Dealin' Dan Does it Again

As I'm sure that most of those reading today's entry already know, the Rockies did make some moves yesterday, interrupting an otherwise quiet stay at the Winter Meetings. In a move that has been anticipated for a number of weeks now, the Rockies finally acquired Yorvit Torrealba from Seattle to be their backup catcher. At first report, the Rockies' half of the transaction was a player to be named. That player turned out to be Marcos Carvajal. Initially I was not convinced this was a worthwhile transaction. Now I am convinced this was a bad deal for the Rox. I have never been, nor will I ever be, one to routinely and blindly criticize the Rockies' management. However, I also will call it like I see it and criticize when I feel it's warranted. If Dan O'Dowd has demonstrated one area of consistency, it's the willingness to trade young talent for marginal major leaguers. Does anybody remember the Kimera Bartee and Jacob Cruz trades? I agree, we'd like to forget them, but we shouldn't if we want to honestly evaluate DD's ability (or inability) to fill current needs without sacrificing player(s) of significantly higher long-term value. In one sense, the Bartee and Cruz trades were understandable. The Rox were desparate to find a leftfielder in a "win now" environment. But now, in an atmosphere of excercising patience and focusing on building from within, a trade like this is hard to figure out.

I was surprised to read this morning that the Rox had offered arbitration to BK Kim when every indication I had seen was that they would not. The apparent strategy is that Kim will reject arbitration and they will continue to negotiate. The Rockies are hoping they can meet face to face with Kim, who has been in South Korea since the end of the season. By offering arbitration, the Rox have exclusive negotiating rights with Kim until January 8 and will receive compensation if he signs with another team. We've seen this strategy before and sometimes it backfires. A few years ago, the Braves offered Greg Maddux arbitration, assuming he would reject it and they would get a draft pick when he signed with another team. Maddux accepted arbitration and won. As a result, Atlanta had to trade Millwood for below value just to meet their budgeted payroll. Hopefully the Rox can agree on a deal with Kim. The alternative seems to be Zach Day.

As expected, there has been a rather hefty dose of signings and trades since last evening, the most disheartening for Rox fans being that Trevor Hoffman chose to remain with the Padres. An A+ goes to San Diego for retaining the two biggest pieces in their puzzle in Hoffman and Giles. On a positive note, they did trade Mark Loretta, who has always seemed to be a thorn in the Rockies' side.

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