Home

Tracy Ringolsby's weekly baseball notes

Submitted by SHNS on Fri, 09/12/2008 - 13:52

A year ago Sunday, the Colorado Rockies began their great run, which concluded with sweeps of Philadelphia in the National League Division Series and Arizona in the NL Championship Series, giving the Rockies 20 wins in 21 games and the first pennant in franchise history.Now look at them.The Rockies were eliminated Thursday from the NL wild card race and barely are alive in the NL West. They need to win 14 of their final 15 games merely to reach .500.And general manager Dan O'Dowd is faced with the offseason challenge of providing an infusion that will allow a team with a solid core to return to contention next year.Given the failure of this season, it will open the door for O'Dowd to be more daring than he was last year and puts the Rockies in position to shake the baseball world with a couple daring moves.The Rockies seem resigned to the fact that left fielder Matt Holliday, eligible for free agency after next season, and third baseman Garrett Atkins, a free agent after 2010, will test the open market. Shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, outfielder Brad Hawpe and pitchers Jeff Francis, Aaron Cook and Manny Corpas signed long-term deals likely for less than what would be available on the open market but do provide financial security and a chance to stay in Colorado.Given the situation, the Rockies would be wise to consider trading both Holliday and Atkins in the offseason. Ian Stewart has shown he can handle third base. And if nothing else, Ryan Spilborghs and Seth Smith could become a left-field platoon.It would allow the Rockies to get the focus back to what it takes to win, erase lingering questions about what's up with Holliday and Atkins. And in return for Holliday and Atkins, they could expect quality arms that could fill voids in their pitching staff.INFIELD CHATTER-- Former Blue Jays pitching coach and minor league instructor Mel Queen has been brought back to evaluate the talent in the farm system, indicating an erosion of the power of GM J.P. Ricciardi.-- Philadelphia is expected to stay in-house in replacing retiring GM Pat Gillick. Candidates are his assistants, Ruben Amaro and Mike Arbuckle.*--San Diego manager Bud Black had the 2009 option in his contract exercised before the season, but GM Kevin Towers delayed talk about Black's future beyond that until after the season.THE ROTATIONThe list of free-agent closers this fall will start with Francisco Rodriguez and then Brian Fuentes.Others are Trevor Hoffman, Brandon Lyon, Jason Isringhausen and Kerry Wood. Contracts that will be benchmarks for their negotiations are:-- Mariano Rivera, Yankees, three years (2008-10), $45 million guaranteed.-- Brad Lidge, Phillies, three years (2009-11, option 2012), $37.5 million guaranteed.-- Joe Nathan, Twins, four years (2008-11, option 2012), $47 million guaranteed.-- Francisco Cordero, Reds, four years (2008-11, option 2012), $46 million guaranteed.-- B.J. Ryan, Blue Jays, five years (2006-10), $47 million guaranteed.OUT IN LEFT FIELDIs Houston GM Ed Wade a forgiving type? While the rest of the baseball world gave up on an Astros team that was sitting in sixth place in the six-team NL Central on July 27, Wade didn't. He picked up left-hander Randy Wolf, ignored the loss of left fielder Carlos Lee and took on the salary of reliever LaTroy Hawkins.Now the Astros are talking about being the Rockies of 2008. They are 33-11 since the July 27 debut of Wolf and 22-8 since the loss of Lee.After beating Pittsburgh on Thursday, the Astros have won 14 of 15 and are tied with Philadelphia, three games back of NL wild-card leader Milwaukee. They are 8-1 in Wolf's starts. Hawkins is unscored upon in 13 innings.CLOSING STATEMENTWith Arizona's Brandon Webb suffering a late-season fade, right-hander Tim Lincecum of San Francisco has surged to the top of the pack in the NL Cy Young race with CC Sabathia of Milwaukee on the outside, looking in.Webb goes into Friday having failed in his first three attempts to win No. 20, allowing 19 earned runs, 22 hits and 12 walks in 13 2/3 innings. There are concerns about a residual effect from Webb taking a line drive to the chest off the bat of San Diego third baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff on Aug. 21, when he won No. 19. Webb appears hesitant to finish off his pitches, keeping the sinker from sinking.Lincecum is 16-3 for a team that is 65-81. In seven of his 11 no-decisions, he allowed two earned runs or fewer. He leads the NL with a 2.54 ERA and leads the majors with 225 strikeouts.He could become the fourth pitcher ever to finish 13 games above .500 for a team that is at least 13 games below .500, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Steve Carlton won the NL Cy Young when he went 27-10 for the 1972 Phillies (59-97). The other two were pre-Cy Young Award days -- Eddie Rommell, 27-13 with the 1922 Athletics (65-89), and Dazzy Vance, 22-0 for the 1925 Brooklyn Dodgers (68-85).NUMBERS GAME-- 10: Four-out saves for Boston closer Jonathan Papelbon this season. The only other pitchers with five or more are Mariano Rivera of the Yankees with eight, Brian Wilson of the Giants with six and Jonathan Broxton of the Dodgers with five.JOB FINISHED EARLYThe Angels' Sept. 10 clinching of the American League West title was the earliest that division has been wrapped up since divisional play began in 1969.It is the fourth division title in five years for the Angels, who also were the AL wild card when they beat the Giants in the 2002 World Series.HE SAID IT"Lou's done that forever. We all hate to lose. This is no fun for any of us, going through this. But, still, my mindset and my thought process is that the more steady and even-keeled we can stay, the quicker we'll get out of it."-- Brewers manager Ned Yost on his calm response to a 3-7 homestand compared to Cubs manager Lou Piniella's recent outburst.(Tracy Ringolsby writes for the Rocky Mountain News in Denver, Colo. E-mail ringolsbyt(at)RockyMountainNews.com.)