SB Nation - Juan Morillo

Tuesday Rockpile: CHONE is back in town (not Figgins)

Poseidon's Fist — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 14:41:30 -0000

CHONE doesn't buy CarGo's strong 2nd half.

The 2010 CHONE Projections have been posted. I recommend switching to wide view to see the table.

In case you're curious what would happen if Colorado opened the season with Jeff Kindel, Rex Rundgren, Daniel Mayora and Darin Holcomb in the infield, their projections (among others) are in the link. However, I filtered out the minor leaguers, and here are the projected main contributors for 2010.

Note CHONE tempers its expectations on Tulo and Cargo, which is typical for a projection system for young players. Exceeding those expectations would give the Rockies not only on-field success but offensive starpower the team lacked.

Player	Pos	Age	G	HR	RBI	SB	CS	PA	AVG	OBP	SLG	wOBA
Helton, Todd	1B	36	134	13	68	0	1	582	.284	.385	.430	.364
Young, Eric	2B	25	149	8	38	39	18	547	.276	.347	.398	.332
Barmes, Clint	2B	31	136	15	58	8	6	509	.258	.306	.420	.314
Stewart, Ian	3B	25	145	22	75	6	4	499	.263	.349	.483	.359
Iannetta, Chris	C	27	105	15	53	0	0	384	.260	.370	.465	.367
Fowler, Dexter	CF	24	124	4	31	21	11	414	.271	.365	.391	.338
Smith, Seth	OF	27	135	15	60	4	2	428	.291	.374	.489	.376
Hawpe, Brad	OF	31	144	23	86	1	2	572	.271	.365	.482	.368
Gonzalez, Carlos	OF	24	134	15	66	12	6	462	.285	.342	.478	.354
Murton, Matt	OF	28	129	10	52	5	2	438	.280	.349	.427	.343
Spilborghs, Ryan	OF	30	127	10	49	7	4	398	.271	.352	.424	.342
Tulowitzki, Troy	SS	25	142	22	80	10	8	580	.292	.369	.497	.373

Should we be surprised few outside of Colorado expected the Rockies to make the playoffs down the stretch? The Rockies won with depth, which just isn't sexy. They are projected to have great depth again in 2010, with only Clint Barmes having a below average wOBA. Their third "most valuable" hitter in 2009 came off the bench in a third of his games. The 3-4 hitters combined for 15 HR in 2008. The team's two All-Stars combined for just eight AB's in the playoffs. Th top three hitters were only 15th in WAR in MLB, behind the Padres, Nats and Mariners as well as every playoff team/contender sans Atlanta and the Giants. In addition to the team's history, is it any wonder the Rockies weren't viewed as legitimate?

The idea that Rockies pitching can be good has yet to truly sink in among casual fans, and Joe Fan/John Kruk don't have the time/desire to evaluate depths of teams. They look for starpower, and admittedly, the Rockies were a little shy in that department last season. Should we see a repeat performance from Cargo and Tulo in 2010, there may be some recognition of the mountain time zone, although truly, it was a joy to expect and then see the Rockies defy expectations down the stretch.

Links

The Rockies and Diamondbacks officially broke ground on their spring training facility in Scottsdale, Arizona yesterday. It is set to be completed approximately 435 days from now, just in time for use for the 2011 season.

As linked in the Rockpile yesterday, Juan Morillo is headed to Japan. Remember when Dan O'Dowd replaced him on the roster in April with some dude from Tampa Bay? Good move.

Patrick Saunders opines that Dexter Fowler deserved better than eighth place in the NL Rookie of the Year voting. I would disagree with his assessment that this is a "banner year for rookies," but I am a bit surprised he got no more love than Gerardo Parra or Everth Cabrera.

Fangraphs awarded their 2009 Carter-Batista Award, an award given to a player whose perceived value is most inflated by RBI. The winner was rumored to be acquired by the Rockies before the season, while Bengie Molina tops the three-year leaderboard.

The Hardball Times compares Jonathan Sanchez and Clayton Kershaw, noting both electric young NL West southpaws have something else in common - traffic on the basepaths. Who would you rather have on your team in 2010? Troy Patterson's answer may surprise you.

Tuesday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 14:40:34 -0000

by Al Behrman - AP

Today is Ryan Braun's 26th birthday. We should all celebrate today by going out and buying a Reme...yeah, I can't even suggest that with a straight face.

View full size photo »

Some things to read while Doug Melvin works the phones.

Casey McGehee finished fifth in the NL Rookie of the Year voting, and I must admit that's much better than I expected, even though he was third on my ballot (FanShot). With that said, Brewed Sports has a new word for teams that hold onto players like McGehee too long.

By the way, if you've ever doubted the significance of the compensation picks given to teams for losing free agents: NL Rookie of the Year Chris Coghlan was a compensation pick in 2006, after the Marlins lost A.J. Burnett to the Blue Jays.

The exclusive window for teams to negotiate with their own free agents ends on Friday, and it's possible the Brewer drawing the most interest is the most unlikely one: Craig Counsell has reportedly been contacted by 12 teams, and may be able to land a multi-year deal. Counsell had a very nice season in 2009, but if someone gives the 39-year-old utility infielder more than one season of guaranteed money, I hope it's not the Brewers.

Edwin Jackson's name is coming up a fair amount lately, as he may very well be the best combination of high upside and low cost on either the free agent or trade market this offseason. With that said, View From Bernie's Chalet isn't completely sold on Jackson, and wonders if trading for him would be a mistake.

Speaking of pitchers with a potentially high upside, Jorge Says No! has a look at the potential market for Ben Sheets. He lists eight teams that could be interested, and that list doesn't include the Brewers.

Pat Lackey of MLB FanHouse has an overview of the Brewer offseason that features some themes you've likely heard before: The Brewers need pitching, Jarrod Washburn could be a candidate, etc.

As I was working on the Fall/Winter League Update this morning, I noticed a surprise: Carlos Gomez made his debut on Sunday in the Dominican League. Follow the link to see how he and the rest of the Brewers have performed over the last couple of days.

Speaking of active Brewer prospects, you could get one more chance to see a few of them on TV this fall: Saturday's AFL Championship Game will be televised on MLB Network. I wish MLB Network would televise a bunch more AFL games: I was out of the house for the only other telecast, and I'll be missing this one, too.

If you're watching on Saturday, though, you might get to see Lorenzo Cain play for Peoria. Project Prospect ranked him 10th among center field prospects.

Just one note on the transaction wire:

Reds: Signed Ramon Hernandez to a one year deal with a vesting option for 2011.

FanGraphs has a list of all of this year's minor league free agents, a veritable "Who's Who" of guys you'd forgotten were still around. I haven't had a chance to peruse the list yet, but Lookout Landing took the opportunity to remind us all that there's no such thing as a "can't miss" prospect.

How much is too much roster manipulation? The Twins recently added reliever Juan Morillo to their 40-man roster, but not for reasons you'd expect. Morillo was due to become a minor league free agent, but the Twins retained control over his rights so they could sell him to a Japanese League team and pocket his transfer fee, likely to be around $500k.

Putting together an All-Decade Team is hard, but some people make it harder than it needs to be. MLB Notebook, for example, put Francisco Cordero in the bullpen of their All Decade team, but left out Trevor Hoffman. Cordero has had a pretty nice decade, but since the start of the 2000 season Hoffman leads him by 113 saves and half a run in ERA.

On this day in 1997, the Brewers traded lefty reliever Mike Myers to the Rockies for Curtis Leskanic. The deal worked out pretty well for the Crew: Leskanic posted a 3.01 ERA in 169 games as a Brewer.

Happy birthday today to Ryan Braun, who turns 26. Braun is now a two-time All Star starter, a two-time Silver Slugger winner, and in 2009 he was in the top ten in the NL in batting average, slugging, OPS, ABs, runs, hits, total bases, doubles, RBI, extra base hits and HBP.

Oh, and how much easier would it be to travel if road maps were colored like subway maps? (h/t C. Trent Rosecrans)

Drink up.

GM Meetings Day 2: Open Thread

Jesse — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:34:55 -0000

Check back periodically for updates...

4:00 pm: Afternoon updates from Joe C.

Congrats to Joe Mauer, who wins his second Gold Glove. Well deserved.
Apparently the GM's are expected to discuss intant replay? I had no idea. At any rate it hasn't been discussed yet.
Bonser, Neshek and Slowey have been reinstated from the 60-day DL.
Joe promises more tonight.

12:45 pm: Some news from around the league

It sounds like Jason Varitek will pick up his part of the option to stay with the Red Sox, which will be a favor to teams across the American League if he continues to hit like he has the last two seasons. Which he probably will. In related news, Tim Wakefield is never going to stop pitching. NEVER.
If the Twins want to put together a package for Roy Halladay to really make a run with an Ace in hand for 2010, it will have to be a package of "quality over quantity". Sorry, Cmath.
Lunch time trade question: would you trade Jesse Crain and Delmon Young to the Royals for David DeJesus? Is it a realistic scenario?

9:30 am: Catching up on the highlights from yesterday

• Carl Pavano wouldn’t mind sticking with the Twins as long as the money is right. Quotes from his agent, Tom O’Connell, imply that Pavano won’t settle for another contract asking for his client to re-establish himself. If he’d still be willing to take an incentive-laden contract at a reasonable price (say something like one year, $5 million with $500K for reaching 100, 125, 150, 175 and 200 innings) with an option for a second year, I’d do that. He’s a Type-B free agent, but I’m not sure he’d make more than that taking the arbitration route (which the Twins are sure to offer).
• Twins General Manager Bill Smith has mentioned there will be interest in free agent starting pitchers during the off-season. I have to believe that only three spots (Scott Baker, Nick Blackburn, Kevin Slowey) are locked down.
• It sounds like Ron Gardenhire wouldn’t mind bringin back Orlando Cabrera as the team’s second baseman next season, but it seems highly unlikely the front office would follow through on that.
• The Orioles claimed Armando Gabino off waivers.
• Justin Huber cleared waivers, paving the way for his possible return to Rochester (or the Twins) in 2010.
• Juan Morillo has been added to the 40-man roster, bringing the current tally to 33 (not including 60-day DL guys Boof Bonser, Pat Neshek and Kevin Slowey, or impending free agents Ron Mahay, Mike Redmond, Joe Crede, Pavano and Cabrera).
• Tim Dierkes at MLBTradeRumors has posted his yearly series where he guesses where the top 50 free agents will end up. He thinks Adrian Beltre (number nine on his list) will end up in Minnesota.
• Before the Twins snapped up J.J. Hardy, a number of other teams had been in contact with the Brewers, including the Red Sox, Reds and Blue Jays.

Do the Twins have the worst bullpen in baseball?

Jon Marthaler — Mon, 18 May 2009 13:00:13 -0000

We Twins backers are all rather frustrated with the state of the bullpen; the late-inning guys have lost three games in a row, and have generally been awful this season. But how bad are things, really? Is the Twins bullpen as bad as we think, by the numbers - and in comparison to the rest of the league?

+ Test #1: Losses, saves, and blown saves.

Minnesota's 'pen has blown seven saves this year, but that's only good for a tie for seventh. The Nationals relievers have blown an astonishing 11 save opportunities - which is especially impressive, given that Washington has only six saves on the year.

Unfortunately, there are two other teams with just six saves - and Minnesota's one of them. Joe Nathan is 6-8 in save opportunities this year, and the rest of the bullpen has blown five other games. This 46% conversion rate is third worst in the majors, behind only Houston (41%) and Washington (35%).

Speaking of blowing games, the Twins bullpen has lost six games - but that's not even close to the Nationals (11 losses) or the Angels (10 losses, including seven blown saves.) Minnesota is tied for ninth.

+ Test #2: OPS Against

On-base percentage plus slugging percentage is a pretty good stand-in for run production. It would make sense that the bullpen with the worst OPS against is therefore the worst in baseball.

Here once again, it's hard to beat the Nationals bullpen, which has an OPS against of .849. Houston is second-worst at .842. The Twins, though, are right in the running; their OPS against of .824 is seventh-worst in the big leagues.

Other candidates for "Worst Bullpen in the American League" also emerge, including Cleveland (.838 OPS against, 7/15 in save opportunities), and the Yankees (.837, 7/12).

+ Test #3: Fielding-Independent Pitching

Forgetting about defense for a second, we look at pure pitching statistics, using the sabrematrician's favorite, FIP. And as you might expect, the same candidates fall out on the bottom of the league: New York (5.87) is worst, followed by Texas (5.62) and Houston (5.47). Cleveland is fourth-worst at 5.39, but then comes our Twins at 5.31. (They're even worse than Washington, which is at 5.19).

+ And so, our best conclusions from the numbers...

The numbers don't lie: The Twins bullpen is terrible on a number of levels. They can't hold a lead, nor can they get anybody out.

That said, things are worse by far in Washington, and probably in Houston as well. And fans in Cleveland and New York have reasons to be miffed as well.

Of course, a look at the standings probably would be enough to anger those fans: Cleveland and Washington are in last place. Houston is barely ahead of the Pirates. And the Yankees are 4.5 games back... and would be much worse off, if it weren't for three games against Minnesota's relievers.

And so, our conclusion: the Twins do not have the worst bullpen in the major leagues. But it's close.

Dollars and Sense Part Three: Outlier Salaries and Rockies ODP Analysis

Jabberwocky — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 21:00:01 -0000

More photos » by Reinhold Matay - AP

Despite his recent steroid troubles and injured hip, A-Rod has plenty of reasons to smile. His $33 million salary for 2009 is the highest in baseball--and just $4 million less than the Marlins' entire payroll.

Browse more photos »

After looking at MLB Opening Day payrolls by average team salary and then by average player salary, this session of PR Academy will first focus on the high and low salaries in MLB and then will look closely at the Colorado Rockies' payroll distribution in 2009 and beyond.

Once again, the salary data used in this report is courtesy of the USA Today Salary Database. The payroll data does not include money paid or received in trades or for players who have been released, such as Jason Marquis for the Rockies or Gary Sheffield (released by the Tigers) this year. There's a lot to discuss, so let's get right to it!

Outlier Salaries

As Orwell would put it, all animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others. In the case of baseball, a select few players are much more equal than the mere mortals that occupy the majority of Opening Day roster slots, at least according to salary distribution. The problem with just looking at average (or even median) player salary data is that one misses the outrageous outlier salaries that superstar players in this day and age command. The Biz of Baseball's Maury Brown details in two charts, reproduced here, the top ten salaries in the AL and NL:

Top 10 Salaries - American League
Player	Salary	Club	Division
†Alex Rodriguez	$33,000,000	Yankees	AL East
Derek Jeter	$21,600,000	Yankees	AL East
Mark Teixeira	$20,625,000	Yankees	AL East
Magglio Ordonez	$18,971,596	Tigers	AL Central
Torii Hunter	$18,000,000	Angels	AL West
†Ichiro Suzuki	$18,000,000	Mariners	AL West
A.J. Burnett	$16,500,000	Yankees	AL East
C.C. Sabathia	$15,285,714	Yankees	AL East
Vladimir Guerrero	$15,000,000	Angels	AL West
Mariano Rivera	$15,000,000	Yankees	AL East

Top 10 Salaries - National League
Player	Salary	Club	Division
Manny Ramirez	$23,854,494	Dodgers	NL West
Carlos Beltran	$19,243,683	Mets	NL East
Carlos Lee	$19,000,000	Astros	NL Central
Johan Santana	$18,876,139	Mets	NL East
Carlos Zambrano	$18,750,000	Cubs	NL Central
Barry Zito	$18,500,000	Giants	NL West
Alfonso Soriano	$17,000,000	Cubs	NL Central
Aramis Ramirez	$16,900,000	Cubs	NL Central
Todd Helton	$16,600,000	Rockies	NL West
† Tim Hudson	$15,500,000	Braves	NL East

† Started season on DL

So what do we learn from these charts? Well, first of all, the Yankees dominate the list of top salaries in the AL, grabbing six of the list's ten spots. In fact, George Steinbrenner's club has three of MLB's five best compensated players this year. They also show just how out of control that salary escalation has gotten in recent years--I mean, $18.5 million for one year of Barry Zito? The world is going mad.

Analysis of these lists shows that the average top 10 player in the AL is paid $19,198,231 while a similar NL player is paid only $18,422,432--a difference of $775,799 (what a travesty!). Of course, these results are largely skewed by the outlier among outliers--A-Rod's obscene $33 million salary for 2009.

In fact, the most richly rewarded of players are being given a greatly disproportionate share of the 2009 ODP pie. As Brown notes, there are 86 players in MLB (about 11% of 818) who will earn over $10 million this year. Adding their salaries up, these 86 players will earn a total of $1,178,536,759 this year! In other words, 11% of players will receive 44% of MLB's total payroll expenditure this year. Unsurprisingly, teams like the Yankees (9), Cubs (6), and Mets (5) have several players on this list.

NL West Outlier Analysis

To put this in context, the Yankees by themselves have more such players than the entire NL West (7)--with the Rockies having Todd Helton as their lone eight-figure earner. The Dodgers have four eight figure earners (Manny Ramirez, Jason Schmidt, Hiroki Kuroda, and Juan Pierre--seriously) while the Giants (Barry Zito), Padres (Jake Peavy) and Diamondbacks (Eric Byrnes) have only one each.

Extrapolating this data even further, these high earners in the NL West earn large portions of their team's payroll expenditure (or in the case of Jason Schmidt, don't earn it). Helton's $16.6 million salary this year is 22.1% of the Rockies' entire ODP in 2009. Manny Ramirez represents 23.7% of the Dodgers' payroll, while Schmidt (15.1%), Kuroda (12.3%), and Pierre (10%) also are significant investments--in all the Dodgers are paying 61% of their payroll to these four players. Barry Zito represents 22.5% of the Giants' ODP, while Jake Peavy's number with the Padres is 25.7% and Byrnes is 15.9% for the D-Backs.

This just proves the point that baseball payrolls are often top-heavy. To invest big money long-term even on a star player means that a team takes on huge payroll risk in future years should that player not perform. For instance, because of his steep decline in production from the time he signed his 9 year, $142 million contract in 2001, Todd Helton's $16.6 million salary for 2009 represents a significant financial albatross for the Rockies. Helton's contract is a perfect example of a team taking on payroll risk and having it coming back to bite them big time. Big market teams such as the Yankees and Mets are willing and able to absorb this increased payroll risk for the high reward that these highly-compensated players can provide to a team.

The Other End of the Spectrum

On the other side of the coin from these high earners, 68 players (8.31%) were compensated at the major league minimum ($400,000). Lower salaried teams like the Marlins (10), Athletics (6), and Padres (5) had a great % of these players. What was surprising to me initially was that the Rockies were one of just six teams to not pay any player the minimum this year. However, I soon realized after looking at the team's contracts that the Rockies were paying ten players on their active roster salaries that barely exceeded the minimum threshold. For example, Dexter Fowler is making $401,000 this year--technically higher than the minimum but in practice much the same.

Join me after the jump as I break down Colorado's ODP distribution in 2009 and beyond.

Colorado Rockies Opening Day Payroll Analysis

As of Opening Day the Colorado Rockies were paying a major league salary to 27 players (Jeff Francis and Taylor Buchholz being on the DL), totaling $75,201,000 (again, not counting the $875,000 Marquis credit). On a per player basis, the year's edition of the Rockies has an average salary of $2,785,222. In addition to their Colorado Rockies salary breakdown, which I've used in past sessions, Cot's Baseball Contracts once again came through for me here, providing an awesome salary obligation spreadsheet for the 2009-2013 time frame.

What can this handy and comprehensive spreadsheet tell us about the financial state of the Rockies? While the spreadsheet isn't completely accurate (Manny Corpas, for instance has correct contract details but this is not shown from 2010 to 2013) or exactly up to date, given the constant roster tinkering necessary in MLB due to injuries, the possibilities of this resource are far-reaching and powerful. For instance, from the spreadsheet we can see that the Rockies have already committed $44,058,000 to next year's salary figure--and that's with only five players under contract! That number isn't counting the 13 players on the 25 man roster that will be arbitration eligible next year! Assuming the standard 172% raise per player that came with arbitration filing this year, the Rockies' payroll could balloon even further beyond this year's number (and continue to do so in subsequent years)...without adding any free agent of significance to the team. As the Monforts would tell us, this level of payroll increase is simply not sustainable or practical.

Roster Building, Rockies-Style

It is dilemmas like this that lead mid-market teams like the Rockies to have to make tough decisions about which of their young players and prospects to keep and which they should try to get the most out of before either letting them go elsewhere or trading them for replacement prospects. Over the last few years the Rockies have adopted the strategy of signing several players they saw as key contributors to long-term deals that bought out their remaining arbitration years and even some free agency time--meeting with varying degrees of success.

The inherent risk with that strategy is that situations can change in a very short amount of time. When Jeff Francis signed his 4 year, $13.25 million contract after 2006, it was seen as a very smart move for the team and a bit of a bargain. Francis responded with an excellent 2007 campaign, but after a rocky injury-filled 2008 Jeff may never pitch at a major league level again. Manny Corpas is a similar example of this. When the Rockies signed Corpas to a 4 year, $8 million deal after 2007, they thought they were getting a dominant closer in his prime. Since, Manny has looked more like a middle reliever than a closer. Rockies fans can only hope that Troy Tulowitzki (6 years, $31 million) doesn't become Bobby Crosby and instead fulfills his great promise, or that Ubaldo Jimenez (4 years, $10 million) becomes the ace he is projected to be. Aaron Cook was great last year, but he has 3 years and $30 million left on his contract--a lot can go wrong in that time period.

Another risk to this strategy is getting married to mediocre talent--a phrase that has been bandied around this blog more than once. Just because a player has performed well or memorably for you over a short period of time does not mean that he is the best fit for your team on a long-term basis. There may very well be a player out there who will perform the same tasks better and more cheaply than "your guy". Garrett Atkins is a perfect example of a "your guy"--a player that can be replaced cheaply and with a better overall player within the system, and one that has some value to other teams. Now I'm not exactly saying that Atkins is mediocre, only that he's not the best option for the Rockies at this point.

The same goes for Brad Hawpe and Todd Helton, but we've got them locked into our starting lineup for at least two (Hawpe) or three (Helton) more years. As RMN is quick to point out, Hawpe would fit much better in the Rockies' lineup as a first baseman--giving playing time to the cheaper, more defensively-oriented outfield of Smith, Fowler, and Spilborghs. However, due to this marriage O'Dowd has made with Hawpe (good, patient hitter but horrible fielder) and Helton (great hitter and clubhouse presence, but lacks power at this stage in his career), this idealized lineup is little more than a pipe dream for Rockies fans at this point.

Colorado Rockies Contract Breakdown

Taking all of these roster building risks into account, I've broken down the 27 players on the Rockies' ODP by contracts and what I see for the future. For each player I've included what they're being paid this year and what they're owed after the 2009 season. Remember, this is just the ODP--not including players like Belisle, and Daley who are now on the roster. However, due to the fact that Juan Morillo is no longer on the roster, I'll analyze Jason Hammel instead.

Albatrosses (Contracts that hurt now and in the future)

Todd Helton: $16.6 million (2 years, $35.1 million plus $4.6 million buyout after 2011). This kind of contract absolutely kills teams for years to come.

Jeff Francis: $3.875 million (1 year, $5.875 million for what is likely going to be very little or limited production). Injuries are a fact of life, and it is unfortunate that it happened to the Rockies here.

Brad Hawpe: $5.5 million (1 year, $7.5 million plus a $10 million club option or $500k buyout). As I've stated above, Brad is ill-suited for the duties he's being given as an outfielder and serves as an organizational block to Seth Smith, Matt Murton, and Carlos Gonzalez among others.

Anchors (Expensive this year, but will soon be lifted)

Jason Marquis: $9.875 million (One year deal)--the Rockies are effectively paying $9 million this year for Marquis since Vizcaino is a sunk cost for Colorado. He has provided a good performance this year, but is not worth $9 million.

Garrett Atkins: $7.5 million (one year of arbitration left). Atkins has gone into a pretty steep decline of late at the plate, is blocking Ian Stewart, and is really slow. I hope he's not on the books next year.

Yorvit Torrealba: $3.5 million. Many Rowbots will rejoice once Torrealba has completed his contract. Yorvit is a decent back-up catcher, but he's not worth anywhere close to what he's being paid this year.

Alan Embree: $2 million plus a $250k buyout after the year. Embree is a middle reliever that doesn't qualify as a LOOGY--an expensive replaceable part.

Glendon Rusch: $750k. He's not actually too expensive, but his role as a long man is fungible and he will probably be with the Rockies for this year only.

We'll See (Payroll risk in play, but reward potential)

Aaron Cook: $9.583 million (2 years, $20.5 million plus $11 million mutual option or $500k buyout). Again, Cookie was great last year, and if he could sustain that level of production over the life of the contract he'll be worth it. However, with that high of a salary comes a bunch of payroll risk.

Troy Tulowitzki: $1 million (4 years, $27.25 million plus $15 million club option or $2 million buyout). While Tulowitzki is young, provides excellent defense, leadership, and a big bat--he has been a slow starter this year and last, while having some nagging injuries leading to the inevitable Bobby Crosby comparisons. Most likely this contract will be just fine but the bust potential is still there for the Rockies.

Manny Corpas: $800k (2 years, $6.25 million plus club options of $6 million and $8 million--or buyouts of $250k and $500k). The Rockies' financial commitment into Corpas isn't that significant, but if Manny keeps pitching ineffectively, the Rockies may have to send him back to AAA.

Ubaldo Jimenez: $750k (3 years, $8.25 million with $5.75 and $8 million options, each with a $1 million buyout). I'm not too worried about this contract, as the financial outlay isn't too significant and I think that Ubaldo will pitch well above his salary, but the Jeff Francis corollary is still in effect here.

Short-term Arbitration Eligible (Young players who, while fairly cheap, are on their way out soon--no long term deal--or should be, in my opinion)

Clint Barmes: $1.625 million (2 arbitration years). Deer meat is bordering on being overpaid now. While nice to have as a bench/utility player, he is miscast as a starter (outside of Coors Field) and should be paid as a bench/depth guy.

Jason Grilli: $800k (2 arbitration years). Middle relief performance is fungible, as well as highly variable from year to year. This year, Grilli has been good, but at any time he could turn into Matt Herges 2008 edition.

Long-Term Arbitration Eligible (They could, and should, factor into the team's future plans)

Huston Street: $4.5 million (1 arbitration year). I was flipping back and forth on Street, as he will be compensated pretty well this year and likely next. He does provide a proven end of game reliever--though in my opinion the closer position is severely overrated. The PR hit the Rockies would take for dumping Street after one year would also be pretty damaging (perceived return on Holliday). This one could go either way.

Jorge De La Rosa: $2 million (1 arbitration year). De La Rosa shows great promise, and thus far has harnessed his fantastic stuff pretty well this year. Lefty starters throwing in the 90s don't grow on trees, you know.

Taylor Buchholz: $1,055,000 (3 arbitration years due to his Super Two status). Remember what I said about middle relief and Jason Grilli? Well, Buchholz is a more valuable set-up man that I can see having value for the long term.

Not Arbitration Eligible (Soon to be--or should be--gone edition). These players all have three arbitration years remaining.

Jeff Baker: $415k. Baker does bring some good things to the table (power bat off the bench, can play several positions), but he is not only a very streaky player but also is taking a roster spot that could be given to a more consistent contributor.

Ryan Spilborghs: $415k: This was a very tough decision, but Spilly has been cast as a fourth outfielder despite his excellent play. It will ultimately come between him and Seth Smith for a place in the future roster due to the expected emergence of Carlos Gonzalez in the near future. I believe that the Rockies will choose Smith as he is younger by a couple of years and doesn't have Scott Boras as an agent.

Omar Quintanilla: $408k. Omar is a slick fielder at three positions, but he is very replaceable as a player and doesn't pull his weight offensively.

Ryan Speier: $407k. See Grilli, Jason--middle relief is fungible

Keepers (Young players with three arbitration years remaining that are part of the Rockies' long term plans)

Jason Hammel: $422k. Depending on how Hammel pitches in his next few starts, he could really go either way here. If he develops into a durable starter then he should definitely be in the Rockies' future plans.

Chris Iannetta: $415k. No debate here, CDI is a stud and should be locked up for several years--with an eye on an eventual move to first base.

Ian Stewart: $404k. Stewart is a dynamic player on offense and should be the Rockies' third baseman for the next several years.

Seth Smith: $403k. See Spilborghs, Ryan--Smith is a good, patient bat off the bench as well as a more than adequate outfielder.

Franklin Morales: $402k. If Morales can harness his stuff and show some consistency, I can definitely foresee a Ubaldo Jimenez-type deal in the near future for Morales.

Dexter Fowler: $401k. Dexter is everything you want to see in a center fielder, and the Rockies would do well to lock him up early and for several years.

That's all I've got for now--I've run out of steam after 3000 words--but in the future I'll expand my analysis past the surface-level financial impact of the Rockies' ODP.

Sources and Additional Reading

USA Today Salary Database, USA Today

Individual Player Salary Analysis, the incomparable Maury Brown

Team ODPs by Player, Maury Brown (pdf)

Cot's Contracts, Jeff Euston

Rockies Payroll Obligation Spreadsheet, Cot's Contracts

Post-Arbitration Salary Analysis, Bob Warja (Bleacher Report)

Monday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 14:26:26 -0000

More photos » by Bill Kostroun - AP

He may not be so good at high fives, but Todd Coffey's other skills made up for it yesterday.

Browse more photos »

Some things to read while playing D&D with Vin Diesel.

Jeff Suppan surprised many of us with a solid performance yesterday, but how much weight do you put on it? Tom H. called yesterday Suppan's "Redemption Day." Two-Fisted Slopper called Suppan's outing a "great success."

With that said, Citi Field is already being credited as one of baseball's greatest pitcher's parks. Buster Olney and Ryan Braun both noted how hard it is to hit the ball out. It's likely not a coincidence that the two teams averaged less than three runs per contest this weekend despite starts from Jeff Suppan, Livan Hernandez and Nelson Figueroa.

For context, Nelson Figueroa pitched at about the same level as Jeff Suppan yesterday, and after the game he was designated for assignment.

A couple of other Citi Field tidbits: Here's Brian Anderson's view from the broadcast booth and Cute Sports' rundown of complaints about the views from the visitors bullpen and radio booth.

There were, however, no complaints about the performance of Todd Coffey. Coffey recorded eight outs for the save yesterday. Even though a pitcher who completes the last three innings of a win is awarded a save regardless of the score, Coffey's 2.2 inning save yesterday was the 17th longest save since the start of the 2008 season, and the longest in a game decided by less than four runs. Michael Hunt thinks the Brewer bullpen may have reached a turning point. Certainly, Trevor Hoffman's projected Sunday return won't hurt.

So, having salvaged one win in New York, the Brewers move on to Philadelphia, where they're not looking to avenge their 2008 playoff defeat. That's a good thing, because trading a playoff series loss for a win in April wouldn't be fair anyway.

Jason Kendall might get more than his usual day off this week, as it's being reported that he's playing with a sore arm after being hit by a foul tip over the weekend. I don't think anyone around here will be too upset if Mike Rivera gets a few extra starts.

For some, though, it's a story when their arm isn't sore. Mark Rogers hit 97 on the gun in his second outing back with Brevard County. He's on a 50 pitch limit for the first half of the season, but has pitched two trouble-free outings. (h/t FanShot)

Across the league:

Angels: Vladimir Guerrero has a torn pec muscle, will miss at least a month and may not play the field again in 2009.
Astros: Scheduled a press conference for tonight and are expected to announce they've picked up Cecil Cooper's option for 2010.
Blue Jays: Placed Michael Barrett on the DL with a torn muscle and possible fracture in his shoulder.
Braves: Designated Blaine Boyer for assignment.
Mets: Placed Brian Schneider on the DL with a strained muscle in his back.
Nationals: Placed CF Roger Bernadina on the DL with a broken ankle and Cristian Guzman on the DL with a hamstring strain. They also designated Wil Ledezma and Steven Shell for assignment and signed Ryan Zimmerman to a five year deal worth $45 million.
Padres: Placed Walter Silva on the DL with a forearm strain.
Rangers: Designated reliever Josh Rupe for assignment.
Red Sox: Brad Wilkerson, who had been playing in AAA Pawtucket, has decided to retire.
Twins: Designated Phil Humber for assignment and claimed Juan Morillo off waivers from the Rockies. Humber was considered a key part of the deal that sent Johan Santana to the Mets.

This is small sample size in all of its glory, but there's a lot of early talk about home runs flying out of New Yankee Stadium, and phrases like pitcher's nightmare are being thrown about. Maybe someone is already doing this, but it certainly doesn't look like it: If you can design a system that analyzes new ballparks and estimates their park factor before they open, you might be in line to make a lot of money.

Oh, and Mr. Met has an office at Citi Field.

Drink up.

Twins bullpen woes: Are there solutions?

cmathewson — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 06:00:13 -0000

The Achilles heel of the Twins in 2008 was its bullpen, which regularly imploded, especially after Pat Neshek was put on the disabled list. Can the 2009 pen improve on the unit's 2008 performance, in which it blew 26 saves? Early returns suggest that this pen is even worse than last year's pen. At least last year's pen had a couple of months with Neshek to nail down the eighth inning. This year's pen has no clear eighth-inning guy. Because the other set-up roles hinge on eighth-inning clarity, manager Ron Gardenhire (Gardy) is left juggling every night, something he had spotty success with in 2008.

The stakes are high: Find some stability in the bullpen or suffer through a year of blown saves and futile chances of postseason glory. So what can the front office do to fix the bullpen and save the season before it spirals out of control? The options are actually better than casual fans might think. In this blogger's opinion, the Twins have enough depth in the minors to fix the problem. The question is, will the front office act before it's too late?

Assessing what we have in the majors

Before assessing the options in the minors, let's look at what we have in the majors. To net it out for scanners: It's not good.

Jesse Crain: Crain appears to have his stuff back the second year after shoulder surgery, which is a good sign. And, until Friday night, he looked like the perfect candidate to fill the eighth-inning role. Tuesday night's extra inning performance, in particular, made it look like he could be the man for the eighth. He showed similar flashes of brilliance last year in pressure situations, but he struggled to stay consistent. Friday night he proved he has yet to establish consistency. Whether he can establish consistency this year is an open question. He's certainly an option, but other options must be examined.
Matt Guerrier: Guerrier had one of the worst second halves of any reliever in the majors last year. Twins fans from the 80s will understand it when I say it was truly RD-like, circa 1986. After such a collapse, why did the Twins so readily bring him back this year? Well he was so good beforehand, it appeared to be an aberration. Conventional wisdom said fatigue had taken the life from his pitches, with predictable results (contrary to his actual usage data). So would an off season of rest bring back his stuff? I have expressed my doubts here, which have been unfortunately confirmed in the early goings. He too struggles with consistency, but, unlike Crain, his good performances to date are the exception rather than the rule. I think he's proven he can't be the eighth-inning guy. If he's used right, however, he could be an effective middle or long man, which is where he's had most of his success. The key for him is usage; and it's clear neither Gardy nor Andy know how to use him right yet. Even with proper usage, he might be a candidate later in the year for DFA if he doesn't start pitching better.
Craig Breslow: Breslow was one of the few bright spots last year in limited duty. Why his duty was so limited was a mystery, and the hope going into this year was that he would replicate his performance with more work. So far, that hope is fading fast. He's already had two appearances without getting an out, which is two more than last year. It's no exaggeration to say he's the biggest disappointment in the bullpen so far this season. His new role of left-handed specialist seems to suit him not at all. It seems he could be effective in the role he had last year--middle reliever for righties and lefties. But that means the Twins will need to get a LOOGY to replace Dennys Reyes because Breslow is not the guy. As we shall see, there is LOOGY in Rochester doing quite well. So there is some hope here.
Luis Ayala: Beyond Neshek's elbow problems, the other big blow to the bullpen last year was the disaster that was Juan Rincon. Faced with needing to replace both Neshek and get an arm to upgrade Rincon's slot, Bill Smith came up with Luis Ayala. So far, Rincon (who is pitching for Detroit) is out pitching Ayala, not that that's saying much (a 5+ ERA vs. a 7+ ERA). Ayala has looked horrible this year. Gardy appeared to put him in the eighth-inning role to begin with, which didn't work at all. Now he seems relegated to mop-up duty. Unfortunately, this team has had a lot of mop-up duty this year, so we've seen Ayala a lot more than many of us want to. There was some hope that this would be the year for him to recover from Tommy John surgery and return to the form he had prior to surgery. But the history of guys who rely on the sinker post TJ is not good (see Mays, Joe). So there's little hope he'll be any better going forward. He's definitely a candidate to follow Philip Humber in the ranks of DFAed pitchers. The sooner the better, IMHO.
RA Dickey: Dickey started out taking Scott Baker's slot in the rotation as Baker nursed a stiff shoulder in Fort Myers. When Baker returned, Dickey went to the bullpen. Gardy loves this guy because he can pitch everyday. Therein lies the problem. It's one thing for a guy to have a rubber arm. It's quite another for him to get outs with it. When he gave up a first-pitch grand slam the other day, Twins fans got a taste of things to come. Dickey could be useful as a mop-up guy. But counting on him to get outs in close-and-late situations is a pipe dream, considering his propensity to give up walks and homers. The sooner Gardy realizes that, the better.
Juan Morillo: The Twins have not wasted time in trying to fix the problem with this bullpen, designating Philip Humber for assignment and claiming Juan Morillo off waivers from Colorado on Friday. Morillo has a power arm, which is definitely needed in this organization. Let's hope he can harness his stuff to get outs. But he's a development project who should not be given a lot of high-pressure situations until he shows he can do it consistently. Bottom line, though it's a good sign that the Twins are willing to make moves to improve the pen, we can't count on him for anything right now. His minor league numbers suggest he'll strike out a lot of guys, but he'll also walk a lot of batters, which is not a great thing for a late-inning reliever.

Assessing what we have in the minors

The good news is, the situation in the minors looks promising. For the first time in years, the Twins have several arms who have been extremely successful as relievers. So, rather than needing to convert starters to relievers and develop guys in the majors, the Twins should be able to call on guys who are used to bullpen roles and can help sooner rather than later.

Jose Mijares: The Twins were counting on Mijares to come to spring training in shape and pick up where he left off in September last year, when he was the only legitimate replacement for Neshek in the second half. But Mijares came to camp overweight, tweaked a groin muscle early in camp, and never pitched well. So he's down in Rochester getting himself back on track. Fortunately, he's yet to give up a run in Rochester, and it appears he's close to being ready to come back to the team. When he was sent down, he said he expected to get back by June. But Bill Smith pulled him aside and told him he wanted him ready in April. So perhaps Smith foresaw this situation and needed Mijares to be an option right away. This indicates that he could be up as soon as they DFA Ayala, which he's a couple of more bad outings away from IMO. The good news there is Mijares can fill the shoes of Dennys Reyes (he could even fill his jumbo-sized jersey), allowing Breslow to return to the middle-inning generalist role he thrived in last year. Crain might not be able to handle all the eighth-inning duties, but he might be able to share them with Mijares.
Anthony Slama: In this bloggers opinion, Slama is the best relief prospect the Twins have had since Pat Neshek. He won all sorts of awards for his work last year in Fort Myers last season, with good reason. He had sick numbers as the Miracle's closer and continues his dominating ways as New Britain's closer this year. Some might say there are relievers in Rochester ahead of him. But aside from Mijares, there is no better reliever in the organization than Slama. And the Twins won't hesitate to go get him if they need someone to replace a struggling middle guy.
Rob Delaney: A lot of analysts actually rate Delaney higher than Slama, which is saying a lot. Though neither guy was rated very highly out of college (Slama was a 39th-round draft choice and Delaney went undrafted), they have both had incredible minor league careers, typically at the same level. Analysts who rate Delaney ahead of Slama likely do so because of his promotion to New Britain from Fort Myers last year. Why didn't the Twins promote Slama instead? I don't know, but Slama actually had better numbers than Delaney did at Fort Myers last year. Other than numbers, the reason I rate Slama higher is the Twins have made him the closer whenever he and Delaney pitched together in the same pen, as is the case this year in New Britain. Slama also had a better spring, and like Mijares, has yet to give up a run in the early going as the Rock Cats' closer. Still, Delaney is another good option in case of injury or continued poor pitching by the current bullpen.

Conclusion

Take heart, Twins fans. As usual, the lads have gotten out of the gate slowly as the coaching staff struggles to fit the pieces of the roster puzzle together. But early adjustments can save the team from an early demise. And there's no place like the bullpen to start the maneuvering, which appears underway already. It looks like the Twins will not have to go outside of the organization to upgrade some key spots in late-inning relief.

Monday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 13:55:06 -0000

Some things to read while eliminating public transportation.

As you can probably imagine, a fair amount of today's notes are about Jeff Suppan:

Two-Fisted Slopper has renamed Sunday "Tough Day for Suppan #2."
Suppan and Jorge Julio combined to make the Brewers just the ninth team in the modern era to walk in four runs in an inning.
Brew City Sports thinks there's a 75% chance Suppan will be cut by the end of the season.
As of this writing, about 89% of voters at this FanPost think Suppan should be out of the rotation.
The Wall Street Journal discusses the significance of an ace getting shelled early.
The Official Site has more quotes from Doug Melvin defending Suppan. They were from before last night's disaster, though.
CZweif.com thinks the Brewers need to give Suppan at least a month before making a move.

Fresh off last night's disaster, the Brewers welcome the Reds to town tonight for a matchup of two of baseball's best young pitchers, Yovani Gallardo and Edinson Volquez. Once this home series is over, the Brewers head to New York to face the Mets and Philadelphia to face the Phillies.

What do you think of the first week of new manager Ken Macha? PocketDoppler thinks Macha will be publicly viewed as a better manager than Ned Yost, but his record may be worse. Yost posted a .477 winning percentage as manager of the Brewers. If Macha manages a team with this much talent to a sub-.500 record, he'll be lucky to be seen as better than Davey Lopes.

If it looks like my pockets are bulging today, it's because they're stuffed full of minor league notes:

Brett Lawrie was pulled from a game over the weekend for failing to run out a ground ball. Good to see the team working to keep attitudes in check.
39 on the line is reporting that Taylor Green is healing faster than expected and could return as soon as the end of the month.
Mark Rogers pitched three scoreless innings over the weekend in his first game action in 32 months.
In light of the recent tragedy involving Nick Adenhart, The Tifton Gazette has a profile of Nick Green, Adenhart's former roommate in the minors. Green is no stranger to tragedy.

There's one ranking to pass along today: The Honolulu Advertiser dropped the Brewers from sixth to eighteenth in their power rankings.

But, the Brewers do give you a significant bang for your buck: A recent study ranked them as fifth most affordable.

Elsewhere around baseball:

Astros: Doug Brocail has been placed on the DL with a rotator cuff strain.
Braves: Tom Glavine left a minor league rehab appearance early with discomfort in his shoulder.
D-Backs: Placed Brandon Webb on the DL with a shoulder issue.
Dodgers: Delwyn Young, currently in AAA, is drawing interest from at least three teams and could be traded by the end of the week. They also placed Hiroki Kuroda on the DL with a strained oblique.
Giants: Joe Martinez remains in intensive care with three hairline fractures in his skull and subdural hematoma. He is expected to be removed from the ICU within the next few days, but won't be able to pitch until at least late May. The team also signed Dallas McPherson to a minor league deal.
Indians: Pitcher Scott Lewis has been placed on the DL with a left forearm strain.
Mets: Designated Marlon Anderson for assignment.
Nationals: Signed Ron Villone to a minor league deal.
Padres: Claimed reliever Luis Perdomo off waivers. Perdomo was the Giants' Rule 5 pick from the Cardinals. They also signed Chad Gaudin to a minor league deal.
Phillies: Placed catcher Carlos Ruiz on the DL with an oblique strain.
Reds: Chris Dickerson needed a bandage on his head after being assaulted by a revolving door.
Rockies: Designated pitcher Juan Morillo for assignment.
Royals: Placed Jose Guillen on the DL with a right groin tear.

If the recession is doing one positive thing, it's forcing teams to reevaluate the prices they charge for concessions and the rules keeping fans from bringing things in: the Dodgers are lowering prices and the Nationals are allowing fans to bring food in.

Oh, and you should keep Denny Neagle away from your girlfriend.

Drink up.

MLB Transactions Part Nine: Options, Service Time Charts and the DL

Jabberwocky — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 18:10:46 -0000

In this final (I promise) installment of Purple Row Academy on MLB Transactions, I take a look at the disabled list. But first, the Rockies have made their final spring roster moves. These charts assume that Franklin Morales is optioned down to Colorado Springs, Juan Morillo is put on waivers, and Jeff Francis is moved to the 60 day DL (explained later) because the Rockies signed Jason Hammel and Matt Belisle to major league contracts (AKA placed them on the 40 man roster).

All of these transactions mean that it is necessary to update my 40 man roster charts for major league service time/player rights and minor league options. This information is not exactly easy to find around the internet and is often my interpretation of transaction logs--so it might not be entirely accurate. However, these charts should be a fairly accurate representation of our 40 man roster's service time and options situation.

Colorado Rockies 40 Man Roster Sorted by Major League Service Time and Player Rights

This table sorts the Rockies' 40 man roster by service time and player rights, found courtesy of Cot's Contracts. The categories are zero service time, less than one year, not arbitration eligible, arbitration eligible, free agency eligible, ten and five rights, and key non-roster players. Note that this chart does not reflect the fact that several players (like Tulo and Jimenez) have signed multi-year deals that buy out their arbitration years. Also, Jeff Francis is currently not on the 40 man roster so he is placed in the non-roster category. For more on these levels of player rights, refer to the Service Time session of PR Academy.

Zero	UAY	NAE	AE	FAE	T&F Rights	Non-Roster
Deduno	Morales	Corpas	Belisle	Cook	Helton	Flores (AE)
Lindsay	Register	Jimenez	Buchholz	Embree		Fogg (FAE)
Mattheus	Reynolds	Hammel	JDLR	Marquis		Francis (AE)
Rogers	Fowler	Hirsh	Grilli	Rusch		Fasano (FAE)
Gomez	Gonzalez	Speier	Street	Torrealba		Ortmeier (NAE)
Nelson	S. Smith	G. Smith	Atkins
Young Jr	Stewart	Baker	Barmes
		Iannetta	Hawpe
		Murton
		Quintanilla
		Spilborghs
		Tulowitzki
7 (4P, 3H)	7 (3P, 4H)	12 (6P, 6H)	8 (5P, 3H)	5 (4P, 1H)	1 (1H)	5 (3P, 2H)

Colorado Rockies 40 Man Roster Sorted by Minor League Options Remaining

This chart sorts the 40 man roster by number of options remaining. Note that, with the exception of Fowler and Troy Tulowitzki, all of our young players were optioned down and have two options remaining. Also, Jeff Francis has one option remaining but is not currently on the 40 man roster. Players with a * are in their final minor league option season (they can be optioned this year but not next).

Three	Two	One	One (ST Constraints)	Zero	Options Ineligible (5+ years of ST)
Fowler	Corpas	Register	Street	Belisle	Cook
Tulowitzki	Deduno	Reynolds	Atkins	Buchholz	Embree
	Jimenez	Rogers	Hawpe	JDLR	Marquis
	Lindsay	Gonzalez		Grilli	Rusch
	Mattheus	Stewart		Hammel	Helton
	G.Smith			Hirsh*	Torrealba
	Gomez			Morales*
	Iannetta			Speier
	Nelson			Baker
	S. Smith			Barmes
	Young Jr			Murton*
				Quintanilla
				Spilborghs

2 (2H)	11(6P,5H)	5 (3P,2H)	3 (1P, 2H)	13 (8P,5H)	6 (4P, 2H)

Chart Analysis

As you can see from the charts, the Rockies have a lot of young players on their team, with many either arbitration eligible or soon to be. This is the result of Dan O' Dowd's focus on homegrown players on the big league club and in part unwillingness to bring in free agent hitters or non-scrap heap pitchers. The problem with this business model is that soon a number of Rockies will be in their arbitration years, which means that even to keep the status quo ownership will have to increase payroll (as they did this year) in arbitration settlements.

GMs who get too attached to their own talent often fall into the trap of paying too much for marginal players (Cory Sullivan, anyone?) and not bringing in talent from other teams. O'Dowd's method of bringing in talent has mostly been through trades, taking on existing contracts, or by searching through the scrap heap and hoping to find gold.

Join me after the jump for an explanation of the disabled list...

The Disabled List

Many baseball fans know about the disabled lists, but this is a quick reminder of how they work. Firstly, there are two different disabled lists for each club: the 15 and 60 day DL (also called the Emergency DL). I'll explain each list briefly below as well as rehab assignments and the bereavement list. To be eligible to be placed on the DL, a player must be certified by a doctor as disabled, but that isn't that tough of a requirement to meet.

Note that a player on either the 15 or 60 day DL continues to accumulate major league service time (Francis will accrue a year's worth of service time this year on the 60 day DL), but he must remain inactive for a minimum of 15 or 60 days, with Day 1 beginning after the player’s last game appearance. A club may make the placement of a player on either list retroactive to the last date on which he played, up to a maximum backdating of 10 days. For instance, if Brad Hawpe got hurt with a strained hamstring, the Rockies would have 10 days to decide whether to put him on the 15 day DL without losing him for more than 15 total days.

15-Day DL

A player can be placed on the 15 day DL to remove him from the 25 man major league active roster--though NOT the 40 man roster. As a result, the player may not play for at least 15 consecutive days. A player may be activated at the beginning of Day 16, though the club is not required to reinstate him at any specific time. There is no limit to the number of players a club may put on the 15-day DL.

In addition, a player can be transferred from the 15-day list to the 60-day list if his injury is more serious and/or the team wants to open up a 40 man roster slot, but the opposite is not permitted. If a player is transferred, his time on the 15-day list is credited toward the minimum stay on the 60-day list.

60-Day (Emergency) DL

A player that is placed on the 60-day disabled list does not count against either the 25-man or 40-man roster. The player may then not play for 60 consecutive days (retroactive up to 10 days). A player may be activated beginning Day 61, though the club is not required to reinstate him at any specific time. A player placed on the 60-day list after August 1 remains there for the rest of the season.

There is no limit to the number of players on the 60-day DL, but teams are only allowed to take advantage of it if their 40 man roster is full. In addition, once the season is over, the Emergency DL players must be placed back on the 40 man roster or be designated for assignment.

The major advantage of having a player on the 60-day DL, as mentioned above, is the ability of a team to open up a 40 man roster slot--though it is a temporary advantage, it allows teams to keep a couple of extra major league players on their roster or make a couple of prospects eligible for an easy call-up if necessary.

Rehabilitation Assignments

As an extension of a team's options with injured players, a club may send a player on the DL to the minor leagues for a rehab assignment lasting a maximum of 20 days for position players and 30 days for pitchers. These assignments do not count as a minor league option.

Bereavement List

Implemented in 2003, the Bereavement List allows clubs to replace players on the 25 man roster who are experiencing a family emergency or the death of a loved one for 3-7 days with the permission of the commissioner's office. The definition of loved one has in 2004 been expanded to include extended family or in-laws, but does not include the birth of a player's child. The team must use a 40 man roster player to replace the bereaved player. Players on the bereavement list accumulate major league service time.

Sources and Additional Reading

These sources were essential to the writing of this article and, as always, are highly encouraged reading material.

Cot's Contracts, Jeff Euston

Rockies 40 Man Roster, Colorado Rockies

ML Service Time, Jabberwocky

Minor League Options, Jabberwocky

MLB Transaction Primer, Rob Neyer (ESPN)

MLB Transactions, Wikipedia

Disabled List, Jeff Euston

Bereavement List, Jeff Euston

Tuesday Rockpile: Rockies lose Opener - fate points to World Series appearance

Poseidon's Fist — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 13:00:13 -0000

More photos » by Matt York - AP

Arizona snuck past Colorado yesterday in just an offensive game overall.

Browse more photos »

Fuel for your purple-tinted shades

Aaron Cook was very ineffective while being saddled with the loss on Opening Day, even though the offense roughed up Brandon Webb in a surprising slugfest. Wait, doesn't that sound familiar? As a few Rowbots and Tracy Ringolsby have pointed out, the last time that happened, the Rockies found themselves in the World Series six months later.

Hey...optimism is still allowed.

Ringolsby believes he sees the return of that unselfish team mentality that Rocktober squad had eminating out of every pore. He points at the even-keeled anti-Cutler reactions to the Barmes/Stewart swap in the starting lineup as an example.

Maybe it's the team mentality. Maybe the fact that every Rockie hitter Monday is home-grown. Maybe Dan O'Dowd has just assembled some serious talent. Or maybe it was Brandon Webb's sore shoulder. Whatever made the Rockies bats click Monday, please wash, rinse, repeat. The same for Cook, except the last step.

Roster housekeeping

Troy Renck reports that Jason Hammel and Matt Belisle will join the club Friday for the Home Opener.

"We thought (Hammel) made progress last year out of the bullpen. We like his versatility," Rockies general manager Dan O'Dowd said. "We think he's at a good age (26) to turn the corner."-Renck

To make room, Franklin Morales will be sent to AAA after his Wednesday start, and Juan Morillo will likely be traded. Likely destinations are Florida, San Diego (ugh), or Texas.

Jack Etkin reports on the finalization of minor league rosters. A pitching enthusiast can't go wrong in Tulsa: their rotation will include Jhoulys Chacin, Chaz Roe, Samuel Deduno, Esmil Rogers and Keith Weiser. Brandon Hynick has been assigned to Colorado Springs.

Weak out West

Marc Hulet from FanGraphs compiled a list of MLB's ten worst farm systems, as assigned by Baseball Prospectus, Baseball America and FanGraphs themselves. The Dodgers, Padres and Diamondbacks made the "Bottom 10" list for all three. Still, Erik at Beyond the Boxscore rates the Rockies below Arizona.

Familiar Faces

Since Brian Fuentes and Matt Holliday both moved to the AL West, it was only a matter of time until the former teammates squared off. But who would have expected Big Daddy to be Tito's second batter? Holliday popped out to right in the top of the ninth as Fuentes completed a perfect save. Matt had a fairly unassuming debut but did record 1/3 of Oakland's hits and had a nice sliding catch. I also didn't see him smile once wearing green, so maybe he misses Colorado and will re-sign in the offseason. Hey...optimism is still allowed.

Quotables

From ~~Herm Edwards~~ Aaron Cook:

"The idea was to try and win the game.’’-Ringolsby

Okay, that's unfair.

"It was a really bad performance," said Cook, who traced his problems to losing the balance point in his delivery. "We are all in this together, and nobody points fingers. But I definitely blame myself."-Renck