Rockies paying for mistakes

By Jim Baker

MLB Insider

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Updated: November 5

11:33 AM ET

 

 

When you have committed 90 percent of your payroll to six players -- one of whom pitches 1,400 miles away and another of whom will not pitch in 2004 -- something has to give.

 

In Denver -- where that is the economic model -- that something may well be franchise player Todd Helton. Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post reports that the team is willing to listen to offers on Helton and centerfielder Preston Wilson.

 

 

 

HeltonWhat has driven the Colorado Rockies to this point of desperation is a series of bad financial decisions involving Mike Hampton (the one they are paying not to pitch for them) and Denny Neagle (the one too injured to pitch next year) along with an exorbitant contract for Helton. While the slugging first baseman deserves to be one of the better-paid players in the game, he is on a long-term deal that has him signed through the age of 38 at something like $16 million per year. As the Red Sox found out when they put Manny Ramirez on waivers and saw no takers, these kinds of deals are extremely forebidding to other clubs. What is more, even if Colorado can find somebody to pony up some quality bodies in exchange for Helton, he has a no-trade clause that will allow him to shoot down any deal not to his liking. (The Rockies were on the wrong end of a no-trade clause last season when they tried to deal another of those six highest-paid players, Admin Walker. Matt Williams, then of the Diamondbacks, put the kibosh on that one.)

Clearly, this is a team in trouble. Anytime Darren Oliver is your most valuable pitcher, changes are in order. Unfortunately, their largesse of the past will make it extremely difficult to get very active. Renck points out that, at $10 million per season, Wilson might be the best bet for trading action. The National League RBI champ, Wilson took every advantage of the hitting-friendly environment in Coors Field. Away from Denver, he posted an OPS under .800 and looked very much like the player he was in 2000 while with the Florida Marlins (the last time he played as much as he did this past season). Taking his away stats and doubling them, we find that Wilson has not risen to another level but was the benefactor of the happy circumstance of playing at altitude:

 

Preston Wilson Comparison

2000 2003 adjusted

HR 31 30

RBI 121 114

B.A. .264 .260

OBP .331 .316

S.A. .486 .479

 

 

That's still a fairly decent year, but not one for which you'd want to pay $10 million. It seems unlikely in this day and age that there is a general manager out there who would look at Wilson's 141-RBI figure and be tempted to send real talent to Denver in exchange for him. It is more likely that a GM would make a fire sale kind of offer -- Wilson for a couple of non-prospects and then absorb his salary. For the Rockies to hope for both talent acquisition and ridding themselves of his salary is probably unrealistic.

 

For his part, Wilson is being very diplomatic about the situation. He told Renck: "I would really like to remain in Denver. I feel like the foundation is there for a great franchise. However, I do understand that because of financial reasons, the organization may have to make a move. It's unfortunate that a couple of signings in the past couple of years have turned out poorly and may result in the team having to start over from scratch."

 

 

 

WilsonWhat he really should be saying is this: "I would kill to remain in Denver. I feel like the foundation here is so high up in the sky that everything I touch with my bat turns to gold. However, these idiots signed two pitchers to long-term deals and neither one will pitch for us next year so I might have to kiss all those RBI goodbye."

Getting back to Helton, is there a team that could afford him that also needs a first baseman? The Dodgers might fit that bill. Helton would certainly fit into the Red Sox modus operandi. The Orioles are patrolling the free agent market for big-name talent. The Angels? The Cubs could certainly use a first baseman as could their arch-rivals, the Cardinals. The Giants have a need but are probably not in the mood to pay that kind of salary. It's a very small group of teams that fit these two criteria:

 

 

Have a need

 

Have anything close to that kind of money

It's a much smaller group that fits the third criteria:

 

 

Have talent to trade and are willing to give it up

Then, even if all of those conditions can be met, there is one more criterion that must be met:

 

 

Be a team for which Helton wants to play

Given all this, it seems highly unlikely that he will be playing for anybody but the Rockies for the next few years. Still, that this is even a topic of discussion illustrates how desperate the Rockies situation has become and just how out of control spending was in baseball three years ago.

 

 

 

Rockies might deal top talent

Troy E. Renck / Denver Post

what sport is this? cricket? :lol