There is a lot for Colorado Rockies president of baseball operations Paul DePodesta to tend to in his first offseason in charge. After a 119-loss season, the former Cleveland Browns executive has to rebuild a lot of the roster.
Pitching is one area that is going to be interesting to see how he puts things together for manager Warren Schaeffer. It’s not just the starters, but also the bullpen that needs to be addressed. Pitching at Coors Field is not something free agents are going to line up to do.
DePodesta will have to get creative in some areas of his rotation and bullpen. One name that is worth taking a risk on his former Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Alek Manoah. Another name that could be worth investing in as either a starter or reliever is Sean Newcomb.
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Last season, Newcomb pitched for the Boston Red Sox and Athletics. He struggled with the Red Sox before being traded to the Athletics in May, where he pitched much better. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (subscription required) reported that a lot of teams are interested in Newcomb this winter as potentially both a starter and a reliever.
“In recent seasons, teams have explored converting relievers into starters, particularly through free agency… Newcomb, a free agent, is attracting interest from teams as both a starter and reliever, league sources said,” Rosenthal wrote.
After pitching in 12 games for Boston, five as a starter, Newcomb had a 3.95 ERA over 41 innings, and he allowed 18 earned runs. The Red Sox traded him to the Athletics in late May for cash considerations. In a less pressure situation, Newcomb turned things around, strictly working out of the bullpen.
In 51.1 innings pitched with the Athletics, he struck out 50 batters and had a 3.6 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He cut his runs allowed from 24 in Boston to 13 with the Athletics, and his ERA was 1.75. Those are numbers that certainly opened a lot of eyes with some teams.
As for a fit with the Rockies, this is just another low-risk, high-reward situation, but it would be an extremely high-reward situation for DePodesta if it worked out. According to Spotrac, Newcomb is predicted to get a contract for one year at $2.3 million. If things don’t work out as Colorado would like, then he could easily be flipped at the trade deadline.
DePodesta has nothing to lose this offseason in a lot of the decisions he makes, and this is just another example of a chance that he has nothing to lose to try and make work. Whether it’s as a starter or reliever, chances like this are worth taking a risk on if you’re the Rockies.