Rockies send Speier out
The Colorado Rockies announced Friday that relief pitcher Ryan Speier has been designated for assignment and Manny Corpas placed on the 15-day disabled list to make room for Jhoulys Chacin and Rafael Betancourt on the roster.
Speier was activated from the disabled list on Tuesday. He was placed on the DL in April with a strained hamstring and later injured shoulder soreness while rehabbing from his first injury. He did not pitch for the Rockies after being activated.
Read more about the bullpen as it stands entering a huge series against the Giants at the Rocky Mountain Independent.
And the Josh Fogg questions continue…….
Possible starter if Marquis goes to the DL? Would Chacin be favored over Fogg?
Also, the Cardinals aquired Matt Holliday in exchange for 3 prospects. If you’re a Rockies fan, this is the best possible scenario other than Holliday going to an AL team. Better him go to the central division leader that has 2 teams trailing close behind the rockies for a wild card playoff berth, than go to the Giants, Brewers, or Cubs.
Hopefully the cards can be dominant against their division rivals and keep them out of the wild card race.
I wonder if the Giants will trade to get Adam Dunn…………
Dustin,
Another reason the Holliday trade is great for the Rockies is that Holliday has hit .358 with 17 HRs and 59 RBIs in 77 games against the Dodgers, and the Cardinals play the Dodgers 7 times in the next 30 games.
And the Josh Fogg questions continue…
I guess he could be seen as more starting pitching insurance, but I wonder if they made the choice based on Speier’s difficulty with the adjustments to his delivery and his lackluster results at the Springs. The move surprised me, though.
Very good trade for the Rockies to have him go to STL, I agree as well.
Was mildly surprised to see Speier sent out. Wonder if this had more to do with his recent injuries this year and Tracy going with Rincon on what he has seen this year from him and what his gut is telling him more than anything. I would still think he is next to go if they can get a lefty somehow to fill that void in the pen other than Morales.
I don’t have Fogg questions because i think he is more mentor than anything and he has done all that could be asked of him out there this year in the pen. I wouldnt be the least surprised if he is put on the DL with a ‘groin strain’ to make room on the roster before playoff rosters have to be set for persons on the team to get someone else on the active and then as rosters expand they can decide what to do for, knock on wood, the postseason.
Saw this noted on another site: today is Speier’s birthday! (30th, in fact.)
Wow. I didn’t expect Speier to be the “DFA Guy”. I thought it was between Rincon and Fogg. Oh well, hopefully this all works out great gor the Rox.
I hate this move. I hate it. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.
I’m with Dylan 100%.
Cannot say I hate this move, though I was suprised a bit. Speier has never been steller. He was solid in AAA (got to see him here) in prior years but could never pitch well enough at the bigs to stay on the roster, and with the issues we have had the past few years in the pen that tells you something. His era was over 4 all three years, and in 07 and this year his BAA was .299+ (that is the stat I look at for relievers). He is no longer young (30 today), snd his failure to adjust with the arm slot issues I think made this the only choice. Yes, Rincoln can be up and down, but Speier did not have the coach’s confidence. Rincón is also 30, has stayed in the bigs since 03 and currently while his ERA is high (the one bad outing) his BAA is under .200 (granted the lowest since 04 and 05, his peak seasons) and has been in the pressure of a pennent chase with the Twins.
Look I am no Rincón fan, but the guy brings something to the roster that Speier doesn’t.
First, I have to agree with Christopher Morton. I hated bringing Rincon in, but he may just have one more decent run in that arm. He’s simply more talented than Speier.
But: why keep Josh Fogg? If he’s a pitching instructor with a glove, well, then keep him on as a bullpen coach or something. Tracy doesn’t like to use him. He really offers nothing. He’s the Omar Quintanilla of the pitching staff. I like the guy, but I can’t see any purpose served by keeping him.
Speier? The problem here is that he and Daley serve the same role: Right-handed specialist. (ROOGY?) Speier: 691 career OPS against by righties. Daley (really small sample): 432 OPS against. Both are between 750-800 OPS against by lefties.
Still, I would’ve kept Speier, certainly over Fogg. (In fact, why not carry an additional pitcher instead of Quintanilla? To be honest, in a pinch hitting situation I’d go with Marquis over Quintanilla. Maybe even Morales.) And if we need to move someone in as a starter, surely O’Dowd and Tracy would look to Greg Smith or even Hynick before turning to Fogg. Having pitched so seldom over the last couple months, I doubt Fogg could go past about 65 pitches anyway.
So the pitching staff shuffle continues. Dump Grilli? One step back. Acquire Betancourt? Two steps forward. Dump Speier to keep Fogg/promote Chacin? Two steps back. A lot of this is frenetic movement for the sake of movement.