Rockies have flexibility with full roster
Technically, the Rockies have a full 40-man roster. That would seem to mean if a non-roster player is put on the 25-man active roster during the regular season — such as lefty Joe Beimel when he is deemed fit and ready to go — the Rockies would have to put a player through waivers and take him off the 40-man roster to create a spot for Beimel.
In reality, however, the Rockies do have a roster spot to work with. Right-hander Taylor Buchholz, rehabbing from last season’s surgery, isn’t expected back until June at the earliest. Buchholz could be placed on the 60-day disabled list, and that would open a 40-man roster spot.
LHP GREG SMITH has been a nice development this spring, giving the Rockies a solid early season candidate as an extra lefty and a long man in the bullpen, but more importantly giving them reason to feel confident they have a veteran to step into the rotation if a need arises.
Baseball guru Barney Hutchinson points out the 1-1 record and 1.50 ERA Smith has compiled this spring isn’t unique. When he made the Oakland rotation out of the spring of 2008, he was 2-0 with a 1.50 ERA in the spring.
INFIELDER Jonathan Herrera has made a strong statement this spring. If an infield need arises, Herrera will be summoned. The Rockies are fortunate that when they took him off the 40-man roster at the end of last season they were able to re-sign him to a minor league deal.
ROCKIES ROSTER is set, other than an official decision on the final spot on the 12-man pitching staff, which is expected to go to Smith.
Among remaining players in camp, right-handers Taylor Buchholz, Huston Street and Greg Reynolds will open the season on the disabled list.
Non-roster right-handers Juan Rincon, Tim Redding and Justin Speier will at least technically be returned to minor-league camp with the possibility of them moving on.
Beimel will continue to work out with the possibility he could be activated by next weekend if the decision is made to open the season with Smith instead of Beimel.
Herrera will be optioned to Triple-A Colorado Springs.
A BREAKDOWN OF the roster:
Rotation: RHP Ubaldo Jimenez, LHP Jeff Francis, RHP Aaron Cook, LHP Jorge De La Rosa and RHP Jason Hammel.
Bullpen: LHPs Franklin Morales, Randy Flores and Greg Smith (or Joe Beimel), and RHPs Rafael Betancourt, Matt Belisle, Matt Daley and Manuel Corpas.
Catchers: Chris Iannetta and Miguel Olivo.
Infielders: 1B Todd Helton, 2B Clint Barmes, 3B Ian Stewart, SS Troy Tulowitzki and backups Jason Giambi and Melvin Mora.
Outfielders: LF Carlos Gonzalez, CF Dexter Fowler, RF Brad Hawpe, and backups Seth Smith and Ryan Spilborghs.
Looks good to me
What is interesting to me is that there were no real surprises this spring. Other than Smith making the bullpen due to Street’s injury, the roster is pretty much as expected as of Feb. 18th. To me, this is an indicator that the Rockies really did their research in terms of who to bring in (Olivo, Mora, etc.) and who to re-sign. But, there is a ton of depth at CS this year, too. It could be a magical season, but we will see.
Robb, good points. I think what it also underscores is that the Rockies have their system in order and their players in place. There were times in the last six or seven years where there was reason to shake your head and wonder, but there obviously was a plan and now we can see what it was.
So does this mean that Beimel would travel with the team or will he stay in AZ and work out there in hopes he would be called to Denver for the San Diego series? If no injuries happen, Smith would get optioned to Colorado Springs then? Seems like a nice problem to have, but I wonder if in the long run it would be better to keep Smith and make a choice of Flores or Beimel by end of April? A bullpen is never certain but it sure is nice to see that it could be very stable and not with such a high turnover as happened last year.
Cowboy, you hit the nail on the head. No headscratcher type roster decisions because it’s clear that we have at least 25 true MLB caliber players to brin north.
Herrera is a nice utility man type, but based on what I saw in 2008, he simply doesn’t have the arm to play SS on any kind of regular basis. Given that he hits like a SS, I think his value is minimal.
Personally I think Corpas needs work — a logic work. He just hasn’t pitched enough to get back in a groove. I’d send him down and let him get a full workload as a late inning guy at the Springs.
Beimel is scheduled to pitch Thursday in Mesa against the Cubs and could be brought back to pitch Saturday in Albuquerque against Seattle.
I would imagine then he would go back to Tucson and get an appearance with Triple-A Colorado Springs before a decision is made on whether he is ready to be activated.
For me, when Beimel is ready to be activated, the choice would be Corpas or Smith simply because they have options and so you wouldn’t lose a player by sending him out. Daley also has options.