Normally, we at Baseball Nation wouldn’t make a big to-do about a pitcher signing a minor league deal. There are dozens of such deals made at this time of year, and we’d quickly be overrun by them if we wrote about all of them.
Rockies Offer Jamie Moyer Minor League Deal
Jamie Moyer is almost 50 years old. But he might be a rotation starter in 2012 -- for the Rockies.
This one, though, reported by Troy Renck of the Denver Post, is different:
The Rockies are also awaiting word to see if ageless veteran free agent Jamie Moyer will accept their minor-league contract proposal.
Multiple major league sources confirmed that the Rockies are trying to finish up a minor-league deal with the 49-year-old Moyer, who last pitched with the Phillies.
The left-hander debuted in 1986 with the Cubs and went 9-9 with a 4.84 ERA with Philadelphia in 2010 before undergoing elbow ligament surgery that forced him to miss last season. He threw in winter ball and auditioned for scouts, including a representative from the Rockies.
Moyer would be brought in to compete for a rotation spot and help tutor the young pitchers on staff. He is known for possessing one of baseball's best changeups.
Among Moyer’s teammates on the 1986 Cubs was Davey Lopes, who made his major league debut 40 years ago in 1972 and will turn 67 in May. And 15 of the players on Colorado’s 40-man roster were born after Moyer made his major league debut on June 16, 1986 (check out who Moyer’s opposing pitcher was in that game).
Who knows? Pitchers have come back from Tommy John surgery better than before. Moyer never threw hard, but always kept hitters off balance. As the career leader in home runs allowed, perhaps there’s no more suitable place for Moyer to finish his career than Coors Field.
See More:
