TUCSON, Ariz.—The Colorado Rockies gave catcher Chris Iannetta financial security. Now they hope he can acquire peace of mind and reach his potential.
“I want to see this young man realize how good he is. It’s a goal of mine,” manager Jim Tracy said.
After hitting .228 in 93 games last year with 16 home runs and 52 RBIs, Iannetta, who was eligible for arbitration for the first time, signed a three-year, $8.35 million contract. The deal includes a $5 million club option for 2013, the first year Iannetta could become a free agent.
General manager Dan O’Dowd downplayed the importance of cost certainty from the team’s standpoint.
“It had more to do with trying to take one less thing off of his plate,” O’Dowd said. “We just want him to relax and go play the game.”
Iannetta began 2009 as the Rockies’ regular catcher. He lost that job in August to Yorvit Torrealba and from Sept. 1 through the end of the regular season had a mere 20 at-bats.
Torrealba, a free agent, signed with San Diego. To replace him, the Rockies signed catcher Miguel Olivo to a one-year, $2.5 million contract. He will compete with Iannetta, whom the Rockies ultimately expect will emerge as a topflight catcher on offense and defense and will leave spring training as the clear starter.
Iannetta, who turns 27 on April 8, was “a little surprised” when the Rockies offered a multiyear contract, but thinks the club made a wise decision.
“They know I put a lot of pressure on myself,” Iannetta said, adding that now when he goes into a slump he might “not panic, not press as much. I know I’m going to be with the team the next three years, barring a trade or injury or something like that.”
Iannetta said a mechanical adjustment he made when not playing in August had a positive effect that has carried over to spring training. At the suggestion of first base coach Glenallen Hill, Iannetta incorporated a toe-tap and simultaneously dropped his hands.
“From that point, all I did was see the ball,” Iannetta said. “Naturally my hands would come back up without thinking about it. I would stride without thinking about it. And it made an immediate difference.”
The first time Iannetta used that approach in a game was Aug. 26 against Los Angeles, and he drove a curveball from Dodgers left-hander Randy to left-center for a double.
Iannetta worried about being demoted to Triple-A in August last year, something O’Dowd said “wasn’t even a thought.”
The club’s thinking, on the contrary, is that in Iannetta, it has a very valuable commodity at catcher.
“It’s a premium position,” O’Dowd said. “He’s got all the talent in the world on both sides of the ball for that position. It’s just about us being patient and him believing in himself.”
