Results tagged ‘ Miguel Olivo ’
Rox’s catching list includes Martin, Molina and Paulino
Names are beginning to surface in the Rockies’ search for a complement to catcher Chris Iannetta. The least-name known might end up the best fit.
Former All-Star Russell Martin and Bengie Molina, a respected veteran, created buzz. However, Ronny Paulino is more of a true backup. The Rockies have had Yorvit Torrealba and Miguel Olivo push Iannetta out of playing time in recent years, and they vowed to give Iannetta a clean shot at the starting job without having to look over his shoulder.
Actually, the search for a relief pitcher might be more important to the Rockies’ quest to return to the playoffs. Righties Jesse Crain, Jon Rauch, Kevin Gregg and Matt Guerrier are at the top of the Rox’s shopping list.
Jorge Cantu is a utility possibility, and the club will do due diligence on Edwin Encarnacion. There are trade possibilities. Angels catcher-first baseman Mike Napoli and Nationals corner bat Josh Willingham would be high on such a list.
Rockies deal Olivo to Blue Jays for player to be named
DENVER — The Rockies traded catcher Miguel Olivo to the Blue Jays on Thursday night for a player to be named or cash considerations, the Rockies announced.
The deal occurred just before Thursday night’s deadline for picking up Olivo’s 2011 option for $2.5 million. Olivo, 32, hit .269 with 14 home runs and 58 RBIs as the Rockies’ No. 1 catcher for much of last season. It was unclear whether the Jays would pick up the option. They could allow him to become a free agent, and receive a pick between the first and second rounds of the 2011 First-Year Player Draft.
The trade leaves Chris Iannetta, 27, as the lone catcher on the Rockies’ roster with significant Major League experience, although the club is expected to obtain another backstop through free agency or a trade.
Iannetta, an organization product who showed promise in an extended look in 2008 (.264, 18 HRs, 64 RBIs), but has struggled since and has not grabbed the No. 1 job. Last season, after signing a three-year, $8.35 million contract, Iannetta spent part of last season at Triple-A Colorado Springs and finished with a .197 average, nine home runs and 27 RBIs in 61 Major League games.
The Jays also are formulating their catching plans. They picked up a $1.2 million option on Jose Molina and have a top prospect in J.P. Arencibia. John Buck, the Jays’ No. 1 catcher and an All-Star in 2010, is a free agent. Like Olivo, Buck is a Type B free agent.
Rockies still deciding on Olivo
Rockies general manager Dan O’Dowd said he will take until Thursday’s deadline before deciding whether to pick up catcher Miguel Olivo’s $2.5 million option for 2011. Even if he decides, the Rockies still have to determine whether Olivo, Chris Iannetta or a combination of both are solid enough to handle catching duties. Do the Rockies seek a trade or free agency? That’s one of this winter’s big questions.
The Rockies will not pick up left-hander Jeff Francis’ $7 million option for 2011. Three years of shoulder problems makes it too risky, but O’Dowd says he wants Francis back.
It should be an interesting free agency season. The big question is whether the Rockies can retain lefty Jorge De La Rosa, who could have numerous bidders.
My thoughts? If the bidders stay in the three-year range, the Rockies can compete. If someone goes overboard on years, the Rockies will wish him well.
Stewart displays Rockies’ heady hitting
Rockies third baseman Ian Stewart knocked his first spring home run, a shot to right field off Rangers starter Matt Harrison that nearly left Surprise Stadium, in Monday’s 7-6 loss to the Rangers.
But a quieter RBI – a sixth-inning single through the left side of the infield to score Miguel Olivo from second – impressed manager Jim Tracy every bit as much.
Olivo alertly took second on a pitch in the dirt. Stewart changed his game plan, realizing that going with a pitch the other way could change the scoreboard.
“That was a tremendous piece of hitting, an at-bat that you wouldn’t have seen him take last year, being in pull mode as much as he was,” Tracy said.
It was an example of the situational hitting Tracy has called upon this spring.
“I don’t think our hitting approach has actually changed,” Tracy said. “The sensibility of taking advantage of every opportunity to take runs, that’s what’s changed.”
Lineups for Monday; Street update
Here’s the Rockies’ lineup against the Padres at Peoria:
Eric Young Jr., 2B
Dexter Fowler, CF
Cole Garner, RF
Troy Tulowitzki, SS
Miguel Olivo, C
Michael Paulk, 1B
Jonathan Herrera, 3B
Jorge De La Rosa, LHP
Here’s the rest of the Rockies’ pitching schedule: RHP Jason Hammel, RHP Matt Belisle, RHP Matt Daley, LHP Jimmy Gobble
In another development, well, there wasn’t much of one. Right-hander Huston Street threw a light bullpen session on Sunday that went well, but the true test of whether the stiffness and inflammation in his right shoulder is improving is how he feels the next day.
“I feel good … that’s it,” Street said Monday morning.
Tracy sifting through catching depth
Rockies manager Jim Tracy is planning on a catching combination, not a catching controversy, with Chris Iannetta and Miguel Olivo.
We have two quality guys that are both going to catch,” Tracy said. “And as we move into the season, we have two quality guys that are both going to catch. And I really believe if we do it that way, we’re going to get the best of both worlds.”
In Spring Training, Tracy is looking beyond the two the team is planning on having on the Opening Day roster.
“We have a veteran presence in Paul Phillips, who did some special things for a good team a year ago, and Paul Lo Duca is in here,” Tracy said. “Not only do you want to feel comfortable with where you are at as you go into Opening Day, but that is a very demanding position. You’re also making sure that you have your optional plans in place, too.”
Discussions of third and fourth catchers when a team is going to have just two might seem trivial. But last year’s two catchers, Yorvit Torrealba and Iannetta, weren’t available for an 11-game win streak that ignited the run to the playoffs. Torrealba was dealing with the kidnapping of his son in Venezuela and Iannetta was out with a hamstring injury.
“Edwin Bellorin [now with the Royals] and Paul Phillips were doing an awful lot of catching,” Tracy said. “We had a four-hit game by Paul Phillips in St. Louis, and one of a little bit of everything — a hit-and-run base hit, a line drive, we used the whole playbook on him, and he responded to all of it. And Bellorin caught a tremendous game in Game 4 of the series against Houston.”
Rockies sign Olivo
The Rockies increased their power quotient at the catching position by signing Miguel Olivo to a one-year deal with a club option for 2011. Olivo, 31, who hit 23 homers and drove in 65 runs while hitting .249 for the Royals last year, and has finished the last four years in double figures in homers, joins Chris Iannetta. The Rockies signed Iannetta, who has 34 homers the last two seasons, to a three-year deal last month.
Olivo became a possibility when the Rockies and Yorvit Torrealba could not agree on a two-year deal. Torrealba had been with the Rockies — as the on-again, off-again No. 1 catcher — since 2006, and was a major factor in the team’s trip to the World Series in 2007 and the playoffs in 2009.
Olivo, 31, enhanced his defensive reputation last year by catching 31 of American league Cy Young Award winner Zack Greinke’s 33 starts. Olivo also caught Rockies pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez’s 10-strikeout, four-inning game for the Dominican Republic against The Netherlands in last year’s World Baseball Classic.
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