Rockies Have Tough Mountain to Climb

No team has been a bigger disappointment in 2001 than the Colorado Rockies.

No team has made more changes in the last two years and seemingly remained the same--statistically strong at the plate, weak on the mound and unable to win at sea level.

Statistics, of course, can be misleading when a team plays 81 games at Coors Field, but there is nothing deceptive about this:

The Rockies have lost 24 of 29 games and are 41-56, last in the National League West, a division many publications tabbed them to win.

In addition, the overhaul Dan O’Dowd initiated when he became general manager before the 2000 season produced another trade Thursday and is certain to spawn more before the July 31 deadline.

How can it hurt?

After all, Chairman Jerry McMorris says the entire organization has been embarrassed, or as Larry Walker put it, “We’ve got 25 guys playing like 25 losers. It’s pathetic, ridiculous. It’s not any fun playing like this so it can’t be any fun watching.”

Walker exaggerated some.

O’Dowd calculated by phone that the Rockies have “14 pretty good players and 11 marginal players and we have to keep changing the mix until we have 25 good players.”

He has changed the mix more often than Betty Crocker.

After making five trades involving 23 players in his first six weeks as Bob Gebhard’s successor, the former Cleveland assistant has made 26 trades in 22 months, with pitcher Pedro Astacio certain to go before the end of the month.

On Thursday, O’Dowd traded second baseman Todd Walker and reserve outfielder Robin Jennings to Cincinnati for outfielder Alex Ochoa.

Only nine of the current 25 Rockies were with the organization when O’Dowd took over, inheriting what he said was “an unbalanced payroll” that ultimately led to the departures of Vinny Castilla, Mike Lansing and Dante Bichette, among several high-salaried veterans.

Most of that first year, O’Dowd said, was spent in economically motivated trades, clearing the payroll, but the Rockies improved by 10 games, finishing at 82-80 and inspiring an optimism enhanced by last winter’s $175.3-million signing of free-agent pitchers Mike Hampton and Denny Neagle.

Nobody wins on paper, however. The bullpen has imploded, forcing the Rockies to use 17 relievers; the Hampton/Neagle-led staff--primarily because of the bullpen failure--has a higher earned-run average (a league-worst 5.41) than last year’s next-to-worst 5.26, and the offense, while characteristically leading the league with its Mile High inflated numbers, still can’t produce consistently on the road, where the Rockies are 17-31 despite O’Dowd’s attempt to build a more versatile lineup.

“There have been two problems beyond any statistical analysis,” he said. “Offensively, we’ve been very poor situationally. We don’t move runners, don’t get big hits and don’t have big innings, some of the things we did well last year. Pitching-wise, the bullpen has been our Achilles’ heel. You win and lose games with the bullpen in Coors, because the starters don’t go very deep. You need four guys who can protect a lead and three who can keep you in the game when you’re behind. I wasn’t able to provide that mix. We spent a lot of money on the rotation and everyday players, and we didn’t have the wherewithal to build a quality bench or a deep bullpen, and that’s haunted us.”

There are nuances to Coors unlike other parks. O’Dowd said he expects to profit from the learning experience of the last two years. The Rockies, however, have a $71-million payroll that can’t go much higher, the farm system “is not deep enough” at this point to compensate for a siege of injuries and the club “has too many needs” to continue adding “singular stars” by being active in free agency again next winter, especially given the continuing increase in salaries, O’Dowd said.

“It’s been a disappointing year, but we’re trying to regroup and look to the future,” he said. “We have some really good players to build around, so I don’t think all is lost. We’re trying to create some good out of the bad [by acquiring players] who are younger, athletic and more affordable. We veered from that plan some and need to get back to it.”

In Astacio, the Rockies probably have the most coveted pitcher in a thin market and are trying to hold clubs hostage.

The Dodgers are among several suitors, but Colorado’s demand of a combination from among Luke Prokopec, Eric Gagne and Matt Herges is a larger impediment than Astacio’s $9-million option, a source said.

Astacio, however, is a cinch to be traded, and shortstop Neifi Perez could be. Because next year, O’Dowd said, is “looking like a growth year and hopefully more positive than this year,” the list of Rockies safe from the ongoing overhaul may be limited to pitchers Hampton, Neagle and Shawn Chacon, right fielder Walker and first baseman Todd Helton.

Even Walker, however, may be looking for the door.

He is producing another outstanding season out of the ashes and seems to be saying he is sick of the attitude, if not the altitude, although he includes himself among those 25 losers.

“Guys aren’t giving up or lacking effort, but losing gets tiring, and I’m tired of losing,” he said. “I’ve been here for all of it, except the first couple years [1993 and ‘94] when this was an expansion team and they had an excuse. Well, there’s no excuse now.”