Rockies shrewdly stockpile young arms

January, 17, 2012

1/17/12

1:40

PM ET

By Jim Bowden | ESPN.com

Since taking over as general manager of the Colorado Rockies on Sept. 20, 1999, Dan O’Dowd has had his share of good trades as well as outright stinkers. But count his latest trade among one of the better ones of his tenure.

On Monday, O’Dowd sent fourth outfielder Seth Smith to the Oakland A’s in exchange for two back-of-the-rotation starters, Guillermo Moscoso and Josh Outman. Smith hit .284/.347/.483 with 32 doubles, 15 home runs and 10 stolen bases in 2011 while playing half his games at Coors Field. Smith, 29, is expected to play left field for the A’s. The under-the-radar trade adds to the store of young arms O’Dowd has collected in the past six months.

O’Dowd has learned throughout the years that overpaying for free-agent pitchers rarely works out and that even second-tier free agents don’t want to pitch at Coors Field. Therefore, the Rockies must either draft them or for trade for them, and O’Dowd has done an excellent job since July stockpiling an inexpensive bevy of young arms.

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ABOUT THIS BLOG

Jim Bowden

Bowden, who served as the senior vice president and GM for the Cincinnati Reds and the Washington Nationals, is an analyst for ESPN.com. In 1992, Bowden became the youngest GM in MLB history when the Reds hired him at age 31. The Reds finished in first place twice during his 10 years as GM, and he was named MLB Executive of the Year by Baseball America in 1999. After working for ESPN in 2004, Bowden became the first GM of the Washington Nationals when the franchise relocated from Montreal to Washington, D.C., in 2005, working in that role until the 2009 season. Bowden co-hosts the "Inside Pitch" radio show on Sirius XM satellite radio. Follow on Twitter: @JimBowdenESPNxm.