A month after they shocked the baseball world by adding Jake Peavy at the non-waiver trade deadline, the White Sox dismantled part of their 2009 club, sending Jim Thome to the Dodgers and pitcher Jose Contreras to Colorado.FanHouse's Jeff Fletcher has the details on the Thome deal and more.
As for Contreras, he represents rotation insurance for the Rockies, who have been without stalwart Aaron Cook since he injured his right shoulder on Aug. 21.
Cook figures to return at some point in September, but with Colorado knotted with the Giants atop the NL wild-card standings, it needs someone reliable to make starts in the coming weeks.
Contreras is a veteran with playoff experience. He won a World Series with Chicago in 2005, and he even has limited experience out of the bullpen. He has struggled this year, though, going 5-13 with a 5.42 ERA. The right-hander has been moderately better since the beginning of June, when he returned from a stint in the minors, going 5-8 with a 4.45 ERA.
Of course, with any pitcher moving to Colorado, there is also the Coors Field factor to worry about.
The White Sox will receive pitching prospect Brandon Hynick, who is 10-9 with a 3.83 ERA and 92 strikeouts in 155 innings this season at Triple-A Colorado Springs.
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Concerning the Contreras-to-the-Rockies deal, the colummist (Andrew Johnson)says "Of course, with any pitcher moving to Colorado, there is also the Coors Field factor to worry about."
In 2002 the Rockies installed the humidor and, not surprisingly, things changed. The field has been "leveled" as far as the long ball is concerned. (Todd Helton's HR numbers fell like a stone.) So I'd like to know what Johnson means by this "Coors Field factor." Why is he repeating an old stereotype of Coors Field that just is not true anymore and hasn't been true for a long time. Hasn't he heard of the humidor?
Actually, John, it's a common misconception among fans that all of a sudden the humidor solved everything. Sure, home runs are down, but the park is so spacious, it's still a hitter's haven.
Don't believe me?
Do you know what ballpark has seen the most runs per game in 2009? Coors Field.
http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/parkfactor
This wasn't an outlier.
Here is Coors Field's rank in runs scored per game, per season since the almighty humidor "leveled" the playing field:
2008 - 3rd
2007 - 3rd
2006 - 2nd
2005 - 2nd
2004 - 1st
2003 - 5th
2002 - 1st
That's out of 30 parks.
I think that might be what Andrew Johnson was talking about.