a guy called david martin has been reading my texts

Dammit!  Don’t you hate when you’re gonna blog about something but then you forget because you accidentally wore clothes while blogging which totally throws off your thought process and even though you texted somebody about that same something somebody else blogged about that thing and now two days later if you want to blog about it you feel obligated to quote the guy even though you’re pretty sure the guy’s been reading your text messages because there’s no way that he thought of it first?  Yeah, me too.

Anyway, this guy called David Martin blogs at rockiesreview.com and roxpile.com.  Apparently roxpile.com features “opinionated baseball talk from a stange looking redhead” which is just sort of confusing.  I’m not sure what a “stange looking redhead” is, but I’m pretty sure that J. Dion would not approve.  J. Dion, that site is not for you.

Anyway, the other day The Stange Looking Redhead posted his thoughts on a signing the Rockies ought to make.  He says:

One area for improvement could be on the offensive side at second base.  No one argues that incumbent Clint Barmes is a great defender.  With him and Troy Tulowitzki up the middle it doesn’t get much better.  However, Barmes’ approach at the plate leaves a feeling of something lacking.  Despite a power surge in which he hit 24 home runs, Barmes’ on-base percentage was under .300.  That is an unacceptable number for an every day starter.

One option that the Rockies have been linked to is free agent Orlando Hudson.  Hudson is also a slick-fielding second baseman, but he brings a spark at the plate.  Although age is taking a toll on the switch-hitter, Hudson hit .283 with a .357 on base percentage.

He’s exactly right…but son of a bitch!  That’s totally what I said on January 6th!  I mean, my comments were way more snarky…but the gist was the same.  This is the kind of move that the reigning Executive of the Year HAS to make, right?  It’s a significant upgrade at more than one position (2nd base and bench) as that would allow the Rockies to have two super-utility guys in Barmes and EYJr.  Now, the only point against the signing is the O-Dawg’s Type A free agent status, which means whatever team signs him would have to give the Dodgers their first-round draft pick this year, which for the Rockies is #26 overall.  It’s a pretty low first round pick, but that’s the kind of spot where the Rocks’ scouting department could find a good-value player that O’Dowd can be credited for later (zing!).  So it’s worth thinking about…but considering the overall success rate of first-round MLB draft picks (LOW), it’s a pretty pathetic argument.

(UPDATE: As The Stange Looking Redhead pointed out to me…the Dodgers FAILed to offer arbitration to the O-Dawg, so his Type A status is a non-issue.  No excuses now, O’Dowd!)

If it’s a money issue…well, assuming the Rockies drafted a guy and paid him the MLB slot recommendation, that would probably cost them about $1.2 million.  Last year, Orlando was signed for $3.4 million (plus incentives).  Assuming the Rockies could sign him for a similar amount, isn’t $3.5 million worth of Hudson in 2010 worth a helluva lot more than $1.5 million worth of some dude who might never make it out of low-A?  I say yes.

Now, if the Reigning Executive of the Year was really smart (and a good GM), he’d figure out a way to unload Brad Hawpe’s contract and unleash the Smith-Dexter-CarGo outfield (with Spilly and EYJr. coming off the bench) and get rid of Hawpe’s $7.5 million contract (not to mention his awful, awful defense…UZR, one of the best methods available to evaluate defense, has Hawpe as the 2nd-worst defender [“good” for -101.1 runs!] in all of Major League Baseball for all of 2007-09!).  As I’ve mentioned before, a good GM would’ve traded Hawpe at the deadline last year when his value was at its peak…but there are certainly AL teams out there who would view Hawpe’s bat as a good value.  Come on, O’Doofus!  Do something!