Rox Lock Up Tulowitzki
UPDATE: (1/25) 9:44am (EST): As per Patrick Saunders of The Denver Post, Tulowitzki can void his 6-year, $31 million contract if he is ever traded during its term.
UPDATE: (1/22) 9:18pm (EST): As per Troy E. Renck of The Denver Post, the team option for 2014 is worth a reported $15 million.
UPDATE: (1/20) 6:09pm (EST): According to Thomas Harding at MLB.com, the deal is done, and is just a physical away from being officially completed.
UPDATE: (1/20) 10:27am (EST): As per ESPN.com, the Coloroado Rockies and Tulowitzki are very close to a 6-year, $30 million deal. If true, the deal would be the largest extension ever given to a player with less than 2 years experience. The 6th year of the contract would buy out Tulo’s 1st season of free agency. Dave Krieger of the Rocky Mountain News is reporting that the deal could include a Team option for a 7th season, which would then buy out the first 2 years of free agency.
Jan 18, 8:00am (EST): The Colorado Rockies and Troy Tulowitzki are working towards a possible long-term contract extension, according to Troy Renck of the Denver Post.
With just one year of service time under his belt, “Tulo” is still just 5 years away from free agency. Therefore, an extension could be as long as 6 years, allowing the Rockies to buy out his first year of free agency, thus taking another step towards locking up their core players. As pointed out by Renck, the starting point for negotiations could be Grady Sizemore’s extension from March, 2006. Sizemore, also a first year player at the time, inked a 6-year deal worth $23.45 million. According to Renck, Tulowitzki’s deal could approach $30 million.
A deal could be reached as soon as next week. According to Tulo’s agent: “I feel comfortable in saying that we will continue to have serious, intense dialogue on this, and that next week could be the week to go down the road to finalize it and have something to announce.”
A former first round pick and runner-up for Rookie of the Year, Tulowitzki is coming off a sensational opening season. The 23-year old hit .291/.359/.479 with 24 homeruns and 99 RBI, and played stellar defense.
Filed under: Colorado Rockies
I love the Rockies approach, locking up all the young kids early. They have been a tremendous part of the team’s success. Seems a lot of organizations are catching on to this approach as well (Mets with Wright & Reyes, Rays with Pena, and so many other examples).
Tulowitzki is beyond just a young kid, is the thing. He’s a franchise shortstop. He quite possibly the Best shortstop in the NL. And his bat is still getting better, and he’s already one of the best position players in MLB, if you look at it from an overall perspective.
As for the Rockies’ general plan, it’s a fantastic one. Strong farm system increased by excellent scouting in Central America/Caribbean, and then strong presences in Mexico as well - namely Vinny Castilla. This is producing a huge number of Latin arms, such as Franklin Morales, Ubaldo Jimenez, Juan Morillo, Manny Corpas, Aneury Rodriguez, and others as well.
There’s no need to pay huge amounts of money to free agents. The way MLB’s CBA is set up, there’s a good chance you’ll get the best years out of your players before they become free agents, and they’re far more affordable that way.
Example: Matt Holliday. Holliday signed for 2 years, 23M the other day, and frankly, while it’s disappointing that he won’t be a Rockies’ player for 6 years, it’s clear he knows where his payday is, (If I see him bawling like Ryan Smyth when he left Edmonton at the trade deadline because they couldn’t agree on a 200k difference in contracts, I’ll puke) and it’s not gonna be in Colorado. He’s a monstrous bat, but there’ll be others. He doesn’t, in my opinion, seem like a good kind of guy to lock up for all eternity. He swings as hard as he can at everything, and is very subject to GIDPs. Frankly, I’d rather sign a guy like Garrett Atkins longer than Holliday, as he’ll stay under the radar more and still give regular, solid production. The guy can flat-out hit.
Essentially, the team is a home-grown product with FAs filling holes, not being centerpieces.
Looking at the projected lineup/rotation:
1. CF Willy Taveras (acquired via trade - HOU)
2. SS Troy Tulowitzki (homegrown)
3. 1B Todd Helton (homegrown)
4. LF Matt Holliday (homegrown)
5. 3B Garrett Atkins (homegrown)
6. RF Brad Hawpe (homegrown)
7. 2B Jayson Nix (homegrown)
8. Yorvit Torrealba (acquired via trade - SEA)
9. P
Notable Bench Players:
OF Ryan Spilborghs (homegrown)
OF Seth Smith (homegrown)
OF Cory Sullivan (homegrown)
IF Omar Quintanilla (acquired via trade - OAK)
1. LHP Jeff Francis (homegrown)
2. RHP Aaron Cook (homegrown)
3. RHP Ubaldo Jimenez (homegrown)
4. RHP Jason Hirsh (acquired via trade - HOU)
5. ?HP Fill-in-Pitcher (FA - although Franklin Morales may be competing for said spot, and he is also homegrown)
Closer: RHP Manny Corpas (homegrown)
Setup: LHP Brian Fuentes (acquired via trade - SEA)
Middle: RHP Luis Vizcaino (FA)
RHP Taylor Buchholz (acquired via trade - HOU)
RHP Matt Herges (FA)
LHP Josh Newman (homegrown)
It’s an exciting squad to watch, you feel really connected to the players you know. And you’ve seen what they can do.
I agree, Tulo is a franchise player, and is probably a top 5 SS at least. As for best SS in the NL, thats very debatable, partly just because SS is the only position where the NL is clearly superior to the AL. You probably have 3 of the top 5 SS in either league in the NL East alone.
In fact, I would not at all be surprised to see Tulo, Reyes, Ramirez, and Rollins all rank somewhere 1-4 next year.
Mark, that could certainly be argued (your last point).
And I mean to say it can be argued as a true statement.
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