fans have NEVER heard of 90 percent of the current Rockies. They traded Preston Wilson. Todd Helton is hurt. And they’ve picked up castoff relievers like Dan Miceli and Mike DeJean off the scrap heap. So how are the Rockies doing it?
— Gil, San Diego
Gil – The Rockies have committed to a full-blown youth movement, which has created anonymity among casual fans. Without Helton in the lineup, the team lacks a star player. The goal remains to identify a few core players from this season and plug some minor holes with modest free agents. The keepers, from everything I can ascertain, are Clint Barmes, Matt Holliday and Jeff Francis.
As I have said repeatedly, the key to the Rockies not plunging into the vicious cycle plaguing the Pirates, Royals, etc., is for some of their young kids to become impact players. Those select few must be kept or there will a broken trust with fans who have bought into “Todd and The Toddlers.”
Hi, Troy. When will the Rockies decide to keep some players and build around them. All week we read Rockies general manager Dan O’Dowd is going to give Eric Byrnes a chance in center field, and then two days later they trade him. For what? Someone who is way cheaper.
— Michael Perry, Longmont, Colo.
Michael – Just as Eric Byrnes waved hello, he said goodbye. I wasn’t surprised by this move. When the Rockies acquired Byrnes, I wrote that it was worth watching since they might spin him to another team. Most interesting about Byrnes was how quickly the pendulum swung. When acquired, he was an exciting player with boundless energy – the traits that attracted the Byrnes Boys to follow him around the country.
A week into his stay, the dynamic changed, which I felt it would since he didn’t make sense given their payroll constraints. If he wasn’t going to be their starting center fielder next year, unlikely with Jeff Salazar and Cory Sullivan in the mix, there was no way they were going to play him $3 million.
It’s fair to be frustrated with the move, particularly since the Rockies didn’t get catcher Kelly Shoppach for outfielder Larry Bigbie. The success of this move will be determined, ultimately, by what kind of players Sullivan and Salazar are.
Two grade-C prospects for a young, league-average starting pitcher? Is that the best the Rockies could do? You’d think the pitching-starved Yankees would be the desperate team. Instead it was the Rockies who caved, accepting a deal they’d previously rejected. Colorado wanted to “get something” for Shawn Chacon before he left; I’m not even sure they did that.
— Greg, Boulder, Colo.
Greg – While the Rockies were placed in an embarrassing predicament when the Kelly Shoppach deal failed, the Chacon trade was a push. The situation with Chacon is simple: Other teams like him, but none ever wanted to give up much for him. Remember, he had won just two of his last 21 decisions with the Rockies. Yes, he was the victim of poor run support. However, that’s tough to sell in a trade.
Whether the prospects turn out is anybody’s guess. The kids have live arms with control issues, which must be addressed to succeed at Coors Field. The reality is this: If Chacon isn’t traded, he would have been non-tendered this winter, meaning the Rockies would have lost him for nothing.
Whether they got enough will crystallize over the next few years.
Take a guess at who will win the NL wild card?
— T.G., Denver
T.G. – The operative word is “guess.” My gut is screaming Astros – though I might be misinterpreting it considering the amount of hot sauce I ingested yesterday. Houston is hard not to like because of its top three pitchers: Roger Clemens, Roy Oswalt and Andy Pettitte. Clemens has a real shot at the Cy Young – heck he’s allowed just three earned runs on the road this season. That’s insane.
Washington is finished. Not enough offense with Vinny Castilla hobbling on one leg. And Florida has been wildly inconsistent. The Marlins’ pitching suggests that they have one more run in them. But as Juan Pierre told me Monday, they have to get back to Marlins baseball – playing small, pitching well. Pierre and Luis Castillo, catalytic forces in the lineups, haven’t caused as much havoc this year.
What’s the deal with Byung-Hyun Kim? I just read that the Rockies consider him a part of their young core. I thought this was the last year of his $7 million contract. How long and for how much do we have him?
— Jason, Parker, Colo.
Jason – The Rockies are paying Kim just above the major league minimum as part of the complicated Charles Johnson trade. He will be a free agent at season’s end, and the Rockies would like to bring him back, price willing. If they could get him at $1.5 million, that would fit into their budget and provide a young and experienced starter. Obviously, they aren’t going to overspend for him. The other factor is whether Kim would come back.
He was essentially cut twice this season. Will he hold that against the team? He told me the other day he’s growing more comfortable in Colorado, which leads me to believe he will listen to club’s offers. The Rockies are one of the few certain teams to give him a shot in the rotation.
As a former Colorado Springs resident, I remember the excitement I felt when the Rockies first came to Denver. The “Blake Street Bombers,” Don Baylor and the overflow crowds showed the baseball world that Denver was ready for MLB. Then management contracted a case of terminal stupidity – large contracts to bad pitchers that sent the win-loss ratio into a death spiral – and killed attendance and the budget in the process. Now they’ve officially got the worst record in baseball and seem destined to stay there if something drastic isn’t done. Is new ownership the only answer?
— Hal Heiberg, New York City (unfortunately)
Hal – The Rockies made poor decisions that left them trapped, stuck in a sea of bad contracts. They bought at the height of the market, then watched it collapse. That’s why, they reason, they have gone with kids. It creates cost certainty and theoretically allows players to stick around longer. Anyone can go young. Going young and getting good is the hard part.
If Matt Holliday and Brad Hawpe become 25-HR hitters, and if Clint Barmes, Troy Tulowitzki and Ian Stewart blossom into infield mashers, there’s real hope. Again, the Rockies have proven they can fill out a roster with kids. Now they need some of the kids to develop into steady contributors.
What happened to Carlos Beltran this season? Does it have anything to do with Shea Stadium or the New York pressure?
— Mark, Highlands Ranch, Colo.
Mark – Historically high-profile players have struggled in their first seasons in New York. The little time I have been around Beltran, I am sure it’s been an incredible adjustment. He lived in the shadows in Kansas City and Houston, one-paper cities. I think he has pressed to make good on his contract. I am also suspicious on how much his leg injury has bothered him. He isn’t even a threat on the bases this year after influencing games with his speed last season.
If he has these same numbers at this time next season, it’s time to worry. But again, he isn’t the first to have a New York hiccup. Just in recent years, Roger Clemens and Alex Rodriguez struggled with the change, though the Yankees are obviously a different animal than the Mets.
Who do you think are possible candidates for a September call-up? Thanks!
— James, Westminster, Colo.
James – The Rockies already ran out of minutes on their Friends and Family Plan, so there won’t be any calls to Colorado Springs. Seriously, there aren’t many players left to be called up. Candidates include outfielder Choo Freeman and infielder Jeff Baker.
Are the Rockies going to give up on Jeff Baker? He seems to be injured every season. He has been injured twice this season and, I think, recently broke his hand? He was and still is labeled as a top prospect, but are they wasting their time waiting for him to become healthy? Thanks!
— Jim, Highlands Ranch, Colo.
Jim. They haven’t given up on Baker, but his future has become clouded by injuries. For whatever reason, he can’t stay healthy, the endless victim of weird maladies. I originally thought that Baker would compete with Atkins or Stewart for the third base job next spring. I am amending that prediction. At this point, the best way for Baker to make the roster might be as a utility player – splitting time between third, second and right field.
Again, that’s all dependent on Baker staying healthy. I wouldn’t mind seeing him play some winter league ball as a tuneup for spring training.
Denver Post sports writer Troy E. Renck is in his 10th season of covering the Colorado Rockies, his fourth for The Denver Post. To drop a question into his Mailbag or visit DenverPost.com’s .
