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New Rockie Gonzalez sidelined in winter ball

By Tracy Ringolsby, Rocky Mountain News

Published December 9, 2008 at 7:42 a.m.

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Outfielder Carlos Gonzalez, a key part of the trade that sent Holliday to Oakland, has been sidelined by a viral infection that has kept him out of the lineup in Venezuela the past two weeks.

General manager Dan O'Dowd said Gonzalez will play all three outfield positions during spring training but will be among a group of players who will get a look in center field.

He said Seth Smith and Ian Stewart will get time in left field, with Stewart also playing some second base in light of the anticipated return of third baseman Garrett Atkins.

In center field, the candidates will be Gonzalez, Dexter Fowler, Ryan Spilborghs and Willy Taveras "if he is still with us."

O'Dowd has admitted he is shopping Taveras, but three teams that were thought to have interest - Cincinnati, the Yankees and Boston - indicated they were looking at other options.

BACKUP: The Rockies have expressed interest in free-agent catcher Josh Bard, but it isn't likely to be a fit because initially the team's only opening would be at Triple-A.

They are set with Chris Iannetta as the starting catcher, and given the contract of Yorvit Torrealba, there is no interest in him on the trade market.

Torrealba is guaranteed $4 million - $3.5 million in salary in 2009 and $500,000 on a buyout of an option for 2010. O'Dowd isn't concerned about how Torrealba will handle being the backup.

"He's going to have to because that's the way it goes," he said.

CONTRACT TALK: O'Dowd indicated the team will explore a multiyear deal with Jimenez after the holidays, "but we won't be doing any of that once spring training starts."

He said he would like to see Iannetta go into a season as the No. 1 catcher and handle the job for a full season before talking to him about a long-term deal.

SIDELINED: Mexico has shown interest in De La Rosa pitching on the country's World Baseball Classic team that will be managed by Rockies special assistant Vinny Castilla.

But the Rockies are hesitant to give approval unless De La Rosa is used as a starter because they don't want to interfere with his preparation for the regular season.

Francis is not a candidate to pitch for Canada. Players who finished last season on the disabled list cannot participate in the WBC if they are under multiyear contracts because the contracts are not covered against injuries in that instance.

Francis was sidelined with left shoulder problems at the end of last season.

INTEREST: Speedy infielder Cory Wimberly is being mentioned prominently by other organizations as a player likely to be taken in the winter draft on Thursday.

Wimberly has spent four years in the Rockies organization and is draft eligible because he wasn't placed on the 40-man winter roster.

Right-handed pitcher Dave Patton also is being considered by several teams.

Comments

  • December 9, 2008

    12:55 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    arvada_mark writes:

    Wow, that's 7 outfielders on the current roster. Is there even room to resign Podsey? I guess Stewy is now that reserve that plays all over the place (so maybe that's 6 1/2). Probably why the Chone Figgins talks never took off. The Rox will need Stewy's bat in the line up every day though. Also, if they really do want to dump Yorvit like they are saying, just trade him & only half of that $4mil. The Rox pay $2mil this year, & nothing next (or $1mil per year). And maybe they can get Joe Prospect that has a glimmer of hope in exchange. Or, keep him. It's not like he doesn't help our team. It's not like he wasn't a huge part in us getting to the Series. And I'm sure Ubaldo & our other Latin throwers like having him behind the plate anyway. Just a thought. Good day.

  • December 10, 2008

    12:58 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    warrengfunk7 writes:

    The Rockies love Yorvit. They don't want to dump him, or pay him to play somewhere else. Your right, Yorvit is a real advantage to have, with all the Latin pitchers the Rockies run with. The main thing is, Yorvit is a guy that has a good, but not great swing. The problem is, in order to keep his swing good, he needs regular playing time. That's what I have observed anyway. I think Yorvit is a worthy #1 catcher and he probably prefers to be traded to a team that would use him as such. However, I do not think he will be unhappy, staying with Colorado, especially since they will be much improved this year--it will be fun for him again! So that raises the other question mark.... $4 million a year for a backup #2 catcher, is a lot to spend.With Iannetta taking up some of the slack in the lineup from the Holliday trade, Yorvit may find his starts few and far between. The only thing I could think of, woudl be for Colorado to carry a third catcher which essentially never plays, and then taking Iannetta out of any games which they have big leads and stick Yorvit in there to get him a couple at-bats. Also this woudl open the door for Yorvit to be used as a pinch hitter (having a third catcher allows this). Then if he gets one out of every 4 or 5 starts on top of all that, he might stay productive offensively and make enough of a contribution to be worth the $4 million a year.