Kuzul

The July 31st Trade Deadline is fast approaching. The Rockies after this last road series, are in need of help, and lots of it. Will the Rockies be serious buyers? Will they be able to upgrade their team for a 2010 playoff race? What areas will the Rockies be looking at? In the next week, I’ll write a series on the Rockies needs at the trade deadline. Today’s will be relief pitching, and later I’ll look at offensive/position players and another article will be starting pitching.

Right now the Rockies bullpen consists of:
Right Handers : Games IP ERA Batting Average Against
Matt Belisle          45 60.1 2.69 .237
Rafael Betancourt 41 34.2 4.67 .277
Taylor Buchholz     1 1.0 18.00 .400
Manuel Corpas     45 51.0 4.41 .244
Huston Street      14 15.0 3.00 .189

Left Handers: Games IP ERA Batting Average Against
Joe Beimel           43 29.2 2.43 .223
Randy Flores       39 22.2 2.78 .182

In AAA the Rockies also have some players like Matt Daley, Juan Rincon, Franklin Morales, Esmil Rogers, and Matt Reynolds that could help out in the ‘pen. Rogers is being used in AAA as a starter. Rincon has an ERA of 7.79. Daley, Morales and Reynolds are options, but Reynolds is not on the MLB 40-man roster so moves would have to be made to add him.

Names that the rumor mill has generated for the Rockies include:

Kevin Gregg , Toronto Blue Jays, 32 years old, Right Hander .382 ERA
Scott Downs , Toronto Blue Jays 34 Right Hander, 2.45 ERA 1.041 WHIP 3rd in the AL with 19 Holds for the Season
Evan Meek , Pittsburgh Pirates 27 Right Hander, 1.34 ERA 0.894 WHIP
Joel Hanrahan , Pittsburgh Pirates 28 Right Hander, .367 ERA 1.056 WHIP

If you’ll notice all of these are right-handed pitchers. Beimel and Flores have done there jobs as situational lefties. However, it’s the inconsistency of Manuel Corpas plus Buchholz looking shaky coming off Tommy John surgery the Rockies would like to upgrade.

Troy Renck of the Denver Post has said that the Bullpen is the Rockies main focus right now at the trade deadline, and their top priority is Kevin Gregg. He would also be the easiest and cheapest to get of those names besides maybe Hanrahan.

My personal choice would be Meek. Meek is a hard thrower with a fastball that averages 95.1 MPH this year. He also has a slider, a cutter and a curve-ball. In the past he’s thrown a Change-up, but according to Fangraphs he’s not thrown that this year. He’s also the youngest and because of that has the best contract.  All that gives him the highest price tag as far as cost of propects the Rockies would have to give up to get him.

But it looks like the Rockies will be going for the player that will have the most experience as a closer and that is Kevin Gregg.

Kevin Gregg came up through Angels system, and went on to the Marlins for 2 years where he was their closer, getting 61 saves over those 2 years. He was with the Cubs for one year, getting 23 saves before signing as a free agent with the Jays where he’s been their closer this season. Gregg has 37.2 innings pitched in 38 games with 22 saves. His ERA in 2010 is 3.82 which is below his career ERA of 4.08. For 2010 Gregg’s WAR is .4 which isn’t bad for a reliever.

Gregg features a fastball, that has averaged 92.5 MPH this year, as well as a slider/cutter that he uses a lot. This year he’s been throwing more of a straight cutter (31.0%) than ever before .

Kevin Gregg has a fairly reasonable contract. He signed for $2.0 million for 2010, with a club option after this year of one year at $4.5 million for 2011 or a club option of 2 years at $8.75 million. There is also a buy out of $750,000 in the 2 year option.

I find it interesting that one of the Rockies main targets is a pitcher with experience as a closer.  Street missed the first two months of the season with injury. He’s been decent since coming back, but he did have his first blown save this week, costing the Rockies a much-needed win. Street’s also not cheap having just signed a new three-year contract that will pay him $22.5 million including this year.

I get the feeling the Rockies are thinking about hedging their bets on Huston Street, if Street becomes an injury risk, a label that many have given Street before he came to the Rockies from Oakland.

What will it take to get Gregg? I never know, but you can expect a couple of prospects at least. The Rockies have several B Type prospects that won’t help the Rockies out much, but could have good careers with other clubs. Assume one pitcher and a position player from the Rockies.

Not So Bold Prediction: Kevin Gregg will be a Colorado Rockie by the end of the week.

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Well replacement might be a tough word, because no one is going to ever replace the supreme production supplied by Mariano Rivera.

Replacing someone was as great as Rivera in their own line of work is the ultimate no-win situation. It rarely works out the same way, and no one usually remembers the replacements.

Quick: Who replaced Lou Gehrig at first base? Who replaced John Wooden at UCLA?

Mariano is the greatest closer of all time. Not the greatest relief pitcher (that would be Rollie Fingers because of his multiple inning durability), but Mo is the one pitcher you want on the mound for three ninth inning outs holding a one run lead.

Finding a new closer is going to be a difficult challenge as no one knows how long Rivera will continue to want to pitch.

At age 40, Rivera has shown no signs of vulnerability. He still sports one of the best closer ERAs with 1.05 and 20 saves, and a WHIP of 0.641. He also retired an incredible 24 straight batters in the month of June.

Still highly effective, how long will Rivera want to pitch? Similar to Derek Jeter and Andy Pettitte, the Yankees will allow Rivera to make up his own mind when he wants to leave the game.

Rivera has mentioned that signing a series of one-year deals (similar to what Pettitte has done) would be acceptable to him.

I believe Rivera will pitch at least two more seasons after 2010. The “Core Four” will begin to gradually leave the team after this season (Pettitte retiring) and after 2011 (Jorge Posada not being re-signed).

If I were Mo, I would not want to retire the same season as another long time Yankee does.

I believe Rivera will then leave after the 2012 season, which makes getting my preferred replacement very difficult, as that guy is available sooner than the 2013 season.

Here are the five top candidates for the eventual new Yankees closer spot, and Joba Chamberlain is NOT on the list.

Begin Slideshow

Huston Street is back.  Sort of.  Street was activated from the disabled list on Tuesday as Juan Rincon was designated for assignment, making room on the roster.

I assume the Rockies hopes Rincon passes through waivers, but I doubt he will, as several teams, including the Marlins, are struggling with their bullpens. However, Rincon has passed through waivers once, and his latest stint with the Rockies didn’t exactly increase his value, as he only appeared in two big league games.  Additionally, in 24 appearances in AAA Colorado Springs, he had an ERA of 7.25.

So the Rockies finally have their closer back.  Hip hip Jorge! 

Wait…not so fast there.

With Manuel (don’t call him Manny, damn it!) Corpas struggling over this weekend, giving up eight runs in two appearances and only recording two outs, the Rockies now have an opening and a need for a closer.

But the Rockies won’t be throwing Huston Street to the wolves, just yet. His shoulder is still tender, and he hasn’t built up arm strength yet.  In fact in his last outing at the Springs on Saturday, Street gave up three runs in 1.1 innings, and during his rehab stint, Street had an ERA of 10.29. Those stats clearly show that he’s not ready to take over the closing role for the Rockies.

So who will be the Rockies closer?

Eventually it will be Street. 

Even Rockies manager Jim Tracy has said so.  Street is getting paid a lot of money ($7.2 million in 2010), and he’s not going to be a sixth or seventh inning guy with that kind of a salary. 

But that time isn’t now. 

Right now, the game plan has the Rockies using Street in the setup role, as he gets use to the Major League game speed and builds his arm up.  

Jim Tracy said that the closer will be a “mix and match” situation right now.  You will notice that Tracy didn’t use the dreaded “C” word.  But that is what it is. 

Committee…..I said it!  Can you say, “Closer by Committee”?  Yeah, I knew you could, and I know you don’t like it any more then I do.

“Closer by committee” means the Rockies don’t have one closer, and if you don’t have one closer, you don’t have a closer. We’ll see Matt Belisle, Manuel (he really does hate being called Manny!) Corpas, and even Franklin Morales in the ninth.

I can’t think of any team, especially one with playoff hopes and aspirations, that successfully handled a closer by committee situation. Players, including bullpen pitchers, want to know their role.  Mentally they need to know how and when they are going to be used to be at their best.

Until Huston Street is ready, Corpas should be the closer.  He’s not lights out, that’s for sure.  But before this weekend, Corpas had recorded six straight appearances with out giving up a run, recording four saves in that span.  

Jim Tracy though will now go nuts, with another area of the game with which he can tinker and micro-manage with his “mixing and matching”, but he will be wrong. 

Tracy needs to name a closer and  that closer should be Manuel Corpas.

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