RINGOLSBY: Rockies' O'Dowd has a bit of flexibility

By Tracy Ringolsby, Rocky Mountain News

Published August 7, 2008 at 8:55 p.m.

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Photo by Doug Pensinger © Getty

The Rockies called up third baseman Ian Stewart, above, when Todd Helton went on the disabled list as the Rockies moved regular third baseman Garrett Atkins to first to replace Helton.

With the acquisition of veteran right-handed pitcher Livan Hernandez, it's apparent the Rockies are thinking about the present. But they're also putting themselves in position to deal with the future.

With Todd Helton on the disabled list, the decision was made to bring up top prospect Ian Stewart, install him at third base and move Garrett Atkins to first. The idea is to give Stewart extended playing time, see how he handles big-league pitching and minimize his adjustments by allowing him to play his natural position.

So far, so good.

That creates offseason flexibility for Rockies general manager Dan O'Dowd.

The Rockies figure to make another run to secure long-term deals with Matt Holliday and Atkins. If the Rockies can't get something done with either player, they'll then have to check out the trade market.

With Helton back at first base next season -- the longer he's out, the more apparent his value on defense, and when healthy, he still has solid offensive production potential -- O'Dowd can dangle Holliday and Atkins with the idea that Stewart, who has shown the athletic ability to change positions, can fill the lineup void at either third or left field.

That gives O'Dowd a chance to see which player brings the bigger return, and it also means O'Dowd can focus on pure ability, not having to fill a particular void, when deciding which players he receives in return.

Trading either player wouldn't be popular, but it is a part of the business of baseball, a sport that continually underscores that one player does not make a difference.

Consider Alex Rodriguez, the highest-paid player in the history of the game who still is looking for his first World Series at-bat.

Since he joined the Yankees in 2004, the team has been eliminated in the first round of the postseason three times and the American League Championship Series the other time. In the six years before they signed Rodriguez, the Yankees made five World Series appearances and won three world championships.

Infield chatter

* Mark Cuban's bid to buy the Cubs reportedly is $1.3 billion. Other franchises that are speculated to be available at the right price are St. Louis, Houston and Seattle.

* Philadelphia right-hander Tom Gordon had to come out of his second appearance on a minor league rehab assignment, leading to concerns his career might be at an end.

* Speculation around the Nationals is that vice president of baseball operations Mike Rizzo is positioned to replace Jim Bowden as general manager.

The rotation

Though the so-called trading deadline has passed, trades still can be made. It just involves putting a player on waivers. Five August deals to remember:

* Detroit traded John Smoltz, a right-hander at Double-A, to Atlanta for right-hander Doyle Alexander. Alexander was 9-0 with a 1.53 ERA in 11 starts for the Tigers, who were eliminated in the ALCS by Minnesota, and he went 20-29 in the next two years with Detroit before retiring. Smoltz has gone 210-147 with 154 saves and eight All-Star selections, and he won the 1996 National League Cy Young Award.

* Boston traded third base prospect Jeff Bagwell to Houston for right-hander Larry Andersen on Aug. 30, 1990. Andersen had a 1.23 ERA in 15 appearances for a Red Sox team that was swept by Oakland in the ALCS, then left as a free agent. Bagwell became a fixture at first base for the Astros, hitting 449 home runs.

* Toronto traded second baseman Jeff Kent and outfielder Ryan Thompson to the Mets for right-hander David Cone. Cone was 4-3 with a 2.55 ERA, but the Blue Jays won the World Series with Cone making four postseason starts. Kent still is playing, having hit more home runs than any second baseman in history and earning the 2000 NL MVP award and five All-Star selections.

* San Diego traded right-hander Brian Loyd to Toronto for left-hander Randy Myers on Aug. 6, 1998. Loyd never got to the big leagues, but it was still costly for the Padres, who paid Myers $16.6 million even though he pitched only 141/3 innings in 1998 and did not pitch at all in 1999 or 2000.

* St. Louis traded left-handers Chris Narveson and Luis Martinez and right-hander Jason Burch to Colorado for outfielder Larry Walker on Aug. 6, 2004. Key to this deal was the $2 million in Walker's salary the Rockies saved. They used $800,000 of that to sign top prospect Dexter Fowler.

Out in left field

Agent Scott Boras and his firm advise five of the 11 first-round draft picks who have not signed, including first baseman Allan Dykstra, the 23rd pick overall, to San Diego.

Dykstra reportedly agreed to a $1.4 million bonus, but when he took his physical before signing the deal, the Padres' medical team had concerns about a hip fusion Dykstra underwent in high school. The Padres now are trying to reduce the bonus.

Brings back memories of 1996, when a Texas team doctor saw a cover of Baseball America and mentioned that one of the pitchers in the photo looked like he was missing a ligament in his elbow. Turned out the pitcher, R.A. Dickey, was the Rangers' first-round pick, the 18th player taken overall, and the Rangers quickly scaled down the bonus Dickey was given.

Closing statement

Time to get rid of the July 31 deadline for trading a player without waivers.

There are enough contract complications that make dealing players difficult.

Rosters must be set by Aug. 31 for the postseason. Extend the deadline for trades to that date, then have a blackout for the month of September. Minor league seasons end in September, so if a team needs reinforcements, they can call up a prospect.

MILE HIGH WATCH

* Darin McDonald was in his third year in pro baseball this summer - and still in a short-season league with the Philadelphia Phillies.

So he decided it was time to change his career path: He enrolled at the University of Wyoming and is expected to make the conversion from safety, which he played at Cherry Creek High School, to receiver for the Cowboys football team.

McDonald spent his first two pro seasons with the Phillies' rookie-level Gulf Coast League team; this season, he was with short-season Williamsport in the New York-Penn League, where he hit .175 in 11 games.

McDonald had interest from the football programs at Michigan State, Nebraska, Utah, Air Force and Colorado State when he came out of Cherry Creek but signed a letter of intent with Idaho State, though at the time he wanted to follow his older brothers into baseball. McDonald, a 12th-round draft choice of the Phillies, signed and passed on college, for the time being.

Brother Darnell was a first-round draft pick of Baltimore out of high school, the 26th player selected overall in 1997, but in 11 pro seasons he has had only 42 big-league at-bats. Darnell is with Minnesota's Triple-A affiliate at Rochester, N.Y., this season. He also had football options out of high school and signed a letter of intent with the University of Texas.

The oldest McDonald sibling, Donzell, was drafted out of high school but went to junior college and signed with the Yankees as a 22nd-round pick in 1995. In 10 pro seasons, he appeared in only 15 big-league games, getting 25 at-bats.

Their father, Donzell McDonald Sr., played baseball in the Pittsburgh Pirates system before deciding to play football at Colorado State.

* Right-handed pitcher Mark Melancon, a Golden High School graduate, continues his rapid ascent in the Yankees organization.

In his first full season, Melancon has made the move from High Single-A Tampa (1-0 record, 2.84 ERA in 13 relief appearances) to Double-A Trenton (6-0, two saves, 1.81 ERA in 19 games) and now to Triple-A Scranton-Wilkes Barre. He allowed one run, two hits and two walks in 72/3 innings in his first four appearances at Scranton-Wilkes Barre.

• August 8, 2008

  5:15 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  Hambone writes:

  While one player does not make a winning team Matt Holliday is a dominate offensive force that would nearly impossible to replace in the lineup. Maybe ownership could spread around some of that massive influx they received from the September run. They better do something. I still remember the ticket fiasco last October. What a joke.

• August 9, 2008

  6:53 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  SwolOne writes:

  So after reading this column, I'm to assume that the Rockies with Helton/Stewart and ? will be as good as the Rockies with Adkins/Holliday/Stewart in the line-up. Meaning that Helton and the ? will be the equal of Matty Baseball and Adkins.

  What a bunch of sycophantic tripe!

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