Give them this much: The Rockies are trying to act like contenders.
And here’s a surprise: They’re more willing to spend money than players to do it.
At the nonwaiver trade deadline, they picked up Rafael Betancourt and Joe Beimel to fortify a struggling bullpen. At the waiver-trade deadline, they added Jose Contreras, a durable but sketchy starter, to fill in for the injured Aaron Cook.
They could have done better, assuming you like Jon Garland’s (NL) 4.29 ERA better than Contreras’ (AL) 5.42, but once again the Rockies declined to surrender a top pitching prospect.
“We had interest in both players,” general manager Dan O’Dowd said Tuesday. “We had a pretty spirited debate in-house which guy would help us more. Garland was obviously pitching a lot better in the month of August. But there was some sentiment for the style of pitcher Contreras is, and changing leagues.
“We had conversations with both clubs all the way up to right before the deadline (Monday night). We felt like the Diamondbacks wanted a particular player from us that we just weren’t comfortable giving up.”
So the Dodgers ended up with Garland, agreeing to give up a prospect not yet named publicly, and the Rockies dealt Triple-A starter Brandon Hynick, who did not project as a major-league starter, to the White Sox for Contreras.
If you believe , the Diamondbacks agreed to pick up everything Garland is owed — $3.7 million, including next year’s buyout — to get the Dodgers’ prospect they wanted. The Rockies agreed to pick up $800,000 of the $1.9 million remaining on Contreras’ contract but surrendered only a midlevel prospect.
I don’t know if either of the Monfort brothers has ever made a single $800,000 bet in Las Vegas, but that’s what they just did here. If Contreras pitches the way he did his last time out for the White Sox, giving up eight runs (six earned) to the Yankees in 3 1/3 innings, that’s 800 large down the drain.
But if he gives the Rocks some decent innings until Cook comes back and they win the wild-card race, it will seem like a small price to pay for a second trip to the postseason in three years.
“I think between the two pitchers, (Garland) is probably the safer gamble,” O’Dowd said. “I think the guy we got is probably the more impactful one. I think he’s coming with more baggage, right now anyway, than the one going to the Dodgers.”
The Rocks did considerable research on Contreras, including sending O’Dowd confidant Marcel Lachemann to watch him pitch. They believe he has mechanical and confidence issues that could benefit from a change of scenery.
The Dodgers also picked up Jim Thome, a move O’Dowd equated with the Rockies picking up Jason Giambi, who was called up Tuesday.
So the Rocks are trying to keep up, if not so much with the Dodgers, then with the Giants, who added Brad Penny, a pitcher the Rockies declined to pursue.
Of course, the Contreras gamble won’t matter if the Rocks don’t get back to playing the way they played earlier this summer. O’Dowd had a long list of fundamental breakdowns to discuss with manager Jim Tracy on the flight home from San Francisco on Sunday night. His message was simple: Get back to basics.
The Contreras trade tells you that O’Dowd does not believe his most advanced minor-league pitching prospects — Esmil Rogers, Jhoulys Chacin and Samuel Deduno, the Texas League pitcher of the year — are ready. O’Dowd had hoped top 2006 draft pick Greg Reynolds and Greg Smith, obtained with Huston Street and Carlos Gonzalez in the Matt Holliday trade, would be this year’s reinforcements. Unfortunately, both were injured most of the year.
“This year we just got caught short,” O’Dowd said. “And I don’t think we traded anything of impact that’s going to come back to bite us except maybe Connor Graham (for Betancourt). But we wouldn’t have any chance to win if we hadn’t gotten Betancourt.”
Homegrown talent is the Rockies’ foundation. They aren’t used to needing expensive spare parts late in the season. It turns out they’re willing to spend one kind of currency — $2.5 million for partial seasons from Betancourt, Beimel and Contreras — but not another. Their top-tier prospects are staying put.
“We’re always going to be an organization that has to feed its impact players through its system,” O’Dowd said. “So you balance the short- and the long-term in every decision that you make.”
Which is how you end up placing an $800,000 bet on a 37-year-old Cuban right-hander. And crossing your fingers for luck.
Dave Krieger: 303-954-5297 or dkrieger@denverpost.com
