Rockies pay small price for relievers
| July 31, 2009 | 3:34 PM
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The Rockies have a new pair of eighth-inning relievers after a trade last week for Rafael Betancourt from the Cleveland Indians and another trade Friday before the deadline for Joe Beimel from the Washington Nationals. Each trade was made for the sake of this season. Neither reliever is likely to return in 2010. The Rockies have a club option for Betancourt at $5.4 million, a steep price to pay for the 34-year-old reliever. Beimel, meanwhile, signed a one-year contract with the Washington Nationals before this season.
For a team that has seen prospects like Jake Westbrook, Josh Bard and Chone Figgins end up successful away from Denver after bad trades, the Rockies have been reluctant to give up their prospects too casually. But the price for Betancourt and Beimel was small.
- Connor Graham, a right-handed pitcher at Class-A Modesto, went to the Indians for Betancourt. Graham is a good prospect and could be a major-league reliever. But he’s stuck behind more advanced pitchers in the Rockies system and one day the team would be in danger of losing Graham in the Rule V draft. Maybe Graham looks like a mistake one day, but the Rockies were probably going to lose him anyway.
- Ryan Mattheus, a right-handed reliever, was the key player traded to the Nationals for Beimel. Mattheus was considered a long shot to make the team in spring training, and even when he didn’t was on the short list of prospects for an early recall this season. But elbow trouble sidelined him — he’s now recovering from Tommy John surgery — and he’s been surpassed by Matt Daley and Jhoulys Chacin with others right behind them.
- Robinson Fabian, another right-handed reliever who was signed from the Dominican Republic, was the second prospect the Rockies gave up for Beimel. Fabian is 23 years old and has progressed slowly through the Rockies system, spending two seasons in Casper, one in Tri-City and now two seasons in Asheville, where he is 3-6 with a 6.24 ERA.
Journals, Sports, Steve Foster
colorado rockies, connor graham, joe beimel, rafael betancourt, robinson fabian, ryan mattheus
