The Rockies have designated 27-year old lefty swinging infielder Reid Brignac for assignment.  Brignac played in 29 games for the Rockies this year and he was 12 for 48 (.250 avg, .669 OPS) with 4 runs scored, 1 homer and 6 RBIs.  Brignac has now played in 285 games in his first six years in the majors and he is 164 of 719 (.228 avg, .591 OPS) with 73 runs scored, 11 homers, 73 RBIs and 8 stolen bases.  Brignac isn’t likely to clear waivers, so the Rockies should try to deal him.

The Rockies have signed 27-year old righty starter/reliever Sean Gallagher to a minor league deal.  Gallagher pitched in 4 games (all starts) in Independent ball this year and he was 2-0 with a 2.05 ERA and a 0.77 WHIP.  Gallagher last pitched in the majors back in 2010 for the Padres and Pirates.  He has pitched in 91 games (23 starts) in his first four years in the majors and he is 10-10 with 1 save, a 5.64 ERA and a 1.68 WHIP.  Gallagher might get back to the show if he pitches well in the minors for the Rockies.

The Rockies have signed 35-year old righty starting pitcher Roy Oswalt to a minor league deal.  He pitched in 17 games (9 starts) for the Rangers last year and he was 4-3 with a 5.80 ERA and a 1.53 WHIP.  Oswalt has now pitched in 356 games (335 starts) in his first 12 years in the majors and he is 163-96 with a 3.28 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP.  The Rockies aren’t going to rush Oswalt too much, but I really like this signing for them.  He could really help them some time in June until the end of the 2013 season.

The Rockies have acquired 21-year old righty swinging outfielder Jose Monzon from the Astros as the player to be named later to complete the deal that also brought Wilton Lopez to Denver.  Monzon has yet to play in a game in the minors in 2013.  He played in 45 games in Rookie-ball last year for the Astros and he was 25 for 117 (.214 avg, .583 OPS) with 16 runs scored, 2 homers, 11 RBIs and 4 stolen bases.  Monzon has now played in 183 games in his first four years in the minors and he is 124 of 582 (.213 avg, .610 OPS) with 91 runs scored, 6 homers, 50 RBIs and 34 stolen bases.  Don’t expect to see Jose Monzon in Houston for a long, long time….if he ever makes it there.

The Colorado Rockies have called up 22-year old righty swinging 3B Nolan Arenado.  He came into this season as the Rockies’ #1 prospect according to Baseball America.  Arenado played in 18 games in AAA-ball this year for the Rockies and he was 24 for 66 (.364 avg, 1.059 OPS) with 14 runs scored, 3 homers and 21 RBIs.  He has played in 432 games in his five years in the minors for the Rockies and he was 501 of 1,675 (.299 avg, .818 OPS) with 224 runs scored, 49 homers, 286 RBIs and 8 stolen bases.  Arenado will likely take over as the Rockies’ starting 3B starting today.

The Rockies have designated 27-year old righty swinging 3B Chris Nelson for assignment.  Nelson played in 21 games for the Rockies this year and he was 16 for 66 (.242 avg, .600 OPS) with 6 runs scored, 0 homers, 4 RBIs and an amazingly bad 19 strikeouts.  Nelson played in 212 games in his four years with the Rockies and he was 172 of 616 (.279 avg, .738 OPS) with 78 runs scored, 13 homers, 73 RBIs and 6 stolen bases.  The Rockies will likely try to deal Nelson, as there is no way I see him getting through waivers.  This was a surprising move to me as Nelson has played well for the Rockies in the past.

UPDATE:  (5/2/2013) - The Rockies have dealt Chris Nelson to the New York Yankees for either a player to be named later or cash.

The Rockies have called up 23-year old righty starting pitcher Tyler Chatwood to replace the injured Jhoulys Chacin in the rotation.  Chatwood pitched in 3 games (all starts) in AAA-ball for the Rockies this year and he was 1-0 with a 1.84 ERA and a 1.43 WHIP.  Chatwood pitched in 19 games (12 starts) for the Rockies last year, his first year with the team, and he was 5-6 with 1 save, a 5.43 ERA and a 1.66 WHIP.  The Rockies need Chatwood to pitch better this time around.

The Rockies have designated 28-year old righty reliever Will Harris.  Harris pitched in 20 games (0 starts) in his first taste of the majors in 2012 for the Rockies and he was 1-1 with a 8.15 ERA and a 1.87 WHIP.  Harris also pitched in 44 games (0 starts) in AA+AAA-ball for the Rockies last year and he was 4-1 with 1 save, a 2.08 ERA and a 0.92 WHIP.  This isn’t much of a loss for the Rockies as Harris got beat up in his first taste of the show in 2012.

UPDATE:  (4/4/2013) - The Rockies have lost Will Harris to the A’s off waivers.

The Rockies have designated 36-year old righty swinging catcher Ramon Hernandez for assignment as he was beaten out for the backup catcher job by Yorvit Torrealba.  Hernandez played in 52 games for the Rockies last year and he was 40 for 184 (.217 avg, .601 OPS) with 16 runs scored, 5 homers and 28 RBIs.  He has now played in 1,509 games in his first 14 years in the majors and he is 1,335 of 5,057 (.264 avg, .744 OPS) with 576 runs scored, 166 homers, 751 RBIs and 8 stolen bases.  The Rockies won’t miss Hernandez too much moving forward.

UPDATE:  (4/6/2013) - The Rockies have sent Ramon Hernandez to the Los Angeles Dodgers for 34-year old righty starting pitcher Aaron Harang and cash considerations.  Harang pitched in 31 games (all starts) for the Rockies last year and he was 10-10 with a 3.61 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP.  This was an outstanding deal for the Rockies as Harang will give their starting rotation a nice boost in 2013.

UPDATE II:  (4/7/2013) - The Rockies have designated Aaron Harang for assignment.  They planned on flipping him in a trade before they acquired him, which makes perfect sense as the Rockies can get more for Aaron Harang than they would have gotten in return for Ramon Hernandez.

UPDATE III:  (4/11/2013) - The Rockies have dealt Aaron Harang to the Seattle Mariners for 26-year old righty reliever/starter Steven Hensley.  Hensley pitched in 2 games (0 starts) for the Mariners in AAA-ball in 2013 and he was 0-0 with a 3.38 ERA and a 1.50 WHIP.  He has now pitched in 123 games (72 starts) in his first six years in the minors and he is 30-30 with 2 saves, a 4.48 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP.

The Rockies have signed 34-year old righty starting pitcher Aaron Cook to a minor league deal.  He pitched in 18 games (all starts) for the Red Sox last year and he was 4-11 with a 5.65 ERA and a 1.47 WHIP.  Last season was the first year of Cook’s major league career that he didn’t pitch for the Rockies.  Cook has pitched in 238 games (206 starts) in his first 10 years with the Rockies and he is 72-68 with a 4.53 ERA and a 1.47 WHIP.  Cook is the Rockies’ all-time leader in games started (206), wins (72) and innings pitched (1,312 1/3).  He is also # in ERA (4.53), #7 in WHIP (1.47), #5 in strikeouts (558), #2 in complete games (11) and tied for #3 in shutouts (2) in Rockies’ history.  With the state of the Rockies’ rotation right now, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Cook pitch a lot for them in 2013.