Colorado Rockies Ongoing Thread

[C U Buff Fan1]

Seinfeld Clip - My Wallet's Gone - YouTube

 

[67RedSox]

I remember it well.

 

[BigDDude]

Help is on the way Rockies fans.

As first teased by Roy Oswalt on his Twitter account, the Rockies just announced that they have signed the veteran right-hander to a minor league contract.
Oswalt is expected to report to extended spring training and will presumably join a minor league affiliate from there. The 35-year-old right-hander wasn’t in camp with a major league team this spring, so it might take him around a month or so in order to build his workload.
It’s worthwhile pickup for the Rockies, who are off to a surprising 17-11 start and have struggled to attract high-profile pitchers over the years. There wasn’t much interest in Oswalt this winter after he had a disappointing 5.80 ERA in nine starts and eight relief appearances with the Rangers last season, but he still managed a 59/11 K/BB ratio in 59 innings. It’s worth a shot to see if he still has something left.

 

[C U Buff Fan1]

Wow, that's...good....news?!?!?

If I remember right weren't the Rockies one of his no-trade teams? He must be desperate for a gig.

 

[smf52]

Yeah, he was pretty adamant about not coming here in the past. I suppose it is worth a try to see if he has anything left.

 

[bored at work]

Low risk, high reward. I like that. Even more than low risk, no reward.

 

[dgonaz]

Guessing he is confident in the offense behind him and the fact that the Rockies are playing like contenders right now. One of his biggest demands that kept him from finding work was he wanted to pitch for a contender but most the contenders weren't confident enough with him that they wouldn't go with internal options first.

 

[dgonaz]

Follow up to the Roy Oswalt signing I went and looked back at the trade rumors from last year on Oswalt and apparently the Rockies and Oswalt did do a good bit of talking and that Oswalt honestly was interested in the Rockies. The issue came up that there were so many other bidders and the price was so high that the Rockies just backed out. So he never viewed the Rockies as a no go. He did turn down a number of other teams directly when they expressed interest some surprising some not so surprising---the Indians, the Tigers, and the Pirates all were directly told he wasn't interested in signing with them. The dodgers balked at his asking price and his preferred destinations seem to have been the Cardinals, Braves, and Rangers though I think after his most recent trip with the Rangers he simply prefers to leave the AL alone. Think with Texas he had bad luck since his K/B ratio was excellent as was his speed--perhaps the DH and lack of pitching to a pitcher had something to do with it too.

 

[Silas]

It is certainly worth giving Oswalt a chance and look see. If he is healthy and his mechanics are on track, this could be a steal for Colorado.

 

[dgonaz]

Speaking of low risk high reward signings---what ever happened with Brandon Webb? I remember everyone was going to go scout him but we never really heard anything after that point. I don't even remember hearing a report about people saw him and were unimpressed (I might have heard it and even posted about it but my memory on it is really foggy right now).

 

[67RedSox]

Roy Oswalt...just can't get excited about this signing.

 

[Denver&Gators]

Brandon Webb officially retired.

Ex-Cy Young winner Brandon Webb, formerly of Arizona Diamondbacks, retires - ESPN

 

[4thefences]

the samething when I saw they signed Oswalt. "Oh nobody else will hire you and you finally think the Rockies might be for real?" Has anyone seen the numbers for his contract? I'm sure it's full of incentives. Well if he still has it I know he's a ground ball type pitcher.

 

[4thefences]

Wow there's like 3 sentences missing from my post.

 

[Silas]

Oswalt might be a total bust, but the Rockies will have an opportunity to assess that before Oswalt ever steps on to a ML mound in a Rockies' uniform. If he still has the goods, then why not see what he can do. The straw that will stir the Rockies' drink this season is pitching. They need to always have their eyes open for possibilities.

 

[4thefences]

$4M if he reaches all of his incentives. Just a drop in the bucket of what he would have cost 2 years ago.

 

[67RedSox]

$4M for a shortened season. Geez, why didn't they keep Capuano who started 33 games and won 12 last year.

 

[dgonaz]

$4M for a shortened season. Geez, why didn't they keep Capuano who started 33 games and won 12 last year.

It was Harang that we got no Capuano and we are pretty certain that Harang would have been a compete disaster in Coor's Field. As for 4 million for shortened season he would have to hit all his incentives for that and if he did hit all those incentives he would definitely be worth the investment.

 

[67RedSox]

Thanks, dgonaz...for correcting me on it being Harang and not Capuano...I've been getting them mixed up all year.
I just don't see why the Rockies think Oswalt is going to do anything other than he has done the past two years...and that is pitch pretty poorly. In Philadelphia in 2011 he was awful considering he was pitching for a team that won over 100 games and in Texas last year the wheels came off. I don't think it was a coincidence that both those teams play in hitter friendly ballparks and he has become more and more a fly ball pitcher so Coors Field ain't gonna be too friendly to him.I have more faith in any of the starters who are there or even in Colorado Springs.
Oh well...we'll just have to wait and see how this signing goes. To steal a line from Bob Seger - time will do the talking...time will tell you baby what you can't hear now

 

[dgonaz]

Oswalt wasn't as bad as his ERA suggested last year. He did have a winning record overall (if small) and his K/B ratio was outstanding. He did get punished by the longball though and that is a concern for the Rockies. But all and all if you are going to have a pitcher punished by longballs you could do worse than Roy Oswalt. I see it as more starting rotation depth something that last year we proved we couldn't have enough of and the Dodgers this year seem to want to outdo us on proving.

Who we have in the majors to start: Chacin, De La Rosa, Nicasio, Francis, Garland, Chattwood---Outman if we are desperate.
Who we have in the minors to start: Pomeranz, Volstad, Friedrich, Cook, Oswalt.

So we have 12 potential starters which is a happy number to have. And they don't even have to be the best starters in the world with our offense they just have to be decent enough to keep us in games not shut out the opposition (though shutting out the opposition would be wonderful too).

Oh and on a side note forget what I said about Arenado batting 8th, think he is doing pretty well in the 7th spot making our lineup the most dangerous in the NL 1-9 when everyone is healthy. Think the only question about the lineup when people are healthy is at this point is if you start Pacheco or Helton at 1st and where they fit in the lineup which really isn't a bad situation to be in.