Troy Renck reports that the Rockies have already begun their pursuit of a free agent pitcher this offseason:
I have confirmed that Rockies are interested in and have called on or will call on Jake Westbrook, Jon Garland and Hiroki Kuroda
Troy Renck, Rockies
TroyRenck
With Jorge De La Rosa unlikely to return to Denver, the Rockies will now look at several other options on the free agent market. Among them is Jake Westbrook, who spent the 2010 season between the Cleveland Indians and the St. Louis Cardinals. He spent the previous two seasons recovering from Tommy John surgery, but is a groundball pitcher who would fit in well at Coors Field.
Jon Garland moved to the NL West in 2009 and has already spent time with three of the five clubs there (Arizona, Los Angeles and most recently San Diego). He’s an innings-eater who threw 200 innings, another kind of pitcher the Rockies would like. While not a strikeout pitcher, Garland did have a career best 6.1 K/9.
Hiroki Kuroda has pitched for the Los Angeles Dodgers in his first three seasons since coming from Japan. He is coming off of his best season, displaying a 3.39 ERA, a 1.161 WHIP and a 113 ERA+. Pitching records don’t tell much (28-30 for his career), but Kuroda looks to be the best of the bunch.
For more on the Rockies’ interest in these three pitchers, head on over to Purple Row.