Dan O'Dowd, the Sultan of Swap

[RockieBill]

Dealin' Dan, and the 29 trades he's made since he became Rockies general manager in September 1999.

1. Oct. 30, 1999

- Move: LF Dante Bichette to Cincinnati for OF Jeffrey Hammonds and RP Stan Belinda.

- What it did: Saved $6.5 million. Hammonds and Belinda were productive for half of 2000, but gone by 2001.

2. Nov. 16

- Move: SP Darryl Kile, RP Dave Veres and minor-league P Luther Hackman to St. Louis for IF Brent Butler and RP Jose Jimenez, RP Manny Aybar and RP Rick Croushore.

- What it did: Moved $18.6 million in combined salaries of Kile and Veres for 2000 and 2001. Jimenez became the closer; Butler is now a utility infielder. Kile, awful at Coors Field, is the Cards' ace. Veres is their closer. Aybar and Croushore were busts.

3. Nov. 17

- Move: RP Curtis Leskanic to Milwaukee for RP Mike Myers.

- What it did: Helped both teams. Leskanic matured into a closer, Myers into lefty setup specialist.

4. Dec. 7

- Move: Minor-league P Scott Randall to Minnesota for OF Chris Latham.

- What it did: Nothing.

5. Dec. 13

- Move: SP Jamey Wright, C Henry Blanco to Milwaukee, 3B Vinny Castilla to Tampa Bay and P Justin Miller to Oakland. Rockies got Milwaukee 3B Jeff Cirillo and SP Scott Karl, Tampa Bay SP Rolando Arrojo and IF Aaron Ledesma.

- What it did: Bottom line, Rockies got Cirillo for Wright, Blanco and Castilla. Ugh!

6. Jan. 14, 2000

- Move: P Bobby Jones and minor-league RP Lariel Gonzalez to New York Mets for SP Masato Yoshii.

- What it did: Nothing. Rockies released Yoshii.

7. March 29

- Move: OF Edgard Clemente to Anaheim for minor-league C Jason Dewey and OF Norm Hutchins.

- What it did: Nothing.

8. April 7

- Move: Aybar to Cincinnati for RP Gabe White.

- What it did: Helped Rockies. White was terrific a year ago but a disappointment this year.

9. June 17

- Move: Player to be named to Los Angeles for C Adam Melhuse.

- What it did: Added serviceable backup catcher/utility player.

10. July 16

- Move: Minor-league 1B Todd Sears to Minnesota for 2B Todd Walker and OF Butch Huskey.

- What it did: Gave Rockies a .300-hitting second baseman for one year. Huskey, Sears in minors.

11. July 27

- Move: 2B Mike Lansing, Arrojo and Croushore to Boston for IF Jeff Frye, SP John Wasdin and SP Brian Rose and minor-league OF Jeff Taglienti.

- What it did: Cleared $7.25 million remaining on Lansing's contract. The four players acquired from Boston are all gone.

12. July 31

- Move: OF Tom Goodwin to Los Angeles for OF Todd Hollandsworth, minor-league P Randey Dorame and OF Kevin Gibbs.

- What it did: Cleared room for Juan Pierre to play center field. Hollandsworth had a great September of 2000 but has been hurt most of this season.

13. August 6

- Move: Reserve OF Brian Hunter to Cincinnati for minor-league P Robert Averette.

- What it did: Officially ended the short-lived Go Go Rox era.

14. August 22

- Move: Karl to Anaheim for player to be named later.

- What it did: Subtracted contract.

15. Nov. 8

- Move: Minor-league P Justin Carter and Taglienti to Cincinnati for P Ron Villone.

- What it did: Added No. 5 starter, role in which Villone struggled.

16. Jan. 3, 2001

- Move: RP David Lee to New York Yankees for minor-league RP Jay Tessmer and IF Seth Taylor.

- What it did: Moved a disgruntled player.

17. March 26

- Move: SP Brian Rose to New York Mets for RP Mark Leiter.

- What it did: Nothing.

18. April 1

- Move: Acquried RP Craig Dingman from New York Yankees for minor-league P Julio de Paula.

- What it did: Added bullpen depth.

19. April 5

- Move: RP Mike DeJean, RP Mark Leiter, and minor-league IF Elvis Pena to Milwaukee for RP Juan Acevedo, RP Kane Davis and minor-league IF Jose Flores.

- What it did: Left bullpen in chaos for six weeks. Deal was salvaged with effective work from Davis.

20. April 24

- Move: Minor-league IF Juan Sosa to Arizona for minor-league 3B Ryan Owens.

- What it did: Gave Sosa change of scenery.

21. June 2

- Move: Minor-league C Josh Bard and OF Jody Gerut to Cleveland for OF Jacob Cruz

- What it did: Thinned already thin farm system for a reserve who was a bust.

22. June 24

- Move: Acquired RP Mac Suzuki and C Sal Fasano from Kansas City for C Brent Mayne

- What it did: Demoralized team morale. Players viewed management as having surrendered. Cleared room for Petrick to start at catcher. Suzuki was a bust.

23. June 28

- Move: Villone to Houston for RP Jay Powell

- What it did: Helped solidify bullpen

24. July 3

- Move: OF Ron Gant to Oakland for OF Robin Jennings.

- What it did: Moved rest of Gant's $2.2 million contract.

25. July 18

- Move: 2B Todd Walker and Jennings to Cincinnati for OF Alex Ochoa

- What it did: Helped OF defense; moved bulk of Walker's $6.5 million contract.

26. July 25

- Move: Acquired 2B Jose Ortiz, minor-league OF Mario Encarnacion and minor-league RP Todd Belitz from Oakland in a three-way trade, sending SS Neifi Perez to Kansas City.

- What it did: Angered the masses by trading Gold Glove shortstop. Ortiz immediately became Rockies second baseman.

27. July 31

- Move: SP Pedro Astacio to Houston for SP Scott Elarton

- What it did: Moved the winningest pitcher in team history and about $3.2 million in salary for Elarton, now on the DL.

28. August 6

- Move: Acevedo to Florida for minor-league SS Josue Espada.

- What it did: Subtracted Acevedo.

29. August 23

- Move: Acquired minor league C Gary Bennett from New York Mets for player to be named.

- What it did: Provided another indication Ben Petrick isn't in their catching plans next year.

While Rockies general manager Dan O'Dowd has proved he can move high-priced players, to date his track record for rebuilding a team is at best incomplete. Since becoming GM in 1999, all of O'Dowd's shuffling has resulted in basically getting 17 players in exchange for 17 players. A breakdown:

Gained
Jeff Cirillo
Todd Hollandsworth
Jose Jimenez
Mike Myers
Gabe White
Jay Powell
Kane Davis
Scott Elarton
Alex Ochoa
Brent Butler
Jose Ortiz
Adam Melhuse
Sal Fasano
Mario Encarnacion
Todd Belitz
Craig Dingman
Robert Averette

Gave Up
Dante Bichette
Vinny Castilla
Neifi Perez
Pedro Astacio
Daryl Kile
Jamie Wright
Curtis Leskanic
Mike DeJean
David Lee
Mike Lansing
Brent Mayne
Henry Blanco
Tom Goodwin
Ron Gant
Josh Bard
Jody Gerut
Justin Carter

[GiveHyzduashot]

Nice work there RockieBill. Too bad there's not more Rockie fans here.

Kane Davis was in the Pirates organization for a good length of time. He was in AA Altoona, where I am fortunate enough to see guys like Kane Davis trying to make it to The Show. He surprised me ... I never thought he'd do as well as his stats indicate he has.

[RockieBill]

Thanks, GiveHyzduashot. I'm surprised anyone even read this. I thought I was just basically mumbling to myself over here. When O'Dowd first got here, he seemed to be what the Rockies needed; to stir up the pot a little. After he let Mayne and Perez go, though, I've jumped off that bandwagon. I realize they've had a few injuries, but many teams have experienced worse. To have this amount of roster movement is ludicrous.

And this is only trades. Some of his other aquisitions (Hampton, Neagle) seem questionable, especially fiscally. His failure to sign their first round pick last year (Matt Harrington) didn't speak well of his people-skills. Guess I was just venting, but it produces a pretty impressive list when you write it down.

Kane Davis has been a bright spot in their bullpen, and they've needed him often. Like yourself, I attend many minor league games, and find them to be more enjoyable for the fans and the players. I know I've heard this somewhere, but have forgot where: "They work their tails off down here and finally make it to the Big Show, where they're never heard from again!"

RB

[GiveHyzduashot]

I try and read all the forums RB. I like what you do with the Rcokies forum, so I come by when I can.

If I were a Rockie fan I guess I'd be upset too. But I've watched Bonifay make bad move after bad move, and when you see what O'Dowd's done, from the outside it doesn't seem to be too terribly bad. But that comes from someone who got used to Jon Lieber for Brant Brown trades.

That's a nice quote about the minors. Very true quote.