The Colorado Rockies have picked up a club
option on first baseman Jason Giambi for next season.

The 40-year-old Giambi hit .260 with 13 homers and 32 RBI in 64 games for the
Rockies this past season.

In 170 career games with Colorado, Giambi hit .254 with 16 doubles, 21 home
runs and 78 RBI.

A five-time All-Star and the AL MVP in 2000, Giambi has batted .281 with 428
homers and 1,397 RBI in 2,103 career games with the Athletics, Yankees and
Rockies.

Colorado declined pitcher Aaron Cook’s option for the 2012 season. A broken
finger limited Cook to 18 games (17 starts) in 2011. He was 3-10 with a 6.03
ERA.

In 238 career games (206 starts) with Colorado, Cook was 72-68 with a 4.53
ERA.

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DENVER — The Colorado Rockies have declined their $11 million mutual option for next season on right-hander Aaron Cook, the franchise’s career leader in wins.

Cook had a rough season in the final year of his contract, going 3-10 with a 6.03 ERA. The sinkerball specialist was bothered by shoulder stiffness in spring training and then he broke his right index finger when he slammed it in a door, forcing him to miss the first two months of the season.

The 32-year-old Cook, who’s the team’s career leader in wins (72), innings pitched (1,312 1/3) and starts (206), could be brought back at a reduced price.

Read More: Mark Ellis (2B – COL), Jeremy Hermida (LF – SDP), Matt Lindstrom (P – COL), Aaron Cook (P – COL), Cameron Maybin (CF – SDP), Dexter Fowler (CF – COL), San Diego Padres, Colorado Rockies

The Colorado Rockies failed to complete two trifectas on Sunday afternoon with their 7-2 loss to the San Diego Padres. The Rockies had a chance at a sweep of the Padres, but didn’t. They could have won their third Sunday game in a row, but they didn’t.

It was a pretty close game until the bottom of the eighth inning. Unlike their help in the previous two games, the Rockies’ bullpen didn’t help things. Matt Belisle started the eighth inning by allowing a Jesus Guzman single to right field before leaving. Matt Reynolds came in and struck out Jeremy Hermida, but Cameron Maybin, pinch-running, stole second and took third on a wild pitch. 

Matt Lindstrom entered the game at that point and struck out Kyle Blanks, but he intentionally walked Andy Parrino and hit Nick Hundley. Mark Ellis finally made an error in the field and allowed Alberto Gonzalez to reach safely and Cameron Maybin to score. Will Venable then cleared the bases on a triple. Jason Bartlett flied out to end the inning.

A Mark Ellis ground out and a Seth Smith single scored the Rockies’ two runs in the fourth inning. Dexter Fowler led off the inning with his 15th triple of the season. Aaron Cook (3-9, 5.74 ERA) allowed three runs on four hits and four walks. The Padres’ Mat Latos improved to 7-13 with a 3.77 ERA after allowing those two runs in seven innings.

The Rockies (66-74, 31-41 away) host the Diamondbacks on Labor Day.

For more on the Rockies, visit Purple Row. Check out Gaslamp Ball for more on the Padres.

Tonight’s pitching matchup: LHP Wade Miley (1-1, 4.50 ERA) vs. Rockies RHP Aaron Cook (3-7, 5.47).

Miley earned his first major-league win in his second outing in an 8-1 victory over the Nationals. He pitched scoreless innings, allowing five hits and four walks and striking out four. Miley was brought up from Triple-A Reno on Aug. 16 after going 4-1 with a 3.64 ERA there. … Cook had a no-decision in his most-recent outing, getting pounded for 11 hits and five earned runs in five innings against the Astros. This will be Cook’s 22nd career start against the Diamondbacks.

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Read More: Aaron Cook (P – COL), Wade Miley (P – ARI), Colorado Rockies, Arizona Diamondbacks, Colorado Rockies at Arizona Diamondbacks, Aug 30, 2011 7:40 PM MDT

The Colorado Rockies had a brief respite from losing on Sunday, but when they went to the desert on Monday for a series with the Diamondbacks, things just didn’t start off well. Alex White struggled in his second start for the Rockies and the offense was shutout for eight innings, seven by starter Daniel Hudson. The one run they managed in the 5-1 loss came on a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch.

Aaron Cook (3-7, 5.47) has made one previous start against the Diamondbacks this season. That game came in Arizona and it was his first win of the season. On July 22, Cook allowed four runs on a two-run home run, a triple and a single. Exiting after six innings, Cook was still the pitcher of record when the Rockies scored two run in the top of the seventh to take the lead. He struggled in his last outing, a six-run, 11-hit performance against the Houston Astros. The Rockies won that game, 7-6, on a wild pitch in the 10th inning.

Arizona rookie Wade Miley (1-1, 4.50 ERA) makes just his third start in the big leagues. The lefty rookie was blasted for five runs against the Atlanta Braves in his first start, but then he rebounded with six scoreless innings against the Washington Nationals. This will be his first start at home. His fastball averages around 92 so far and he uses a slider, a curveball and a changeup to round out his repertoire.

First pitch is scheduled for 7:40 p.m. MT.

For more on the Rockies, visit Purple Row. Check out AZ Snake Pit and SB Nation Arizona for more on the Diamondbacks.

By Joshua Powling

– Staff Writer

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Aug 23, 2011 – After a couple of hours speculation it was announced that the Rockies had been awarded the waiver claim on Houston Astros pitcher Wandy Rodriguez. But don’t expect a deal anytime soon, as they have until Thursday, 1pm ET to get a deal done and Buster Olney says that there is no momentum in talks as of now. 

As with the Hunter Pence Raul Ibanez scenario in Philadlephia where one will be off the books to make way for the other, Aaron Cook, who is making $9.25m this year will be a free agent this winter. Dick Montford, owner of the Rockies, has said he would extend the payroll if the right piece came along. Whether Dan O’Dowd can drive Ed Wade’s price down enough to make a deal is debatable.

According to Steve Campbell of the Houston Chronicle: 

“I doubt anything will come of it, unless it’s something really attractive,” one person familiar with the Astros’ thinking said.

At least a team has claimed him as Jon Heyman said that the chance of any one team claiming Rodriguez at the deadline were non-existent. It looks like Clint Barmes and Brett Myers have gone unclaimed. However, give him his due, he was the big man and admitted he was wrong. 

Rodriguez owns a modest 3.62 ERA in six starts at Coors Field in 32 1/3 innings pitched. The real standout stat is that he has allowed just one home run in those six starts. He has also dominated NL West opposition over the last two and a half seasons, putting up a 2.03 ERA against the Dodgers, Padres, Giants and Diamondbacks since the start of the 2009 season, including a 0.69 ERA in four starts in 2011 against the NL West. 

He has always been a good fit for the Rockies. Myself and Sean Feist remarked on it in late June when trade talk was starting to heat up. Now that they have flipped Ubaldo Jimenez for Alex White and Drew Pomeranz,a veteran starter to steer the rotation for the next few years must seem attractive to O’Dowd. For a team that is paying Aaron Cook $9.25m this year to turn their nose up at paying Wandy Rodriguez on average $12m a year over the next three years is more than I can stomach. I’m not saying they should cough up top prospects, but they should find something further down the system that might be attractive for Wade. Is that so difficult to do?

So they would not mind taking Wandy for nothing, but would need Wade to eat a sizeable amount of the contract to get anything good in return. In that scenario the Astros should simply keep hold of Wandy and try to trade him in the offseason when teams will realise 3-years $36m for Rodriguez is actually pretty decent value when they look at the god-awful free agent SP class. They may be falling over themselves to get at him. Grant Brisbee knows what he’s talking about. 

So don’t get on Wade’s back if a deal does not get done. It may be the smartest thing he’s ever done. 

Read More: Brett Myers (P – HOU), Wandy Rodriguez (P – HOU), Clint Barmes (SS – HOU), Colorado Rockies, Houston Astros

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