Bye Bye Lopez

[wolf213]

The Official Site of The Colorado Rockies: News: Colorado Rockies News

[TheIncredibleRox]

Awesome. I was really afraid Ianetta was going to be squeezed out.

[sg8335aa]

As soon as Lopez displayed his inability to throw runners out, the writing was on the wall. I was never really worried about Iannetta's position on the team. It was Torrealba's that was in jeopardy....

Besides, while one "vet" couldn't make the bench, its looking more and more likely that another, Steve Finley, is going to make the team.

[Roxpert]

So much for Javy Lopez becoming a "surprsie story" for us, and resurrecting his hitting in Coors Field. This was a predictable outcome.

On an unrelated note, Jeromy Burnitz announced his retirement today.

[hiaspire]

I thought unrelated notes weren't encouraged, but I'd take Javy's bat over Burnitz - and him over Yorvit also but undertand that YT showed he was healthy and Javy was just insurance for them if he wasn't. That's unfortunate IMO, but we'll see. There are very few things the Rox do these days that I (or most long-suffering fans) like.

Javy was a pretty good surprise story I thought, hitting .375 and third on the team in spring sluggling percentage (15+ AB) with 4 doubles. He did well, but his role was more determined by the readiness of others than himself.

It is too bad that Javy doesn't sound like he'd take a job with an AL team looking for a part-time catcher who could use his bat full-time in a DH role otherwise. As he showed this spring and for most of his career, there is still life in the bat.

[Roxpert]

Originally Posted by hiaspire

I thought unrelated notes weren't encouraged

Do you really think that Burnitz's retirement deserves its own thread?

Javy was a pretty good surprise story I thought, hitting .375 and third on the team in spring sluggling percentage (15+ AB) with 4 doubles.

LOL.

[hiaspire]

I'll tell you what does deserve it's own thread and where you can stick it. And by stick it, I mean post it on the message board categorically, of course.

So... is he a Hall of Famer?

That question is more fitting here I think than in the other thread. I think he should be going by career body of work, success of his team over that duration and contribution to that unprecidented winning success at a key spot both in the field and at the plate, comparision to others at that position statistically, and of course for his fine work this spring with the Rox (j/k).

[BigRapidsJackass]

Up now on the RMN site, Javy Lopez's comments:

"The Rockies told me from the beginning that I would have to make the team,'' Lopez said. "When the Rockies signed me they thought Chris Iannetta might need another year at Triple-A. He came to spring training ready to play int he big leagues. From the Rockies' perspective, they would rather have Iannetta start his long career with the Rockies.''

Some of us were very critical of the Rockies for bringing in Javy, and even in this thread we've joked about Javy's lingering hopes of being a starting catcher.

But this is really a nice parting comment. A class act, in fact.

Good luck, Javy.