Rotation Woes

[BigRapidsJackass]

OK, I understand that pretty much every club has to go bottom feeding to find that elusive 5th starter or 11th reliever. These are the replacement-level guys, drawn from what's known as the pool of freely-available talent.

But has anyone ever dug so deep as Dan O'Dowd?

Last year it was Dan Serafini, out of MLB for a couple years, exiled to Japan (where he apparently was crap), apparently all roided up (he failed a test) to audition for O'Dowd for that important September call-up.

Then we saw Micah Bowie, basically dormant for a couple years, somehow make the roster, costing Ramon Ramirez his job.

Then it was Cedrick Bowers, a 30-year old making his MLB debut after stops in Korea and some other sub-Japan leagues.

Now we get 36 year old Valerio de los Santos making an "emergency" start, walking 6 Pirates in 4 innings, after being out of MLB for at least 3 years.

These guys are far, far worse than your ordinary roster filler. They are dumpster diving on a whole new level. This isn't signing Kip Wells (like the Cards last year) out of desperation, or the latest resurfacing of Sidney Ponson. This is more like Rockies Fantasy Camp, where some middle-aged guy who'd given up on his dreams of making MLB is suddenly allowed out onto Coors Field for a weekend in the sun with real players.

And once again, O'Dowd spent all winter insuring against the possibility of having to use an emergency fill-in. The squirrel gathered his nuts: Kip, Josh Towers, Redman. (That group alone took $5 million of Uncle Charlie's money.) And he doesn't have the nerve to use any of the above. And he's worried that Jason Hirsh might not have the "arm strength" to go deep into a game. So it's Valerio dos Santos instead, who was guaranteed to not make it through the order twice.

Wasn't Anthony Reyes just given away for nothing? Couldn't O'Dowd have picked up the phone before Shapiro did?

By the way, I never saw the item, but I guess Hirsh has actually been optioned down to the Springs? No rehab assignment lasts this long. I guess they don't want his arbitration clock running or something, just in case he winds up earning something like the million bucks they're busy blowing on Mark Redman right now.

This drives me absolutely nuts. Don't act like you're still trying to contend and then throw a 36 year old lefty AAA reliever who hasn't pitched in the majors for several years when you've got to try like hell to make up ground on 2 clubs in front of you.

EDIT: I looked up the Hirsh thing out of curiosity. Here's what Rotoworld had to say about it:

Rockies activated RHP Jason Hirsh from the 60-day disabled list and optioned him to Triple-A Colorado Springs.

This is just the Rockies being cheap. They were going to have Hirsh make a couple of more rehab starts anyway, and now he'll make a minor league salary, rather than a major league salary, in the process. Hirsh has been out since the beginning of the season with a sore shoulder.

[GerryInCS]

Well, we got another win from the only consistent pitcher in our rotation. cook's at 14 wins and is well on his way to breaking the Rockies record for wins in a season. We still need to get rid of Rusch, Wells and De Los Santos.