pmeares17
07-28-2001, 02:41 AM
By Mike Klis, Denver Post
At least temporarily, the Rockies' new double-play combination will be 21-year-old shortstop Juan Uribe and 24-year-old second baseman Jose Ortiz.
A three-team deal that was consummated early Wednesday morning sent Rockies' homegrown shortstop Neifi Perez to the Royals in exchange for outfielder Jermaine Dye. The Rockies then sent Dye to the Oakland A's in exchange for Jose Ortiz, who was the Class AAA Pacific Coast League's Most Valuable Player last year, outfielder Mario Encarnacion and minor-league pitcher Todd Belitz.
With Perez eligible for arbitration in 2002, his agents were asking for a four-year deal of at least $26 million, a deal the Rockies aren't willing to pay, not with Class AAA Colorado Springs shortstop Uribe ready, or not, to make the $200,000 minimum.
The Rockies are right at their $65 million cash payroll budget and future commitments to players like Mike Hampton, Denny Neagle, Todd Helton, Larry Walker and Jeff Cirillo pushes their average-salary payroll at $93 million.
The only way Perez was going to stay in Colorado was had he accepted the Rockies' four-year, $17 million deal over the winter.
While the plan is to make Uribe and Ortiz the Rockies' double-play combination for years to come, sources say the Rockies are working on another deal that would involve a veteran shortstop.
Ortiz hit .351 with 24 homers and 108 RBIs, and opened up this season as Oakland's starting second baseman. After a woeful start, however, Ortiz was demoted back to Class AAA Sacramento, where he is batting .273 with seven homers.
Encarnacion is a five-tool prospect who was batting .285 with 12 homers in only 51 games at Sacramento.
Why move Perez now, when he still has one more season before he is eligible for free agency? According to club sources, a player has more trade value when he is still under a team's control. Teams sometimes hesitate to acquire a player who is about to become eligible for free agency. . . .
Alex Ochoa, acquired last week in a trade from Cincinnati in exchange for Todd Walker and Robin Jennings, may turn out to be the multidimensional righthanded hitter the Rockies were looking for to add to their outfield rotation mix.
Ochoa isn't just a defensive player the Rockies had badly needed. At the plate Tuesday against the Giants, he ripped two doubles, including a run-scoring drive in the third. And the box score might not be the only place where Ochoa's contributions are measured. He's the type who runs hard to first on routine popups and has provided the team with a much-needed spark. . . .
Walker. Helton. Hampton. Neagle. Shawn Chacon. They are the Colorado Rockies' five untouchable players.
The first four have complete no-trade contracts and will remain the nucleus of this club for years to come. They also account for roughly $27 million of next year's $65 million budget.
Chacon has all the other qualities of an untouchable: young, inexpensive, talented and surprisingly productive.
Three other players are virtually untouchable: Mike Myers, Ben Petrick and Juan Pierre. Myers has what the club feels is a fair contract and though he hasn't matched his sensational season of 2000, he is still perhaps the best lefthanded relief specialist in the game.
Petrick, the starting catcher, and Pierre, the everyday center fielder, are young, inexpensive, talented and offensively productive. Defensively, they need work. more
At least temporarily, the Rockies' new double-play combination will be 21-year-old shortstop Juan Uribe and 24-year-old second baseman Jose Ortiz.
A three-team deal that was consummated early Wednesday morning sent Rockies' homegrown shortstop Neifi Perez to the Royals in exchange for outfielder Jermaine Dye. The Rockies then sent Dye to the Oakland A's in exchange for Jose Ortiz, who was the Class AAA Pacific Coast League's Most Valuable Player last year, outfielder Mario Encarnacion and minor-league pitcher Todd Belitz.
With Perez eligible for arbitration in 2002, his agents were asking for a four-year deal of at least $26 million, a deal the Rockies aren't willing to pay, not with Class AAA Colorado Springs shortstop Uribe ready, or not, to make the $200,000 minimum.
The Rockies are right at their $65 million cash payroll budget and future commitments to players like Mike Hampton, Denny Neagle, Todd Helton, Larry Walker and Jeff Cirillo pushes their average-salary payroll at $93 million.
The only way Perez was going to stay in Colorado was had he accepted the Rockies' four-year, $17 million deal over the winter.
While the plan is to make Uribe and Ortiz the Rockies' double-play combination for years to come, sources say the Rockies are working on another deal that would involve a veteran shortstop.
Ortiz hit .351 with 24 homers and 108 RBIs, and opened up this season as Oakland's starting second baseman. After a woeful start, however, Ortiz was demoted back to Class AAA Sacramento, where he is batting .273 with seven homers.
Encarnacion is a five-tool prospect who was batting .285 with 12 homers in only 51 games at Sacramento.
Why move Perez now, when he still has one more season before he is eligible for free agency? According to club sources, a player has more trade value when he is still under a team's control. Teams sometimes hesitate to acquire a player who is about to become eligible for free agency. . . .
Alex Ochoa, acquired last week in a trade from Cincinnati in exchange for Todd Walker and Robin Jennings, may turn out to be the multidimensional righthanded hitter the Rockies were looking for to add to their outfield rotation mix.
Ochoa isn't just a defensive player the Rockies had badly needed. At the plate Tuesday against the Giants, he ripped two doubles, including a run-scoring drive in the third. And the box score might not be the only place where Ochoa's contributions are measured. He's the type who runs hard to first on routine popups and has provided the team with a much-needed spark. . . .
Walker. Helton. Hampton. Neagle. Shawn Chacon. They are the Colorado Rockies' five untouchable players.
The first four have complete no-trade contracts and will remain the nucleus of this club for years to come. They also account for roughly $27 million of next year's $65 million budget.
Chacon has all the other qualities of an untouchable: young, inexpensive, talented and surprisingly productive.
Three other players are virtually untouchable: Mike Myers, Ben Petrick and Juan Pierre. Myers has what the club feels is a fair contract and though he hasn't matched his sensational season of 2000, he is still perhaps the best lefthanded relief specialist in the game.
Petrick, the starting catcher, and Pierre, the everyday center fielder, are young, inexpensive, talented and offensively productive. Defensively, they need work. more