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Krieger: Word to the wise: Finley a catch

By Dave Krieger, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published February 26, 2007 at midnight

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TUCSON - At first blush, granted, signing a 41-year-old center fielder a week into spring training smacks of desperation. And frankly, there is a little of that going on.

If the Rockies had no doubts about Willy Taveras and Cory Sullivan as their center field tandem, Steve Finley would not be in camp.

But there's another message in Finley's signing, a far more optimistic message, and it's the more important one.

If he can still play - and we'll see about that as the Cactus League unfolds - he brings one quality the Rockies sorely lack: He knows how to win.

You may recall I urged the Rocks to hire Frank Robinson in some capacity after he was fired as manager of the Nationals last year. At the time, I talked with general manager Dan O'Dowd about the club's need not merely to dream about winning, not merely to talk about winning, but to bring in some people who have actually done it. O'Dowd agreed this was a missing ingredient. And it is why he is giving golden oldies like Finley and Javy Lopez a chance to make the team.

"I think it's a statement that we understand that we need to win," O'Dowd said Sunday. "And the more guys that we can add to this mix that have won, I think it gives us an opportunity to keep going with our process a little further."

You may find it odd for someone who scratched his head at the Texas Rangers signing 38-year-old Sammy Sosa - that would be me - to endorse the Rocks signing Finley, who turns 42 next month. But the twilight of their athletic careers is about all these two have in common. Sosa is a me-first guy with the capacity to be a major distraction. Finley is a team-first guy with the capacity to be a clubhouse leader.

"I was looking for a home to play the whole offseason," Finley said. "I want to play. Last year with the Giants I got traded into a situation I didn't ask to be in, with that many outfielders and not being considered the everyday center fielder, although I got to play a lot and when I played, I played in center field.

"So this offseason I was hunting for a team that wanted somebody in center field, and it just never materialized on an everyday basis, so you kind of go to Plan B. I held out that (hope) all the way until just a week or so ago. I thought it was going to be in Chicago with the Cubs, but it just didn't materialize. We'd been periodically talking to the Rockies the whole offseason and there's been an interest, so I wanted to get to camp. I wanted to play baseball."

Finley's arrival also gives me a chance to make the case that his departure from the Orioles 16 years ago was the worst trade in modern baseball history, worse even than the heists of Lou Brock from the Cubs and the aforementioned Robinson from the Reds. Great as these players were, it was at least just the one in each case. The Orioles traded three outstanding young players (Finley, Curt Schilling and Pete Harnisch) to the Astros for one washed-up veteran (Glenn Davis). They haven't recovered yet.

Anyway, Finley has competed as a leader at a level the Rocks have never seen. He's been to six more league division series, three more league championship series and two more World Series than his new franchise. He's also a physical marvel who can still cover center field in his 40s.

"I love the game of baseball, and I'm not ready to quit playing yet," he said. "My kids aren't ready, my family's not ready for me to stop playing.

"I was telling them how much longer I'll play and my kids were like, 'Dad, you've got to play four more years.' I'm like, 'Wait a minute. I'm not playing four more years.' But we'll see. We'll cross that bridge when we get there."

With the Rocks convinced Finley no longer is an everyday player - even if he isn't - the signing is more a commentary on Sullivan, the projected center field backup, than Taveras, the projected starter.

"I don't know if it's an indictment on Cory, but we certainly need to see improvement," O'Dowd said. "What happens next week if Willy blows a hamstring or Cory sprains an ankle? I mean, so many different things can happen, and this guy ultimately wanted to come here. So we didn't think there was much to lose."

The Rocks are taking no risk here. If Finley doesn't make the team, they owe him nothing. If he does, they owe him a modest $1 million, $6 million less than he made last year. By waiting him out, they got very favorable terms.

If they succeed at last in assembling a competitive team this season, they will need veteran clubhouse leaders to help them through the rough patches. In that role, they could do a lot worse than Steve Finley.