Veteran Relief in High Demand

One thing that has been clear already this free-agent season is that veteran relief pitchers are in the highest of demand. Two more, Tom Gordon and Tim Worrell, both 38, recently signed contracts. Gordon by the Phillies and Worell by the Giants. Gordon's contract is reportedly for three years and $18 million while the Giants seemingly got Worrell for a bargain at two years and $4 million. Note: rumored reports say that the signing of Worrell will drop the average age for the Giants "by at least a year". The state of the market is making the Rox' target at acquiring veteran bullpen help a more costly proposition. Apparently Clint Hurdle has personally joined the effort in wooing Jose Mesa to be the Rox' setup man. This possible acquisition has drawn an overall favorable response from most in the Rox' blogosphere, at least compared to the thought of bringing back the likes of Pedro Astacio and Shawn Estes. Meanwhile, the Rox' pursuit of a catcher continues to be worth keeping an eye on, taking more turns than the average day-time soap opera.

The RMN had a great article last week about Jorge Piedra and his infant daughter. If you missed it, it's definitely a worthwhile read.

The latest edition of Baseball Weekly listed Joe Kennedy as possible trade bait for the Rox. Huh? I guess we all makes mistakes. Since the end of the postseason, Baseball Weekly has ranked players by position. This week they ranked third basemen. I perused the list, looking for Garrett Atkins, and he was ranked at 13. I wasn't surprised by this, but what did surprise me were their comments:

This kid surprised the Rockies by playing decent defense. He also wound up with 89 RBI, the fifth-most by a NL rookie since 1980. He could actually force minor league sensation Ian Stewart to the outfield in two years.

Now, we've heard over and over again how Atkins was simply a stop-gap until Stewart was ready for the majors and how Stewart would eventually force both Atkins and Jeff Baker to find a new position with the Rox, but this is the first time I've heard it the other way around. Interesting.