Rockies launch talks on Helton
I’m a Red Sox fan as well as a Rockies fan, so Helton going to the Sox is the least bad trade of Helton to me. But I think trading Helton at all would be bad for the Rockies now and also for the long term. The Rockies need to start creating a history, especially a history of greatness, and Todd Helton is the first step in doing that.
As a Red Sox fan I’ve seen two superstars leave Boston: Roger Clemens and Nomar Garciaparra. The Sox declined to resign Clemens and they traded Nomar away. When Clemens left Boston, the conventional wisdom was that he was in the “twilight of his career” and that we wouldn’t see any more of the productivity he had in his youth. The result? Clemens won 4 Cy Young awards after Boston (he only won 3 with Boston). If Clemens goes to the Hall of Fame, and he almost certainly will, will he be wearing a Sox hat? Maybe.
When Nomar left Boston…the Sox won the World Series a few months later. Can’t really complain about that. Lately Nomar has been playing better, and he may still have quite a few years of playing ahead of him, after some injury-filled seasons. If he goes to the Hall of Fame, will he be wearing a Sox hat? Maybe.
Let’s look at where the Rockies are today. Are they one trade away from a championship? No. They are not. Not even if they raid the Sox farm system for pitchers. The Rockies have been losing for years, and they are now just on the edge of changing that. The Rockies front office certainly thinks things are changing, as they raised ticket prices for 2007, even though 2006 was a losing season. So, today, with Todd Helton, there is a good shot at getting a .500 season (which is what the Rockies ownership has publicly said is this year’s goal). If the Rockies win 81 games in 2007 with a young team, why not aim for a division championship or wild card spot in two-five years?
What do the Rockies lose if Helton leaves? The Rockies lose something that a lot of us forgot we wanted, and it’s something we’ve almost completely lost, until this year’s Hall of Fame election. Todd Helton is a home grown, one-team superstar. Just like Cal Ripken and Tony Gwynn. Perhaps he isn’t as accomplished as they are…perhaps. But he came up with the Rockies and has only played with them. I don’t have numbers to prove anything, but he may well be the most accomplished player to stay with his first club playing today. When he retires (and he’s already 33, with back problems), if he stays in Denver, he could be headed to Cooperstown with a 100% Rockies career. And that will become the single biggest thing in Rockies history and it will never go away.
Right now, Roger Clemens’ post-Red Sox career eclipses his years in Boston. Is that what Dan Duquette, or anyone, expected? Do the Rockies, who do not have a history with players like Ted Williams and Carl Yastrzemski (neither of whom were a part of a championship team, by the way) who fans can always take solace in during bad years, want to take the chance that Todd Helton, who is still a .300 or better hitter, will regain his old form and become a beloved player somewhere else? If Helton improves here in Denver, isn’t that an amazing way to close out a career?
People in Boston still love Ted Williams, people in New York still love Lou Gehrig, and people in Kansas City still love George Brett. Who will the people of Denver keep in their memories forever? Trust me, it’s not going to be Dante Bichette. Todd Helton is worth at least a championship, if not more, and he is hardly keeping the team from winning it all. The Rockies should not emulate the Marlins and prioritize World Series victories over keeping great players and connecting with the community. The Marlins can’t even get their own ballpark! Florida has burned its bridges with the fans and now they’re in even worse shape, as a club, than when they started playing.
Todd Helton must stay in Denver for the good of the team and its connection to Denver baseball fans. Denver watched John Elway for a long time before he won a Super Bowl, and we can watch Todd Helton for a long while yet, too. Todd Helton will be the first all-time great from Denver, and the Rockies must not give that away. The Rockies history does not begin at Mile High Stadium, it begins with Todd Helton.
