Our final road stop on the National League West offseason review tour brings us to the San Diego Padres. Here is a look at the offseason for the rivals down south, where the Dodgers will open their regular season on April 5.

Five Questions

1) Who 'won' the Mat Latos trade?

At first glance, it seems like the Padres got the better end of the deal just by sheer volume, as they got catcher Yasmani Grandal, first baseman Yonder Alonso, starting pitcher Edinson Volquez, and right-handed pitcher Brad Boxberger from the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for their ace.

The Padres picked up three of the Reds' top 10 prospects (per Baseball America) and two top-100 guys in Alonso and Grandal. Restocking the farm system with deals like these helped Keith Law of ESPN rank the Padres' farm system as the best in MLB.

But what San Diego gave up is a pitcher who just turned 24 with 31 starts in each of the last two seasons and a strikeout-to-walk ratio of better than three-to-one. Latos isn't even eligible for salary arbitration until next season.

It seems both teams got what they wanted out of the transaction, as Cincinnati got a cost-controlled front-of-the-rotation starter during their current window of contention in the National League Central, while San Diego added to the foundation of a team that could be pretty good in a year or two.

2) Will Carlos Quentin be healthy enough to matter for the Padres?

The outfielder was one of the favorites for the American League MVP while with the Chicago White Sox in 2008 before missing the final month of the season. In the three years since, Quentin has been a productive hitter, hitting .245/.336/.479 for Chicago, but he has averaged just 116 games per season during the last three campaigns, never playing in more than 131 games in a season during his career.

But the Padres gave up only a pair of lightly regarded pitchers to nab Quentin from the White Sox, so there is minimal risk for San Diego, outside his $7 million salary. San Diego is banking on Quentin hitting well enough and staying healthy enough to either help them somehow contend or to increase his trade value come June or July.

Maybe to stay healthy, Quentin could stop getting hit by so many pitches. Over the last four seasons, Quentin has been plunked 78 times, second most in MLB (behind Chase Utley's 83) and 26 more than the third-most HBP during that span.

Trivial Padres Fact:
Other than four career games at designated hitter, Orlando Hudson has never played any other position but second base in his 10 years in the big leagues.

3) How will Mike Adams continue to help the Padres, even though he's in Texas?

The Padres picked up Adams nine days before his 28th birthday in 2006, for pitcher Brian Sikorski. In 2008 Adams became a fixture in the San Diego bullpen, and for three and a half years was awesome, with a 1.66 ERA, 241 strikeouts and 59 walks in 217 innings.

But the Padres sent Adams to the Texas Rangers at the trade deadline last year, picking up left-handed pitcher Robbie Erlin and right-hander Joseph Weiland. Erlin put up a 3.50 ERA with a strikeout per inning in 17 games at Double A last year at age 20, while Weiland had a 1.80 ERA in 12 Double A starts with 54 strikeouts in 70 innings, at age 21.

Both pitchers will be in the San Diego starting rotation sooner rather than later, and Corey Brock of MLB.com speculated that at least Weiland, if not both, will end 2012 starting games at Petco Park.

4) How much will it cost to go see the Dodgers play at Petco Park?

That could depend on several factors.

The Padres have partnered up with Texas software company Qcue to offer dynamic ticket pricing this season for single-game tickets. "By using advanced computer programming, dynamic pricing will give the team the ability to adjust ticket costs higher or lower based on market demand and such factors as pitching matchups, the team's performance, weather and potential milestones," wrote Corey Brock of MLB.com.

Dynamic ticket pricing is also being implemented in St. Louis, San Francisco, Oakland, Minnesota, Seattle, and Pittsburgh in MLB this season.

5) What about Micah Owings?

I'm glad you asked. The Padres signed the former Diamondbacks pitcher/hitter to a $1 million contract, and Owings is expected to compete for a spot in the starting rotation. He will also get a chance to improve on his standing as the 27th-highest active slugging percentage (.507) among all major leaguers with at least 200 career plate appearances.

Offseason Moves

In addition to the $500,000 sent to San Diego in the trade for Street, Colorado is on the hook for the $500,000 buyout should the Padres decide to decline the closer's $9 million club option for 2013.

The Padres had a whopping 12 players eligible for salary arbitration, and got them all signed by the end of January. San Diego also signed pitcher Jeff Suppan and outfielder Jeremy Hermida, among others, to minor-league contracts.

Continue reading this post »

Our next stop in our tour of the National League West brings us to the Colorado Rockies. Here is a look at the offseason for the Dodgers' mile high foes, who were extremely busy during the winter.

Five Questions

1) When will Jorge De La Rosa be back?

Likely some time in early June.

The southpaw who was a key cog for the 92-win playoff team in 2009, with 193 strikeouts and 16 wins in 32 starts, has made just 30 combined starts in the last two seasons. He underwent Tommy John surgery last season and is on a strict rehab program that has him throwing only bullpen sessions now.

The Rockies are trying to harness the competitiveness in De La Rosa that caused him to downplay an arm injury for a whopping eight starts before he was finally shut down in late May.

"It was real cold that day in Pittsburgh, and I felt something in my arm," De La Rosa told Thomas Harding of MLB.com last week. "I said it was a blister and they took me out of the game. I told them I would be OK. But I was not. It was weakness. The next day, I felt pain when I woke up."

Harding reported that the Rockies don't expect De La Rosa to throw a pitch for the major league team until late May or early June, which is about two months earlier than the Dodgers are expected to get their De La Rosa back from Tommy John surgery, knock on wood.

2) Was Marco Scutaro the steal of the offseason?

As much as a 36-year old making $6 million can be, sure. Scutaro is a shortstop by trade, but the Boston Red Sox felt the need to shed salary (not a phrase heard often in the last decade or so) and the Rockies were more than happy to oblige. To complete the trade Colorado sent fungible pitcher Clayton Mortensen to Boston, leaving Clayton Kershaw one player away from ridding the National League West of his namesakes.

Scutaro, who has accumulated between 12.7 (FanGraphs) and 13.3 (Baseball-Reference) wins above replacement over the last four seasons, will play second base for the Rockies. He hit .299/.358/.423 in 113 games for the Red Sox last season, and has a .350 on-base percentage since turning 30, averaging 54 walks per season for the last six campaigns.

Depressing Rockies Stat:
Jason Giambi had more home runs (13) in 2011 than James Loney (12) and Andre Ethier (11), in about a quarter of the plate appearances.

3) Will Kevin Slowey put a framed Colorado Rockies jersey in his game room?

I can still remember being flabbergasted when learning that Reggie Jackson played a single season for the Baltimore Orioles, and envision a similar fate for someone 20 years from now when they ask, "Wait, Kevin Slowey was a Rockie?"

Slowey's time with the organization was just 45 days, but a cursory glance at his Baseball-Reference page will be confusing as he never threw a pitch for the Rockies. Colorado traded pitcher Daniel Turpen to Minnesota on December 6 for the arbitration-eligible Slowey, who was a candidate to be non-tendered by the Twins. Then on January 20, perhaps after wondering how badly a homer-prone fly ball pitcher might fare at Coors Field, the Rockies pounced on Cleveland's need to replace the former Fausto Carmona and dealt Slowey and $1.25 million to the Indians for Zach Putnam, a 24-year old reliever with nearly a strikeout per inning in his minor league career.

4) Am I rooting for Jamie Moyer to make the Rockies in spring training?

Absolutely!

There are few things in baseball that would please me more than a 50-year old pitcher, and Moyer's chances of pitching at 50, in 2013, would be greatly enhanced by him pitching and pitching well in 2012 at age 49. I was in attendance at Petco Park in April 2006 when 47-year old Julio Franco broke a nearly 76-year old record to become the oldest player in MLB history to hit a home run, and I was wondering why people in my section didn't know who Jack Quinn was. Moyer won't be setting any records, but the milestone is still cool enough to strive for.

Moyer, who began his career when Tommy John was still an active major league pitcher, hasn't pitched in a big league game since June 2010 after having Tommy John surgery himself nearly two years ago.

I simply want to continue to watch a pitcher who had Davey Lopes and Ron Cey as his starting third basemen in his first and second big league games, respectively.

5) Will the Rockies need to wear name tags during spring training?

General manager Dan O'Dowd was a busy man this offseason, making 10 trades involving at least one major league player since the season ended. As noted yesterday by Andrew T. Fisher at Purple Row, a whopping 15 of the 25 players (60%) on the Rockies' 2011 opening day roster are already gone, including four-fifths of the starting rotation (well, until they get De La Rosa back at least) and eight of 12 pitchers.

In case you were wondering, 11 of the opening-day 25 for the 2011 Dodgers are no longer with the team.

Offseason Moves

Scutaro was a salary dump by Boston that Colorado was more than happy to pounce upon, but that was just won of a slew of trades by Colorado during the offseason...so far.

Colorado also signed pitcher Jamie Moyer and infielder Brandon Wood, among others, to minor-league contracts.

Continue reading this post »

Our offseason tour around the National League West brings us to the hated ones, a look at the San Francisco Giants. Here is a look at the offseason for the Dodgers' heated rivals.

Five Questions

1) Where, and how much will Brandon Belt play?

Belt was ranked the 23rd best prospect in MLB by Baseball America coming into the 2011 season, and even made the opening day roster for the Giants last season. But he didn't get a ton of playing time with the Giants, and hit .225/.306/.412 in 209 plate appearances and was optioned to Triple A three times last year.

This year, Aubrey Huff is set to make $10 million in the final year of his contract and could get a lot of time at first base. Manager Bruce Bochy said last week that his likely starting outfield would be Melky Cabrera, Angel Pagan, and Nate Schierholtz, though both Huff and Belt could see time in the outfield as well, per John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle.

Belt started 18 games at first base for the Giants last year, made 16 starts in left field, and one more in right field.

2) Will Madison Bumgarner eventually get a perm and announce Braves games?

Bumgarner quietly had a pretty great season in 2011. He was 13-13 and his 3.21 ERA ranked fourth on his own team, but his peripheral numbers were outstanding. He was fourth in the National League with a 2.67 FIP and sixth in the NL with a 3.10 expected-FIP. And the southpaw was just 21 years old.

With 46 walks and 191 strikeouts, Bumgarner is one of just three pitchers since 1901 at age 21 or younger to have a strikeout-to-walk ratio of at least 4-to-1 while qualifying for the ERA title, joining Bret Saberhagen (1985) and Don Sutton (1966).

Comforting Thought About The Giants:
Barry Zito still has $46 million remaining on his contract.

3) Is Buster Posey fully recovered?

The Giants sure hope so.

Posey, the 2010 National League Rookie of the Year, tore three ankle ligaments and broke his leg in a violent home plate collision with Scott Cousins of the Florida Marlins on May 25, 2011, is not yet 100% but hopes to be ready and fully healthy by opening day. To protect Posey and to keep his bat in the lineup, he might even play first base once a week or more.

"The work's been done," Giants general manager Brian Sabean told Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News last week. "(Trainer Dave) Groeschner has been pleased with where they are. But we'll be very conscious and diligent about what his schedule will be gamewise. At the finish line is to get him ready to be the opening-day catcher and then to figure from there how many games he can catch."

After Posey got hurt last year, the Giants' catching trio of Eli Whiteside, Chris Stewart, and Hector Sanchez combined to hit .199/.268/.298 with 15 doubles and six home runs in 114 games (plus one inning).

4) Did The Panda add muscle or fat?

Pablo Sandoval rebounded from a subpar 2010 by hitting .315/.357/.552 with 23 home runs in 117 games last year, and parlayed that into a three-year, $17.15 million contract that bought out his salary arbitration years and could potentially be a steal for the Giants. After losing 40 pounds before last season to show up at 240 pounds, the Panda showed up to Fan Fest last week somewhere in the neighborhood of 250 pounds.

"Manager Bruce Bochy observed at FanFest that Sandoval needed to shed a few pounds before Spring Training opens. The Giants' initial full-squad workout is scheduled for Feb. 24. Sandoval insisted that his weight, which is believed to hover in the 250-pound range, was the product of increased muscle, not fat," wrote Chris Haft of MLB.com. "Sabean vouched for Sandoval's diligence by saying that the 25-year-old frequently works out twice daily."

That sounds like the old stories of Hall of Fame Brooklyn Dodgers catcher Roy Campanella showing up to Vero Beach and claiming the bulk around his middle was muscle, not fat. With as good a hitter as Sandoval is, it might not matter.

5) Will Tim Lincecum be appearing in any commercials for The Golden Arches anytime soon?

This seems doubtful.

"You take your first bite of a McDonald's burger and it's like, 'Why did I buy this?' " Lincecum told Gwenn Knapp of the San Francisco Chronicle on Friday. "You feel instantly sick. That's what ended up happening with all these places. ... I take a bite and I'm like, 'I can't even finish this.' I'm not crushing vegetables by any means, but I'm definitely eating better."

Offseason Moves

The Giants shipped an erratic left-hander to the American League Central for an outfielder coming off a career year, then swapped center fielders with the Mets.

In addition, the Giants signed infielder Ryan Theriot and pitcher Guillermo Mota, among others, to minor-league contracts.

Continue reading this post »

Now that we are getting close enough to spring training that we can almost smell the grass (Dodgers pitchers and catchers report to spring training in a mere 15 days), it is time for our annual look around the National League West, to see how each team spent their offseason. We begin the tour around the division with the defending division champions, the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Five Questions

1) Is Miguel Montero the best catcher in the division?

This might depend on the health of Buster Posey, but Montero is not a bad choice for the top spot in the NL West. Montero hit .282/.351/.469 with a .351 wOBA, a 121 OPS+ and 116 wRC+ in 2011.

In addition to hitting 36 doubles and 18 home runs, Montero threw out 40% of would-be basestealers in 2011 and made his first All-Star team.

Montero, 28, avoided arbitration with a one-year deal for 2012, and could cash in next winter with a big year in his final year before free agency.

2) Will Stephen Drew be ready for opening day?

The Diamondbacks aren't sure. The shortstop broke his ankle last July 20 and has spent his offseason rehabilitating with a non-Diamondbacks trainer.

"I'm hopeful he'll play in some games in spring training. Will he play in our opening game? I don't know. I haven't laid eyes on him other than to see him on video doing some agility drills," general manager Kevin Towers told Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic last week. "We'll have a better idea probably at the end of February when the position players show up. I would imagine he may be in a little earlier than that."

Arizona re-signed both John McDonald and Willie Bloomquist during the winter, giving them depth should Drew not be ready to rejoin the team. One person hoping Drew takes his time during recovery is Chad Billingsley, as Drew has hit .364/.426/.545 off Billingsley in 61 plate appearances.

Scary Thought About The Diamondbacks:
Justin Upton is not yet 25 years old

3) Where did Josh Collmenter's control come from?

Collmenter was 25 years old last year when he made his major league debut, and after seven relief appearances he made his first start, on May 14 at Dodger Stadium. Billingsley allowed one hit to the Diamondbacks, but Arizona won 1-0 thanks to six scoreless innings from the right-hander with the tomahawk pitching motion.

Collmenter walked zero or one batter in 16 of his 24 starts, and walked 4.5% of the major league hitters he faced, after walking 8.2% of the hitters he faced in five minor league seasons.

4) Will Diamondbacks pitchers outhit Juan Uribe again?

Okay, maybe that is a stretch, but if you squint it is hard to tell them apart. Arizona hurlers hit a combined .186/.230/.250 in 2011, while the Dodgers' $21 million man hit .204/.264/.293. Uribe had 28 RBI, 17 walks, and 79 total bases in 295 plate appearances last year, while Diamondbacks pitchers had 34 RBI, 16 walks, and 78 total bases in 362 PA.

Lest you think this was all Micah Owings-driven, the new Padres pitcher had only four singles in 19 plate appearances in Arizona in 2011.

Through September 17 last year, game 151, Diamondbacks pitcher Daniel Hudson had more RBI (14) than Jamey Carroll (13), who qualified for the batting title. Carroll ended his season with 17 runs batted in.

5) Can the new owner of the Dodgers poach former team executive Derrick Hall, currently the President and CEO of the Diamondbacks?

Maybe, but for now Hall is saying all the right things, and sounds sincere. Steve Henson of Yahoo! wrote a wonderful profile of Hall, one of the most respected executives in baseball, who battled prostate cancer during the offseason. As part of the profile, Henson mentioned that a few potential Dodgers owners have reached out to Hall to join their group should they win the bid for the team.

"It's a big part of who I am. It's where I started my career and learned and cut my teeth. And I know the fans and have a good relationship with the media and former players," Hall told Piecoro of his time with the Dodgers. "It's a lot of familiarity and comfort there, but nothing beats where I'm at or what I'm doing now."

Offseason Moves

The big move was acquiring Cahill, a soon-to-be 24-year old durable starting pitcher signed through 2015 with option years carrying him through his age 29 season in 2017. Parker was the big prize given up in the deal.

Saunders was non-tendered in December, then re-signed in January. Arizona also signed infielders Cody Ransom and Rusty Ryal, and outfielder Jason Lane to minor league deals.

Continue reading this post »

The Dodgers begin a short six-game homestand Friday night, facing off first with the San Diego Padres. Phil Gurnee's team preview on the Friars from earlier this month can be found here. The Padres are 9 - 16 this season so far, a .360 winning percentage that makes them the current NL West cellar dwellers.

The Padres offense is struggling. According to Eric Stephen, in their last ten games they have scored 16 total runs, winning the two games in which they scored five runs, and losing eight games in which they scored six runs total. Also according to Eric, since the Dodgers last saw San Diego, the Padres are 5-12 and have scored a mere 2.24 runs per game.

Oh, Andre Ethier will try to extend his 24-game hitting streak, against a left-handed starter.

The pitching match ups for the weekend series:

Friday, 7:10 P.M., Clayton Richard vs. Ted Lilly

Saturday, 7:10 P.M., Tim Stauffer vs. Hiroki Kuroda

Sunday, 1:10 P.M., Dustin Moseley vs. Jon Garland

With the Dodgers playing as bad as they are right now, having lost five straight, I wanted to write about a team that has won a game in the not-so-distant past. Thus, here is a quick look around the National League West, through games of Saturday, April 16.

Colorado Rockies (11-3)

The good news is that the Rockies showed they were human by losing to the Cubs on Saturday, 8-3. The bad news is that they had won seven straight and 11 of 12 prior to that loss. Two things stand out with Colorado so far:

• Troy Tulowitzki kept his September hot streak going, and has seven home runs in the early going. Dating back to last September 3, Tulo is hitting .321/.402/.812 with 22 home runs, 52 RBI, and 41 runs in 42 games. Unreal.
• Ubaldo Jimenez has made just one start this season, and has a 7.50 ERA. The rest of the starters have combined to go 9-1 with a 3.03 ERA in 13 starts, averaging 6.15 innings per outing. That will get it done.

The latest on Purple Row: Jimenez is due back in a few days, but starting pitcher Alan Johnson will make his major league debut today.

San Francisco Giants (8-6)

After Clayton Kershaw beat the Giants 6-1 on Monday, the Giants have won four straight, to become the only other team in the division over .500. After three straight one-run wins, the Giants changed it up and beat Arizona by two on Saturday night, picking up a 5-3 win at Chase Field.

The latest on McCovey Chronicles: The Giants hit into five double plays Saturday night, yet still won. Grant examines the new inefficiency:

The rallying cry of the baseball nerd of the '90s and '00s: get on base! It's the on-base percentage, stupid.

After a game like tonight's: just swing for the fences every time up; don't work a walk because you'll just be wiped out on a double play.

Continue reading this post »

After reviewing three teams, we have reached the end of our 2011 NL West offseason review, with the Arizona Diamondbacks. After making the NLCS in 2007 and challenging the Dodgers for the division title in 2008, the Diamondbacks have suffered through two last place finishes and 189 losses in the last two seasons. Will 2011 bring brighter fortunes in the desert?

Five Questions

1) How awesome is Micah Owings?

Very. He might be my favorite non-Dodger in the NL West. He is back with the D-Backs on a minor league deal, but should he make the club, they have plans to use him both as a pitcher and a hitter. In 198 career plate appearances, Owings is a .293/.323/.538 hitter, and if he can have any kind of success at the plate, he could be an extremely valuable player, with the kind of versatility that creates an extra roster spot. Then again, on the mound, he has a 5.59 ERA the last three years (a 78 ERA+), so maybe he's not much of a two-way threat. No matter, Owings will always have a special place in my heart for getting a game-winning pinch hit double for the Reds against Arizona -- the team that traded him a month and a half earlier -- in the 10th inning on September 13, 2008, as the Dodgers were fighting tooth and nail with the Diamondbacks to reach the playoffs.

2) The Arizona bullpen can't be that bad again, right?

Most likely not. Arizona's bullpen was so bad last year that both A.J. Hinch and Kirk Gibson decided at times to try to avoid it entirely, many times at their own peril, by leaving starters in too long. Diamondback relievers in 2010 were worst in the league in ERA (5.74; a full run worse than the next worse team), WHIP (1.615), walk rate (4.59 per nine innings), and strikeout to walk ratio (1.48). Boston was the only bullpen that allowed more home runs (63) than Arizona's 62 long balls given up, and the D-Backs were 28th in strikeout rate (6.8 per nine innings). Arizona hopes that J.J. Putz at closer, plus a mostly young relief corp will lead to bullpen improvement, and those hopes are well warranted.

3) Is "Barry Enright" Arizonan for "John Ely"?

In a way, yes. Enright was a nice bright spot for the Diamondbacks in the second half, beginning his career 6-2 with a 2.45 ERA through 12 starts. Then, like Ely for the Dodgers, Enright hit the click in the roller coaster, and fell back to Earth, losing his final five starts, giving up 23 runs and 12 home runs (!!!) in 25 2/3 innings. On the season, Enright posted a 3.91 ERA that belied his 4.5 strikeouts per nine innings and 20 home runs allowed in 99 innings. Enright's 5.62 FIP and 5.19 xFIP suggest Enright might have further to fall.

4) Will Justin Upton bounce back?

Bet on it. While we in Los Angeles were occupied with Matt Kemp's subpar 2010, another NL West outfielder suffered a fall from grace last year, too. One year after hitting .300/.366/.532, Upton slid to .273/.356/.442 last year, a 100-point drop in raw OPS. Interestingly, Upton signed a six-year extension last winter worth $51.25 million (a cool $8.75 million less than the first six years of Carlos Gonzalez's deal with Colorado, for instance), then suffered a drop off in performance in year one. I still think there is too much talent in Upton to think he won't improve in 2011, and it's important to note that Upton is a mere 23 years old.

5) How many times has Kevin Towers acquired Geoff Blum?

Three. Towers signed Blum to the Padres in 2005, then traded him midseason to the White Sox, with whom Blum won a World Series. Towers signed Blum again in 2006 in San Diego (and technically, again in 2007, though Blum simply stayed with the same team this time), and then again this winter with Arizona.

Offseason Moves

The big trade was the dumping of Mark Reynolds, who fell victim to his propensity to strikeout. He hit .198, but to put that in perspective his 98 OPS+ was indistinguishable from the 99 OPS+ put up by both Dodgers cornermen, James Loney and Casey Blake last year.

Mike Hampton, Wily Mo Pena, and Micah's brother Chris Owings are among the non-roster invitees to spring training.

Continue reading this post »

The Colorado Rockies had visions of grandeur last season after their 2009 playoff appearance. I was convinced the NL West would be a two-team race last year, but between the Dodgers and Rockies rather than the Giants and Padres. The Rockies, like the Dodgers, had a disappointing season, ending with 83 wins. Will they return to the playoffs in 2011?

Five Questions

1) Will the Rockies' starting pitchers stay healthy?

In 2009, the Rockies got 155 starts from their top five starters, and won 92 games and a playoff berth. Last season, the Rockies got 127 starts out of their top five starters, and won 83 games, with no Rocktober. They signed Jorge De La Rosa to a two-year deal, plus potentially two more option years, but he has averaged 142 innings over the last four years, with a high of 185. Aaron Cook has averaged 143 innings over the last two seasons. If 23-year old Jhoulys Chacin can pitch like he did last season over a full year, the Rockies will have a very good starting five. If those five stay healthy for a full season, the NL West is likely the Rockies' division for the taking.

2) Did the Rockies need to lock up Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez now?

Colorado was busy this offseason, signing their two best offensive players to long-term extensions. Troy Tulowitzki was already signed for three more years, with an option for his age 29 year, but the Rockies gave him seven more years with a guaranteed $132 million. That doesn't seem like much of a discount over the kind of contract Tulo would have received in, say, three or four years if the Rockies wanted to extend him then.

Carlos Gonzalez parlayed his fantastic 2010 into a seven-year, $80 million deal that bought out three free agent years. Those three free agent years came at a cost of $53 million, an average annual value exceeded on this winter's free agent market by only Carl Crawford, Jayson Werth, and Cliff Lee. Hey, if Gonzalez continues to hit like he did in 2010, good for him and Colorado will have received a great deal. Or, Gonzalez could see his BABIP fall from .384 to something like the .333 he had in 2009 (when he hit .284/.353/.525, a 118 OPS+), and that $80 million could seem like quite a burden.

Don't get me wrong; both Tulo and CarGo are very good players, and I would love to have them on the Dodgers. It just seems, from afar, that the Rockies assumed a ton of long-term risk while not getting much of a discount that a team would like when providing long-term security. That said, there is something assuring as a fan knowing that your best players would in town for years to come. If the Dodgers signed Clayton Kershaw to a 10-year deal tomorrow, I'd spend a long time celebrating before I even thought about questioning the money.

3) Do the Rockies have the best bullpen in the division?

Perhaps. They made a couple of trades to add to their stable of quality relievers, and have assembled quite a crew. They have five relievers currently under contract for 2011 (and beyond), and here were their strikeouts per nine innings in 2010: Huston Street, 8.6 K/9; Matt Lindstrom, 7.3; Rafael Betancourt, 12.9; Matt Belisle, 8.9; and Felipe Paulino, 8.1. If Franklin Morales can give them anything from the left side, in addition to Matt Daley, et al, the Colorado bullpen should be formidable in 2011.

4) Which versatile infielder playing at second base this season will have the higher OBP: Juan Uribe or Jose Lopez?

The Rockies traded minor league pitcher Chaz Roe to the Mariners for Lopez this winter. Lopez, who played third base last year in Seattle after four years at second base, hit .239/.270/.339 in 2010 after hitting .285/.313/.453 in the previous two seasons. Lopez has a career line of .266/.297/.400, an 86 OPS+, while Uribe has hit .256/.300/.431, an 85 OPS+. In 2010, Rockies' second basemen combined to hit .246/.306/.327, so if Lopez can hit anywhere close to 2008-2009 levels he should represent a nice improvement over last year.

5) Have the Rockies ever won the NL West?

No.

Offseason Moves

Olivo had a $500,000 option buyout due, but the Rockies traded him for $25,000 to the Toronto Blue Jays, in Toronto's offseason of flipping catchers. The Blue Jays declined Olivo's option, but netted a supplemental draft pick when Olivo, a Type B free agent, signed with Seattle. So, essentially the Blue Jays bought a draft pick for $525,000.

Betancourt was already signed through 2011, and his extension was for 2012 with a mutual option for 2013. The Rockies also signed Jason Giambi to a minor league deal, which will guarantee $1 million if he makes the team, plus an option for 2012. Colorado brought in third baseman Joe Crede, outfielder Willy Taveras, and jack-of-all-trades Alfredo Amezaga as non-roster invitees to spring training as well.

Continue reading this post »