Posted: Sat Jan 27, 2007 8:43 am Post subject: Boston interested in Helton
He's been rumored to be on the block for quite a while, but with 6 yrs 90MM left on his contract, the Rockies haven't found much interest in the aging slugger.
Well apparently the BoSox are addicted to the taste of luxury tax.
Helton's been a great player but I'd have real concerns about his performance in years 4-6.
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Posted: Sat Jan 27, 2007 10:03 am Post subject:
The Rockies would do well to off load Helton even if they have to pick up 30 of that 90 million.
Check out his ROAD OPS since 2001
01-.976
02-.876
03-.949
04-.990
05-.871
06-.781
The back injury first surfaced in 2002, and it showed in his power numbers. But he rebounded nicely in 03-04 to put up great numbers again, albeit with fewer homers. He missed a good deal of time in 05. His OPS by that point was heavily weighted towards OBP, as he put up his lowest slugging percentage since his first full season at age 24. But it was still conceiveable that he could bounce back like he did in 03-04.....except he didn't. He lost another 100 points in ROAD OPS in 06.
And his ISO is now in the .150 range
Helton is probably no better than Lyle Overbay for the next couple of years, maybe even worse, and then after that, who knows. Back injuries are a bitch. I'd even venture to say the Rockies should pay even more than 30 million to trade him for young pitching. It's a smart move, IMHO
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Posted: Sat Jan 27, 2007 1:08 pm Post subject:
Dude....settle down.
The reason why I am empahsizing ROAD stats for Helton should be obvious. Over the years his home park environment has been so extreme. I am not trying to "make a projection".
I am trying to point out that when you tune out the noise that is Coors field, it is obvious that Helton has been playing hurt, has been losing power, and is in decline that can only be temporarily halted or reversed by improvement in his back condition, which doesn't seem likely at this point.
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Posted: Sat Jan 27, 2007 5:28 pm Post subject:
Mike Lowell and Julian Tavárez is the rumor up here in colorado
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its all fun and games untill some loses an eye then its fun we cant see
The MLBTradeRumors.com hype is all about Lowell/Clement to the Rox for Helton plus a boat load of class.
Helton is due 07-10 16.6MM/yr, 11 19.1MM and a 4.6MM buyout in 12 <unless the team want's call his 23MM option for that year>. That's 90.1Mm over 5 years.
Lowell is due 9MM in 07
Clement is due 9.5MM in 07
So if they do this deal and the Rockies throw in 20MM, who's getting the better deal?
My vote is the Rockies. They would get Clement & Lowell in 07 plus 51MM to replace Helton's production over the next 5 years.
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Posted: Mon Jan 29, 2007 1:52 pm Post subject:
Rockies owner Monfort: Helton won't come cheap
espn.com today wrote:
DENVER -- Colorado Rockies owner Charlie Monfort insists the team isn't looking to dump salary in its talks to trade Todd Helton to the Boston Red Sox.
Monfort said the Red Sox would have to part with pitching prospects in addition to third baseman Mike Lowell and reliever Julian Tavarez, players they've already offered in exchange for the 33-year-old slugger.
"This is Todd Helton we're talking about," Monfort told The Associated Press on Monday. "We're not just going to give him up for nothing."
The Rockies would like to obtain promising relievers Craig Hansen and Manny Delcarmen from Boston.
"Tavarez and Lowell are good, and they'll help us this season, but we need to get something else pretty good in return," Monfort said. "So, we'll see."
Colorado would pay a good chunk of the $90.1 million left on Helton's contract, Monfort said, a deal that includes salaries of $16.6 million in each of the next four seasons, $19.1 million in 2011 and a $4.6 million buyout of a $23 million team option for 2012. The amount the Rockies would pay isn't a sticking point in talks, Monfort said. Rather, it's the players Colorado covets in return for the Rockies' most recognizable player.
Helton has a no-trade clause but is willing to waive it to play in Boston.
Negotiations with Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein were expected to resume later Monday when general manager Dan O'Dowd returned to Denver after attending to a family matter over the weekend.
"I don't see it dragging on. If Dan and Theo can work out the bodies in the next couple of days, it will happen," said Monfort, who would need to sign off on the trade.
Monfort said he expected the deal to get done early in the week or not at all.
"I've been in this business for 15 years and 1 percent of these deals get done. We want to do right by Todd," Monfort said. "We're planning on winning the division and we'd rather do it with Todd."
Although the savings would allow the Rockies to address other areas, Monfort said he's not solely seeking financial flexibility in dangling Helton.
"We're not just looking to save money," he said. "I'd consider it a salary dump if we didn't have anybody there who could play first base, and we do. I'm not saying they're Todd Helton by any means. And they'd have some huge shoes to fill. But we have some guys there, a little bit of a logjam."
If Lowell comes over from Boston, third baseman Garrett Atkins could move to first, although an intriguing possibility is accelerating the arrival of 25-year-old Joe Koshansky, who hit .284 with 31 homers and 109 RBIs at Double-A Tulsa last season.
Monfort said he realizes fans don't want to see Helton and the Rockies part ways, and he doesn't relish that prospect, either.
"It would be so tough to see Todd go. We drafted him. He's a great guy, he has a ranch 15 minutes from my house," Monfort said. "This one is tough. We had Vinny Castilla and Andres Galarraga, but they weren't with us as long as Todd. And Todd's a friend of mine.
"We're not doing cartwheels over here at Coors Field over this, believe me."
Lowell will earn $9 million next season, the final year of his contract. Tavarez is guaranteed $3.1 million next season with a $3.85 million option for 2008 that is guaranteed if he makes 65 appearances.
After averaging 35 homers and 117 RBIs over the previous seven seasons, Helton's numbers dipped in 2005, when he hit .320 with 20 homers and 79 RBIs while he was playing with a bad back. He also made his first career trip to the disabled list with a strained calf.
An intestinal infection sent him to the DL again last May and he never regained his strength, weight or power stroke upon his return, finishing with just 15 homers, a .302 batting average and 81 RBIs.
Helton said recently he had finally gotten back to 210 pounds and that his strength and stamina had returned. The Red Sox were encouraged by his clean bill of health.
While Monfort said tying up 30 percent of the team's projected $55 million payroll this season isn't a good business model, he wouldn't mind seeing a healthy Helton batting cleanup for Colorado in 2007, either.
"We'd love to have Todd here and get to a World Series with Todd in a Rockies uniform and we believe we can get there," Monfort said. "It's not like a couple of years ago when we were just plugging holes. We feel we can win this division and that makes this a little more difficult.
"It seems like the days of someone playing their entire career for one team has gone by the wayside. I saw him retiring as a Rockie. It would be a great story. Some deals get made and some don't. No one is going to be with one team their whole career and not be mentioned in a trade once or twice."
Monfort said, "We're planning on winning the division and we'd rather do it with Todd."
Everyone has a right to their dreams.
Last edited by TAP on Mon Jan 29, 2007 2:03 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2007 12:32 pm Post subject:
You know, I'd really like the rockies get good say the can form an intense rivalry with the dbacks. I want to see dire yankee/red sox esque hatred...... Only becuase it would be good for the fans. And it'd be random as hell. I mean come on....
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Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2007 2:15 pm Post subject:
Associated Press this afternoon wrote:
Monfort: Helton-to-Boston talks are off
DENVER (AP) - Todd Helton won't be going to the Boston Red Sox.
The Colorado Rockies announced Monday night that trade talks with the Red Sox about a possible deal that would have sent Helton to Boston have ended and "there will be no further discussions."
"This is not a trade that we were anxious to complete, but we are always exploring ways to improve our team," Rockies owner Charlie Monfort said in a statement. "Discussions like these regarding a player of Todd's talent and character are never easy, and it's not surprising we were not able to reach an agreement.
"Todd has been and will continue to be an important part of our franchise, and we can't wait to see him with the rest of the Rockies in Tucson," when the team reports to spring training in Arizona next month.
Earlier Monday, Monfort told The Associated Press he wasn't looking to dump salary in dangling Helton.
Monfort said the Red Sox would have to part with pitching prospects in addition to third baseman Mike Lowell and reliever Julian Tavarez, players they had already offered in exchange for the 33-year-old slugger.
"This is Todd Helton we're talking about," Monfort told The AP. "We're not just going to give him up for nothing."
The Rockies wanted to obtain promising relievers Craig Hansen and Manny Delcarmen from Boston.
"Tavarez and Lowell are good, and they'll help us this season, but we need to get something else pretty good in return," Monfort said before negotiations ended. "So, we'll see."
Monfort didn't return a call to The AP seeking comment Monday night on why the talks were terminated.
Colorado would have paid a good chunk of the $90.1 million left on Helton's contract, Monfort said, a deal that includes salaries of $16.6 million in each of the next four seasons, $19.1 million in 2011 and a $4.6 million buyout of a $23 million team option for 2012.
Earlier Monday, Monfort said the amount the Rockies would pay wasn't a sticking point in negotiations, but rather, it was the players Colorado coveted in return for its most recognizable player.
Helton has a no-trade clause but was willing to waive it to play in Boston, although he has said repeatedly he'd prefer to stay in Denver.
Negotiations with Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein resumed Monday after general manager Dan O'Dowd returned to Denver after attending to a family matter over the weekend.
Early Monday, Monfort said he realized fans don't want to see Helton and the Rockies part ways, and he didn't relish that prospect, either.
"We're not doing cartwheels over here at Coors Field over this, believe me," he said of the discussions.
After averaging 35 homers and 117 RBIs over the previous seven seasons, Helton's numbers dipped in 2005, when he hit .320 with 20 homers and 79 RBIs while he was playing with a bad back. He also made his first career trip to the disabled list with a strained calf.
An intestinal infection sent him to the DL again last May and he never regained his strength, weight or power stroke upon his return, finishing with just 15 homers, a .302 batting average and 81 RBIs.
Helton said recently he had finally gotten back to 210 pounds and that his strength and stamina had returned. The Red Sox were encouraged by his clean bill of health.
While Monfort said tying up 30 percent of the team's projected $55 million payroll this season isn't a good business model , he wouldn't mind seeing a healthy Helton batting cleanup for Colorado in 2007, either.
"We'd love to have Todd here and get to a World Series with Todd in a Rockies uniform and we believe we can get there," Monfort said. "It's not like a couple of years ago when we were just plugging holes. We feel we can win this division and that makes this a little more difficult.
"It seems like the days of someone playing their entire career for one team has gone by the wayside. I saw him retiring as a Rockie. It would be a great story. Some deals get made and some don't. No one is going to be with one team their whole career and not be mentioned in a trade once or twice."
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