Tuesday Links and Things: A look back at the Rockies active week

Quite a bit has gone down since last Tuesday's links. The Rockies did eventually sign Jamie Moyer to that minor league contract we discussed. Dan O'Dowd turned around and traded Kevin Slowey to the Cleveland Indians before he ever threw a single pitch in Colorado. And more importantly than those moves, he also acquired Marco Scutaro from the Boston Red Sox for Clayton Mortensen. 

Yes, that Clayton Mortensen.

All that activity means Rockies writers and bloggers had a lot to talk about this week. Here are a few of the more interesting opinions.

1. Starting with my own, of course. In case you missed it, here's what I had to say about the dealings. Heaven & Helton

2. O'Dowd's pieces fit together, but is it the right puzzle asks Andrew Fisher. Purple Row

3. A Farewell Letter to Kevin Slowey. Rox Pile

4. Long-time Rockies blogger David Martin gives his take on the Scutaro trade. Does he think the Rockies look better now than they did on October 1? Rockies Review

5. Logan Burdine provides a slight reassessment of the Rockies offseason following this past week's activity. Blake Street Bulletin

6. Todd Helton spoke to Mark Kiszla, thus making the usually unreadable Denver Post columnist's latest Rockies piece worthy of a glance, if only to read Todd's quotes. Denver Post

7. To close we venture away from Coors Field to Cooperstown, New York, where Michelle Hoag visited the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Read all about her trip and check out the interesting photos of Rockies memorabilia commemorating some of the franchise's biggest milestones. Rox Pile

Rockies stay busy, acquire Marco Scutaro from Boston

Dan O'Dowd was among the most active general managers even before this weekend rolled around, and then he continued his aggressive overhaul of the Rockies major league roster with another pair of deals.

The headliner may go down as one of his best trades in his 12 year run with Colorado. In a deal that was on again, off again for roughly 24 hours, the trigger was finally pulled on a trade bringing Boston Red Sox shortstop Marcus Scutaro to Denver in exchange for... Clayton Mortensen. Yes, the fringe at best major league starter/reliever (who actually pitched well during his stint with Colorado) for a guy who can fill three major roles for Colorado.

We're going to call that a win for O'Dowd.

The Rockies will be on the hook for all $6 million that Scutaro is owed. That obviously played into the inclusion of Mortensen in the deal rather than a prospect, and the dispute over taking on all $6 million likely played into the delay of the deal.

But at the end of the day, Scutaro is coming, and as I said before, he should fill three important roles for Colorado.

1) He will be the unquestioned starter at second base.

The Rockies haven't had one of those since Kaz Matsui in 2007. Before that you have to go back to Eric Young Sr. to find a steady second-sacker in Denver. Needless to say, it's nice to know the position will be filled for at least 2011.

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Rockies Winter Meeting Review

The 2011 Winter Meetings are behind us now, and while the Colorado Rockies did not add a large piece to their damaged puzzle, they did subtract two of their least popular players while adding some depth and freeing up enough cash to make themselves a player for Michael Cuddyer or a key starting pitcher.

Here's a quick review.

Monday

-- Claimed Jamie Hoffman off waivers from the Los Angeles Dodgers

Hoffman is your typical AAAA player. He's a pretty good defender from all accounts, but at age 27 has yet to take a step forward offensively. He'll compete for a bench job in spring training. His odds of making (in the Ryan Spilborghs role) will depend on who else the Rockies add in the coming weeks.

Tuesday

-- Acquired RHP Kevin Slowey from Minnesota Twins for minor league pitcher Daniel Turpen

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