The Colorado Rockies turned to finding a trade partner in order to fill the hole at second base the team has found itself in. What they wound up with is Mark Ellis and cash from the Oakland Athletics for Bruce Billings and a player to be named later. Whether that is a good thing or not, we'll begin to learn that on Friday when he bats second and plays second base. But as Rockies general manager Dan O'Dowd told the Denver Post's Jim Armstrong recently:
"Obviously he's struggling offensively this year, so he'll fit right in," deadpanned Rockies general manager Dan O'Dowd. "But we know he's a winning player. We have some guys on this team who were teammates with him over in Oakland, Jason (Giambi) in particular. So we've got a good feel on the guy."
O'Dowd went on to say that Ellis is not an impact player, so no one should start fooling themselves that this will magically make the Rockies better. A move to Coors Field is always thought to be a boon for a player, but that didn't help Jose Lopez, who was the first failed experiment at second base this season.
As has been suggested recently as well, the Rockies will also likely look to add another start by the end of the July 31 trad deadline. The Rockies just need to be in a playoff race at that point.
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