Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Tuesday Links and Things: We say goodbye to Seth Smith

The trade winds keep on blowing in Colorado... along with a lot of snow I hear. This time the Rockies have parted with outfielder Seth Smith, shipping him to the Oakland A's for two pitchers who may or may not be good fits: Josh Outman and Guillermo Moscaso.

I wish I knew for sure how well they will fit, but any time you can get two pitchers - who are relatively young/cheap, have experienced the big leagues, and even enjoyed a degree of success in the big leagues - for at best a really good platoon corner outfielder, you pull the trigger and take your chances.

So Dan O'Dowd pulled the trigger and now we have about 15 pitchers battling for four starting rotation spots behind Jhoulys Chacin, maybe a couple of bullpen spots, and for the right to be the first starter/reliever recalled if a MLer is injured.

As Dan O'Dowd put it.

"It's a raging competition for spots."

I shortened the quote, but it still sounds awesome.

Honestly, the most likely outcome to this trade is maybe not that we forget it ever happened 2-3 years down the road, because we all respect Seth Smith and he was significant enough to not be forgotten that easily, but I doubt it'll register as more than a minor footnote. That said, I think the Rockies have a better chance to come out big winners if either pitcher is useful for any extended period of time. If both are, Dan O'Dowd can keep his job forever.

That's what I'm saying about the trade. Here's what a few other websites are saying.