Renck : Rockies, Red Sox In Helton Negotiations
A day after his Denver Post colleague Mark Kizla bemoaned Colorado's efforts to dump Todd Helton's salary on someone else, colleague Troy E. Renck reports the Rox might've found a taker.
The Rockies are in discussions with the Boston Red Sox involving a trade of Todd Helton, according to multiple baseball sources.
Nothing is imminent, but negotiations are expected to resume Monday or Tuesday when Rockies general manager Dan O'Dowd returns to work after tending to a family matter. Helton, 33, has a complete no-trade clause, but has said he would consider Boston.
A source said Helton is aware of the current Red Sox talks.
Helton has six years and $90.1 million remaining on his contract, and the Red Sox could face luxury-tax penalties if they acquire the first baseman, issues that would have to be resolved.
The Rockies, however, have shown a willingness to eat a portion of Helton's remaining salary in any deal, which, depending on the amount, would have an impact on the type of players they would receive in return.
Colorado's first priority has been to add young pitchers, which Boston possesses. The Rockies have asked about reliever Manny Delcarmen, 24, in previous talks regarding other players and considered selecting pitcher Craig Hansen in the first round of the 2005 draft.
ESPN.com's Buster Olney opines that Boston "would covet Helton's on-base percentage, his quality at-bats, his defense, especially if they were paying him only $8 million to $10 million a year," and clearly considers the first baseman an excellent fit at Fenway.
For financial superpower Boston, Helton could be an extraordinary find, even at high cost. He is a Gold Glove-caliber first baseman, having won that award three times, and he would complement their offense perfectly, with his ability to hit doubles, draw walks and drive up pitch counts; he is considered to be among the best two-strike hitters in baseball. Last season, in what was regarded as a subpar offensive season for Helton, he drew 91 walks, struck out just 64 times, registered a .404 on-base percentage, and averaged 3.93 pitches per plate appearance.
Having been replaced in the Red Sox radio booth by Dave O'Brien and Glenn Geffner, Jerry Trupiano fires back at his old paymasters this morning, courtesy of the Enterprise's Peter Badavas (link swiped from Repoz and Baseball Think Factory)
"They said thank you, you did a terrific job, you were a real professional, and that was it. said Trupiano (above). œThey wanted to put their guy in, and that's the bottom line. If anybody tells you anything different, then it's a lie.
œI feel a little bitterness. said Trupiano of his dismissal. œThat's because they put in the paper late in the season that I was going to the Cardinals (Trupiano is originally from St. Louis), and I swear I never talked to them about a job. If you're going to kick me to the curb, kick me to the curb, but don't hurt my chances of getting another job. I thought that was unfair.
Trupiano, also was bitter that œthey didn't let me know until two weeks before Christmas officially, and by then it was too late for four jobs that were available in October. Then there were two more jobs that opened later, but apparently I was overqualified for one and they told me they went in a different direction in the other.
This leaves Trupiano in a position he hasn't been in 14 years, looking for work.
œI'm looking for work. he said. œNo prospects right now. I'm just now starting to put my football and basketball stuff together for next year. Baseball is dried up for 2007, which absolutely kills me, but everything happened too late.
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