It's Not Nice to Spread Rumors

We're just over two weeks out of Spring Training 2007, J.D. Drew has finally been signed to a more balanced contract, and baseball fans, bloggers, and writers everywhere are searching for something to get them through to the Big Day. That, friends, is where Todd Helton comes in. You know, the Todd Helton that's posted a career OPS of 1.023 in Colorado, smacking close to 300 home runs into the dry Rocky Mountain air in just about 10 years of the big leagues? That's right, he's rumored to be on his way to Boston.

The Rockies, looking to dump the $90 million remaining on Helton's contract, have apparently decided to appeal to the Red Sox desire to land yet another bat to supplement Ramirez, Ortiz, and now, Drew. For what it's worth, I don't really think there's anything to these rumors. The Rockies are asking for Craig Hansen, Manny Delcarmen, and, depending on who you talk to, Jacoby Ellsbury, Clay Buchholz and Jon Lester. The Sox, ever the negotiators, are instead offering young bucks Mike Lowell and Julian Tavarez.

Sorry, this isn't a baseball rumor, it's the game of MLB 06: The Show I played last night.

The deal doesn't make sense for either team except in the most lopsided of circumstances. The Rockies want to dump payroll and hopefully pick up valuable prospects that will help them compete in the short- and long-term. The Sox want to get rid of Lowell, push Youkilis back to his natural position, acquire an on-base machine, and get the other team to foot the bill. Either way, I can't really see this happening.

Helton really isn't worth the trouble to get him, in this case. While he's been a monster at getting on base for most of his career, his injury history and declining power numbers over the last two years (.534 and .476 SLG in 20005 and 2006, respectively), not to mention the stigma of establishing his hitting legacy at Coors Field all point to an overall negative in his acquisition. Sure, he may be in the top ten active player batting averages, but he's just got too much downside. Oh yea, and he's 32. Even if the Rockies pay the roughly half of what's owed, it's still a beast of a contract, going all the way through the remainder of the first decade of the 21st century.

The Red Sox, as they stand now, are a fairly balanced mix of age and youth, power and speed, pitching and defense. To give up on young pitchers or the system's best positional prospect just to get a player on the wrong side of his peak performance would simply be senseless.

Fun to watch, but senseless.

A word on the Drew signing: I'm starting to feel good about this whole deal, especially because of the clause the front office was able to get put in whereby the last two years of the contract can be voided should significant injury time occur. Drew's still expensive, considering the fact that he has yet to establish a pattern of regular play from season to season, but he promises to be a great number 5 hitter in a lineup where The Man has a gap in his two front teeth and a grin that could light up the New Hampshire sky. Drew will feel pressure, to be sure, but not to carry the team. It could be a breakout year for him.