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Posts Tagged 'ken livingstone'
What if Boris cared about Greenwich? An election day fantasy
It's been the most dismal, depressing election campaign I can remember. If we're voting, we're voting for one man merely to stop the other bloke getting in. Something's wrong with that.
For a campaign full of lies and smears, though, one of the final porkies took place above the skies of Greenwich. Wednesday's Evening Standard devoted its page three to a big picture of the Greenwich cable car in operation, with words by City Hall reporter Peter Dominiczack, who's seemingly spent the past few months simply taking dictation from the mayor's team.
High above the Thames, London's first cable car has its maiden flight.
Three gondolas were suspended in mid-air today after moving off just before 10am — the first test of the city's newest river crossing.
The cars did not appear to be carrying any passengers, though they could transport athletes at the Olympics if they are completed in time and will eventually carry up to 10 people per trip.
Onlookers at North Greenwich, on the south side of the cable car run, were impressed by the project, despite its £60 million price tag, and said they hoped it would bring more people to the area.
Unfortunately for the Boris campaign rag, the gondolas have been under test for 10 days or so, as readers of greenwich.co.uk will know.
"The Emirates Airline cable car took a step closer to completion yesterday as moving cable car gondolas were sighted for the first time."
All of which proves which news outfit you can trust in future, and which is only good for soaking up the cat litter. But what if Boris Johnson had done something more substantial with our local transport? How would we be feeling about him today? Here's a blog post I could have written, if only he'd cared…
"Well if I can't take London back to Victorian forms of transport, then what is the point of having a Conservative mayor?," puffed Boris Johnson as he coasted over the Blackwall Tunnel approach and down the slope on his blue bicycle.
Ten minutes earlier, the mayor had cut the ribbon on something he could call his own. The New Tower Bridge, some critics were calling it. Tory-leaning bloggers were calling it the Boris Bridge. And that was the name that stuck.
But the sleek blue Diamond Jubilee Bridge, open only to pedestrians and cyclists, was the gamble upon which Boris Johnson was trying to win over the capital for a second term.
The project had its critics. Labour MPs called it a "vanity project". The Evening Standard said "it is hard to see why the Mayor persists with this project when the hard-pressed motorists of Chelsea still have to pay an outrageous congestion charge," referring to his controversial U-turn in 2011 on the charge's western extension.
The £300m Diamond Jubilee Bridge, from the Isle of Dogs to North Greenwich, ended up having to be bailed out by Chancellor George Osborne when promised sponsorship money didn't turn up. Could it be finished before campaigning begun in the mayoral election? Safety engineers had only cleared it the previous week, but as a the bridge's arms lifted for a cruise liner to pass through with a lengthy toot of its horn, it was clear that this would be as important for the area as the Jubilee Line was thirteen years beforehand.
From a spiral ramp at Marsh Wall on the Isle of Dogs, the bridge crossed the Thames and the Blackwall Tunnel entrances, allowing passengers to walk or ride off in front of the O2 and the London Soccerdome.
Furthermore, the Barclays Cycle Hire scheme went live on the Greenwich Peninsula that morning, allowing residents in the new homes there to cycle to work instead of taking the Tube. A further extension into Greenwich itself, through Deptford and up into the Rotherhithe would go live after the Olympics.
When the mayor was brought over to the press by his ever-attentive PR handlers, he was in ebullient mood.
"These two parts of our great city are too important to be separated," he said, fixing journalists in the eye one by one.
"Now, like Bonnie and Clyde or Antony and Cleopatra, they are joined together by this great monument to British engineering.
"The great joy of being a Londoner is that there is so much of this great city to explore," he added, gesturing at the under-developed peninsula around him. "Now, thanks to this bridge, soon there will be so much more to explore here."
But didn't people want a road crossing, asked a reporter from a suburban freesheet.
"I think these people here are happy with this new bridge," Boris said, gesturing to a crowd who obligingly cheered. Some carried blue balloons and leaflets, but there were also a large number of curious locals too.
He continued, fixing the reporter in the eye again.
"The real issue is that you'll never get this area developed if it has another main road running through it. But if you make this an attractive place to walk around, have your lunch in, walk the dog in, then we'll bring investment and prosperity to the Greenwich Peninsula.
"Now look, if we can build a matching bridge from Canary Wharf to Rotherhithe, then we're linking up communities and bringing together more parts of this great city.
"This is why I can't afford a cut in bus fares, I need to invest," he added, itching to get back on the election trail.
The mayor's Conservative colleagues weren't wasting any time, handing out leaflets to cycle hire users at the new cycle stations in the Millennium Village and retail park. Not only were they confident of victory across London, but local activists say there are signs that the party could even land a councillor in the area for the first time in decades.
Indeed, the 'Boris effect' had reverberated across the borough of Greenwich as the local Labour party was forced to up its game. Concerned councillors held their first public meetings in years as they feared political rivals muscling in on their patch – and they didn't like what they heard.
"He's proved that he isn't all about appealling to the outer suburbs. He could have taken the lazy option and wanted to build a third Blackwall Tunnel, and spent all his time pandering to people in Bexley, but he's challenged us on our own doorstep instead," one political rival said. "Ken Livingstone's had to make more than a token appearance in Woolwich this time around."
Local Conservatives were thrilled. "Now we can campaign across the borough, instead of hiding out in Eltham or at Abbey Wood station and leafleting people who live in Bexley, which is what we normally do," one said.
"We can tell people that Boris hasn't spent the past four years sucking up to the suburbs and the City – if he'd done that, it would have been a waste of four years, after all."
After conquering Greenwich with his new bridge, Boris had one more revelation – that he'd been approached by the owners of the London Eye, who wanted to build a cable car between the O2 and the Royal Docks.
"We'll have to see about that one," he told reporters. "That's for fun – nobody but a fool would take a cable car seriously," he smiled, before turning and riding back to the Isle of Dogs, a crowd of cyclists following.
There's information on the mayoral candidates and interviews with Greenwich & Lewisham's London Assembly candidates at greenwich.co.uk. There's more on the poll, and where to vote, at London Elects. Polling stations close at 10pm.
At the Guardian: Boris, Ken, and a wasteland in Charlton
Over on guardian.co.uk, you can find me and other London scribes discussing the effects Boris Johnson and Ken Livingstone have had on their areas.
My bit is illustrated by a picture of Charlton's glitzy Victoria Way, but really it's on about the scene if you walk down to the bottom of the road. The land in the picture above was originally earmarked for the Ken-era Greenwich Waterfront Transit scheme, canned by Boris a few years back. The GWT had been watered down from a tram to a bus by the time it was scrapped (and, indeed, would have run via Bugsbys Way instead of the planned dedicated road through the retail parks). But it was still a commitment to improving transport in the area, and it's something that should have been up and running by now.
Instead, we got the cable car, which is very nice, but largely useless as a form of public transport. From the hill on Victoria Way, you get a lovely view of both the GWT wasteland (now due to be turned into a Travelodge) and the cable car – a quick summary of the past decade of London transport politics all in one glance.
With the campaign in full flow, you probably won't find much mayoral stuff here unless it directly relates to south-east London, but I'll be contributing to Snipe's The Scoop.
Oh, and that bent-up "Woolwich Road SE7″ street sign in the photo? It's been left like that by Greenwich Council – sorry, Royal Greenwich – for 10 years after a car smashed into it, despite complaints from local residents who want to see it removed or replaced. Despite the splashing out on new signs in more high-profile areas, it shows just how Greenwich is happy to leave much of its patch looking anything but regal.
Ken: 'I'd give Transport for London Southeastern's metro trains'
London mayoral candidate Ken Livingstone says he wants to see south east London's rail network run by Transport for London – and says he'd agreed a deal to do just that before he was voted out of office in 2008.
Speaking to local residents and activists in Deptford last night, he said all London's mainline rail services should be run along the lines of London Overground, the network he created in 2007 to take over run-down services in north London.
The Labour challenger's comments follow current mayor Boris Johnson declaring last month that he also wanted to see all London's railways taken over by TfL.
At present, Southeastern, along with other privately-run services, is free to set fares, acquire trains and decides on the level of service it wants to provide.
But under the model used for London Overground, TfL decides which services, trains and fares to offer – and keeps 90% of the revenue, leaving operator LOROL with the rest. Trains, stations and track have been upgraded, and the service linked with the old East London Tube line – and punctuality has shot up, along with passenger numbers.
Mr Livingstone told the audience:
If people can remember how bad the North London Line was – it was absolutely the worst railway line. We took it over, merged it with the East London Line, and it's now Britain's best railway. That cost one and a quarter billion pounds. It's a lot of money, but it's peanuts in terms of most major public investment projects.
If we ran all overland trains in London on that basis – if we can run a service that's as reliable on our overground, why can't South East Trains? [sic] They don't give a damn. They've got a monopoly, they run a minimum service at the maximum fare.
One of the tragedies about my losing last time was that the Labour government had agreed to start transferring control of London's overland train franchising to the mayor. They passed a law that allowed two people from outside London to on the TfL board to oversee it, and I was in negotiations with [transport secretary] Ruth Kelly to just take them over and run them like we do the Overground. And [Boris] Johnson just dropped all of that.
That's something I want to come back to. It's a power I want from the government, to become the franchising authority and set the same standard for south east trains as you'd expect from the London Overground. There's absolutely no reason why it couldn't be done.
With both the main challengers for next May's election backing TfL taking over the rest of the capital's mainline trains, and with TfL having commissioned a report into how this might work, it looks as if time could well be running out for the likes of Southeastern, whose franchise expires in March 2014.
It's fair to say Southeastern won't be missed, after recent fiascos with snow, the current saga of trains being mysteriously short of coaches and a continuing inability to communicate with passengers. Furthermore, recently-submitted planning documents show the company still plans to cut train services at many Greenwich line stations during next summer's Olympics.
While some aspects of Southeastern's service could be fixed relatively easily – such as staffing and customer service – it's not clear where the sums needed to transform the train service would come from. On the down side, it could see the withdrawal of rail-only tickets in favour of travelcards and the more expensive, but more flexible fares that Tube and DLR users pay. But would this be a small price to pay for a much-improved service?
One thing is for sure – the political will is there, from both Ken and Boris. If you're a hacked-off Southeastern commuter, it's worth making sure both men – and their parties, the ones that created this mess in the first place – are well aware you want to see change.
With the coalition government considering longer train franchises for the rest of the country, we in south-east London might not get this chance again for many years.
8pm update: If you use Lewisham station, and find the locked exit on platform 4 (the one towards Blackheath) as annoying as I do, this petition may be right up your street…
Ken Livingstone 'rejected Boris's cable car scheme'
To Deptford last night, where mayoral candidate Ken Livingstone held a question and answer session with locals and activists at the Lady Margaret Hall. He spoke a little on local trains, which I'll post about later, but he said a few interesting things about the cable car under construction on the Greenwich Peninsula.
We know past schemes for cable cars there have been considered and dropped over the years, including one to East India DLR station for the millennium, and another plan for one to Canary Wharf. But the former mayor said he and O2 arena boss Philip Anschutz considered the same proposal as is now under construction by the Thames – and it was rejected because it was financially unviable.
Using a question about the cable car to close the session, he told his audience:
We looked at a cable car when Philip Anschutz bought the O2 – [it was] one of the things we looked at, as well as running that fleet of boats he's got. It was exactly the same scheme, running from the O2 to the ExCeL centre. Philip Anschutz is one of the richest men in the world – but we decided the money just didn't stack up. It's a nice tourist attraction, but it's not mass transit, and it's a luxury you couldn't afford.
Boris has this idea it'll be a triumph, it'll be open in time for the Olympics – at the moment it's clearly not going to be open for the Olympics, and it's now the most expensive cable car in human history.
We'll have to finish it – but get a mayor who actually pays attention to the bottom line and the detail, because these things go wrong if you just do a grand gesture and not the day job.
While TfL chiefs have been at pains to dampen down the suggestion that the service will be open by the Olympics, the project has been criticised for its cost, currently estimated at £60m, which Boris Johnson is trying to recoup through commercial sponsorship and an application for European funds. Any money he doesn't get back, though, comes out of TfL's rail budget – and this is from something which originally was meant to be entirely privately funded.
Folly or not, it's worth mentioning again that you can take a closer look at the works that are going on at an open morning at the site of what will be "Emirates Greenwich Peninsula" station, on Saturday 26 November from 10am-1pm.
Did you Tell Ken? What did you tell him?
Turns out Ken Livingstone was in Greenwich yesterday, visiting Ravensbourne college as part of his "Tell Ken" campaign visits to every London borough.
He was also due to meet residents in Woolwich town centre, was snapped outside Poundland in Eltham before holding a meeting in there last night. Wish I'd known now, I'd have made the journey to SE9 to see that.
The "once and future mayor" was due to go out campaigning with Greenwich Council leader Chris Roberts – considering relations between the two are widely thought to be pretty frosty, that would have been good value too.
But did you know about his visit? I had no idea, but then I've been away. Did you meet Ken? If you did, what did you tell him – and what did the mayoral candidate tell you?
Or if, like me, you knew nothing of his trip, what would you have told him?
Ken makes a U-turn by the Blackwall Tunnel
One-time and maybe next time's mayor Ken Livingstone was in Plumstead yesterday, and my Scoop colleague Adam Bienkov grabbed a few words with him. Among other things, he came out against plans for a new river crossing at the Greenwich peninsula – the Silvertown Link.
Plans for a crossing have been around for years – with Livingstone himself wanting to build a bridge where Edmund Halley Way (pictured above) now sits. More recently, Boris Johnson has talked up these plans a bit more, promoting a tunnel across to Silvertown. The development masterplan for the peninsula has following the approval of the cable car scheme, which – if it actually gets built – will depart from what's now a coach park to the east of Edmund Halley Way. The masterplan envisages two skyscrapers either side of Edmund Halley Way – again, if the cable car gets built – leaving room for a tunnel in the middle.
It's this change to the vision for the peninsula that has prompted the U-turn from Livingstone.
The reason we went for the bridge and not the tunnel at Silvertown is because the bridge benefits a much wider area. If you look at the impacts of a bridge versus the tunnel you're mad to do the tunnel, especially because a tunnel would be much more expensive. I'm also not sure you want to dump all that extra traffic in the area around the Greenwich Peninsula.
It's a belated admission that the road network leading up to the peninsula simply couldn't cope with the extra traffic that would be attracted by a third crossing coming off the A102, adding to the two Blackwall Tunnels. While the 42-year-old approach road is – effectively – a three-lane motorway, it soon drops down to two lanes in spells through Kidbrooke and Eltham, and homes right the way along the route would have been blighted by possible expansion plans.
Yet this didn't stop there being support – or a lack of visible objections – from across the political spectrum. Conservatives were in favour, but the Silvertown Link was the local Labour party's dirty secret too, with Eltham MP Clive Efford backing it in election material. Even the local Green Party – for whom I stood as a candidate in last year's council elections – was reluctant to campaign against a development which would have catastrophic consequences for the quality of life in east Greenwich. Indeed, it's as if a conspiracy of silence has surrounded the whole thing, with the local media ignoring comments last week from Boris Johnson that there was a "pressing need" for the crossing.
So, quietly, a political battle line has been drawn through the streets of SE10. Vote Boris if you want a third Blackwall Tunnel. Vote Ken if you don't.
Further down the river, it's less clear-cut. For Livingstone also reiterated his support for a Thames Gateway Bridge – the one Boris scrapped. But TfL still kept the plan on the drawing board, even floating the idea of a ferry at West Thamesmead until a bridge could be built. Ken wanted to build the TGB before the Silvertown Link – Boris wants to do it the other way around.
While some of the infrastructure to support the Thames Gateway Bridge is already there – half-finished junctions on dual carriageways either side of the river – the plan fell down thanks to fears of increased traffic through other neighbouring streets. As discussed before, some of the streets leading up to Thamesmead – such as Knee Hill in Abbey Wood – are no bigger than side roads. It's suburban voters in the likes of Bexleyheath who demand extra river crossings for their cars – but the same suburban voters didn't want the extra traffic around their areas, or to see green space built over to accommodate those cars.
It's not quite clear how this problem gets solved without causing great disruption around areas like Abbey Wood and Bexleyheath. There's no indication as to how Ken Livingstone would solve them, either.
I can't help thinking he should offer a substantial public transport improvement alongside a road bridge – not just extra buses, but maybe an extension of a rail line across the bridge too.
Extend the London Overground from Barking across to Abbey Wood or Erith, creating new links deep into east and north London? Or bring the Hammersmith and City line across from Barking? Or maybe the DLR? If a bridge has to be built, it could be an opportunity to give Thamesmead the public transport it desperately needs. Anything less than that, and I suspect Ken will have another bitter fight on his hands – if he wins the fight to be elected next May, of course.
Why is Boris taking money for TfL from Iran's Press TV?
A little question came to mind when I took a ride on the Tube at the weekend…
It was bloody stupid for Ken Livingstone to get involved with Press TV, a channel backed by the Iranian government. Taking money from stone-throwing bigots isn't wise when you're seeking election to the London mayoralty. And as Adam Bienkov points out, it involves associating yourself with some dodgy characters, like cat-chops above, and a disreputable figure associated with SE London – that's right, disgraced ex-Old Bexley and Sidcup MP Derek Conway.
So why is Boris Johnson taking their money too, in the form of ads on the London Underground network? We know he's hardly choosy about who TfL gets its money from, but it seems odd to have your campaign team claim an association with Press TV is "embarrassing", while taking advertising money from them. It may show an admirable commitment to free speech, granted, but I can't help thinking it's a bit inconsistent.
2011 fare rises: Now we've all been screwed by Boris
(UPDATED THURSDAY 5:20PM with full details of new fares. Updates in italics. Click here for the full PDF of fares. The Charlton Champion has fares for zone 3 rail stations.)
So Boris Johnson has announced most of next year's Transport for London fares, set against the background of government cuts. No news yet on what the privatised rail companies, including Southeastern, are planning, but what's coming out of TfL isn't good.
Firstly, bus fares are up 10p with Oyster – putting them up to £1.30. This means bus fares have risen by 44% since Boris took charge in 2008 – but it's much less than the 20% rise we suffered last year, and the daily Oyster cap only goes up by 10p, to £4. More a poke in the ribs than the knee in the guts issued 12 months ago.
As ever, the devil's in the detail – and what a day to bury bad news on. Deep in the press release are huge rises in one day travelcards – meaning occasional commuters and leisure users are the latest ones to be screwed by Boris's fare rises. In the "notes to editors" – that spot which gets ignored by those editors – is the following passage…
London Travelcard season ticket prices will generally increase by around RPI plus two per cent.
The One Day Travelcard range will be simplified and slow selling tickets withdrawn.
The new range will comprise all-day and off-peak tickets valid in Zones 1-2, 1-4 and 1-6.
One Day pay as you go caps will mirror the new ticket range and prices.
Off-peak One Day Travelcard prices increase by up to £1, for example a Zone 1-2 off-peak Travelcard will increase from £5.60 to £6.60.
If you ever get a zones 1-2 off peak one day travelcard, that's a 17.8% rise straight off. The zone 1-4 one-day travelcard is also up by £1, to £7.30 (a 15.8% rise). The zones 1-6 ticket is up by 50p to £8 (up 6.66%). These rates also apply to Oyster fare caps.
Missing from the new range of travelcards are peak travelcards for zones 1-3 and zones 1-5 – you're hit with a big rise. If you buy a peak travelcard from a zone 3 station like Charlton, you pay £8.60 today – under the new plan, you'd be forced to buy a zone 1-4 ticket, which will cost £10 (a 16.2% rise). If you buy a peak travelcard from a zone 5 station like Bexleyheath, your fare leaps from £12.60 to £15 (a 19% rise). These rises, which will affect people who commute only a few days each week, also affect Oyster pay-as-you-go caps, which follow the same patterns.
Most sneaky of all, though, is the disappearance of the zone 2-6 off-peak one day travelcard – the freedom of everything so long as you don't stray into central London by rail, Tube or DLR. It's only £5.10 – but it makes trips around rather than into London good value. It's also, by definition, a ticket used by many in outer London – that's right, the suburban voters that obediently lined up and voted for Boris in 2008.
According to the fares list, finally revealed by TfL on Thursday, a traveller from a zone 5 station like Bexleyheath will be forced to buy a zone 1-6 ticket – which rises to £8 from January, a 56.8% rise. Anyone who uses the peak hours version of this ticket from a zone 5 station will see their fare rocket from £9 to £15 (60% increase).
Again, all this also applies to the cap on Oyster cards.
It's pretty much clear that as far as public transport users in outer London go, they can take a running jump as far as Boris Johnson's concerned. After all, someone has to pay for the scrapping of the congestion charge in Chelsea, and train travellers in Crayford and Sidcup look like being the ones who are doing it. Again.
But where is Boris's challenger, Ken Livingstone, to fight for outer Londoners? He seems more interested in getting involved in the venal, crazy internal politics of Tower Hamlets Labour Party than wooing voters who deserted him in the suburbs. It's about time Ken realised that the people of Welling are as important as the people of Whitechapel – maybe he can reflect on that today while he's at a travel convention in, er, Malta.
Still, never mind – Boris wants to make 2011 the year of walking…
(See also: Diamond Geezer, Adam Bienkov.)
It's in the way you say "Eltham", Ken
When running for mayor on a platform that includes listening to the concerns of outer London, it helps if you can get the place names right. Unfortunately, Ken Livingstone botched it up this morning in Manchester, managing to mangle the pronunciation of "Eltham" (and west London's "Feltham") in front of the watching delegates. Both places, of course, take a hard "t" instead of a "th" sound. Watch it here on the BBC's iPlayer.
Or listen to it here, via Audioboo.
I've heard him do it on the radio, too – how can a man who's been deeply involved in London's politics for 30 years not know how to pronounce one of south-east London's bigger suburbs? Oh, hang on…
Mind you, Boris Johnson isn't that familiar with south London either – declaring yesterday that areas south of the river but off the Tube were too "isolated" to be included in his cycle hire scheme – and cutting funds to the bus network that we have to live with because we don't have those Tubes.
Time to rally to the Free South London cause, perhaps…
Why Kenstock could come unstuck
London's mayoral election is nearly two years away, but already Labour's hopefuls have been parading their wares hoping to catch the eye of party members in the capital. Oona King's been making a great deal of the fact that she may have been a regular at the Ministry of Sound once upon a time, trying to cultivate some kind of trendy auntie image to contrast herself with Ken Livingstone. He's now 65, but still eager to throw himself back into the role he was thrown out of two years ago,
But a piece by Ken for MayorWatch clearly shows his intention to seize the capital's dancefloors from Oona – stating that he wants to champion London's live music scene if he gets a third term in the top job.
Unfortunately, Ken's wise words here aren't matched by his deeds in office before 2008. I was no fan of the Astoria – but its loss last year means there is no large-size music venue in central London.
Where the Astoria once stood is now a huge building site for Ken's cherished Crossrail scheme, and a revamp of Tottenham Court Road station. Obviously Crossrail is a scheme of huge importance, but I can't help thinking that a mayor who was committed to the music industry would have helped it relocate elsewhere in the West End. After all, we're at the point in the recession where Andrew Lloyd Webber and Cameron Mackintosh are bound to start grumbling about empty theatres – couldn't they have been persuaded to lend us one of them for a new Astoria?
A new venue is promised on the Astoria site once Crossrail is finished – but that's at least seven years and a whole generation of bands away.
Ken also mentions the long-running threat to Camden's Electric Ballroom – but that was down to the mayor himself, whose Transport for London wanted the site to give Camden Town station a long-overdue revamp. Camden Council threw out the scheme in 2003.
Also under Ken's watch, the Met Police began the process which led to the introduction of the hated Form 696, which asked venue owners to specify the type of music that would be played at a live event and if any particular racial group was likely to show up.
So Ken's mayoralty wasn't one which actively helped create the conditions in which live music can flourish. His words are also far too central London-focused – it would be good if he took action to promote the live scene in the suburbs. Outside zones 1 and 2, the only area of London with a music scene of any note these days is Kingston-upon-Thames.
But his most eye-catching idea is to create a London version of South By South West – the acclaimed industry get-together in Austin, Texas. Actually, SXSW is about a lot more than music, but would a London version – Kenstock? – go down so well?
The big problem any London version of SXSW faces is another English city got there first. Manchester's In The City is a series of gigs and industry seminars. It's been running since 1992 and has become a well-established date in the British music calendar.
It was the brainchild of the late, great impresario Tony Wilson – whose Factory Records brought the world Joy Division and the Happy Mondays, and who somehow managed to balance this career with appearing on TV as a regional news frontman. Like Ken is for London, he was a passionate advocate for his city, never failing to remind Mancunians that they lived in the finest city on earth – an attitude that's all too rare among London figures.
Would the British music industry support two similar events? I'm not sure it would. And is it really the mayor's job to directly intervene in a music industry that's perfectly capable of coming up with the goods itself? All a mayor can really do is create the conditions for live music to flourish – and there wasn't much of that happening in his first two terms.
Then again, protecting music venues and allowing the mayor to take over licensing would be useful things, and it's good to see Ken bring these particular ideas up. But these are the thing's he's good at – legislating, planning, taking an overall view. As far as planning festivals goes, perhaps Ken would be wiser to leave it to the people who know best – the musicians.


text:
From pencils and erasers to computers and graphing calculators, the items required for back-to school vary immensely by age and by level of education.
Today's question asks readers for the most expensive thing they have ever been required to buy their kids for a school year. Teacher's usually give lists of required supplies, during August, what was the most difficult thing to find this year.
Finally, are you ready to go back to school, or are you braving the malls this weekend for some last-minute shopping.
Let us know in the comments section below.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Winter places unique demands on an SUV. Vehicles need to be able to combat rain, slush, snow and ice, as well as negotiating rough road conditions and extreme temperatures. A vehicle that might perform beautifully on dry pavement could be a nightmare when the going gets tough.
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Photo © Jason Fogelson


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Jessica reports for duty at the Sun. She and Todd discuss Kevins involvement with the corrupt Governor Brooks. Todd tells Jessica about the Santi family involvement with Walker Flynn and the Las Vegas Casinos. Jessica rushes off to dinner at the Palace with Tico and her family. Antonio arrives to tell Todd that Ross is dead. He and Antonio mull over the possible connections, and Todd tells Antonio about the Santis Las Vegas activities, stopping just short of telling him that Tico was personally responsible for his brothers death.
John is at the station with Natalie trying to get what information he can about her involvement with Pauls disappearance. Evangeline walks in and informs John that she is representing Natalie. Evangeline lays out all of the evidence against Natalie and qualities it all as circumstantial. All Natalie needs is an alibi for that night. Hope fades quickly as Natalie tells her she has none. Given the overwhelming evidence against her, Natalie decides to come clean
.to a point. She tells Evangeline that she went to see Paul, held a gun on him to make sure he used his ticket out of town and in a scuffle, dropped the gun. She stops talking as images of Paul pushing her onto the bed, and her struggles and cries come rushing into her mind. She goes on to tell Evangeline that she went to Church and lit a candle, praying to St Jude that Cristian would somehow help her.
After leaving Natalie, John returns to his office to mull over the possible suspects when Shannon barges in to inform John that she may know who was involved in Pauls disappearance. She tells him that she saw someone hiding a gun downstairs at the Love Center. John leaves with Shannon to investigate. When they get there, Rex follows them down. Shannon tells John that she saw a woman bury the gun. John discovers the buried gun and takes it back to the Station. Rex confronts Shannon about her story, reminding her that he was the person she saw. She told him that she figured he was covering.
Meanwhile, Blair and Dorian, dressed to the 9s in their stylish undercover gear, get caught digging at Judge Hernandez gravesite by the cemetery security. Not buying their planting daises story, they get hauled in to the Police Station. Once there, David arrives, once again to rescue them. Dorian tells John that she thought she had lost her engagement ring at the graveside service for Judge Hernandez and they went out to the site to see if they could find it in the dirt. While there, Dorian put her hand in her pocket and lo and behold, there was her ring
and thats all there is to it she claimed. They are informed that no charges will be filed and then are free to go. Dorian is relieved that they are off the hook, but John puts a call in for a warrant to dig up the Judges grave, convinced that he will find information about Pauls disappearance.
Cristians captors inform him that soon he will be leaving. Visions of Natalie haunt him and in a dream he sees Natalie begging him to help her as she is in terrible trouble. Fashioning a weapon, he finds strength to pick up the pace as time is running short. Soon a guard appears to take him away. Cristian goes after the guard who flashes a knife and informs Cristian that he will die. Although we dont see the fight, a bound guard is left behind as Cristian, obviously wounded, heads out of the cell dressed in the guards uniform.
Jessica arrives at the Palace to have dinner. Tico asks her what she is working on and she mentioned that she is working on a story about Las Vegas. She suggests that they go there as a honeymoon celebration. When she asks Tico if he has ever been to Las Vegas, he replies, No. Never.
Also at the Palace are Bo, Nora and Matthew. Bo and Nora try to explain to Matthew their relationship although skirting around the real reason for their divorce. They reassure Matthew that they are friends and love being parents. While Matthew is trying to get his parents together. Asa arrives at the Palace for a meeting only to discover that the Manning he is meeting with is none other than Starr! Starr tells him that she has a deal he cant refuse and proceeds to lay out her proposition. Asa gets out of the way of Todd and Blair being able to marry and Starr will give back to Asa the gold spurs which she stole from him. Matthew walks up to their table just as Asa is trying to argue the point and gets his grandpa to soften up. Starr announces that the meeting is over and walks away
.but before she gets completely out the door is spotted by Dorian, who stops her cold and calls Blair.


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If you have a new born child then it is often likely that he or she would be having some kind of a birth mark on a certain part of the skin. However, if you see that there is some abnormally large accumulation of blood vessels under the skin then these are symptoms of Hemangiomas. It is one of the most common types of birthmarks / anomalies that can affect new born children. Once you are sure about this condition, it is time to look for the treatment. Nevertheless, below given are some factors that you need to take into account:
- The symptoms of this defect normally appear during the first couple of days or even week of life and in some cases it can be resolved by the time they reach the age of ten.
- Hemangiomas are formed when there is an abnormal build up of the person's blood vessels located either in the skin or the internal organs and is more common in women than it is in men but only affects around 7% of healthy people.
- This skin condition may also be referred to as a tumor, but not cancerous. If doesn't affect just one part of the body as it may be found almost anywhere in the blood.
- There are two types of Hemangiomas, classified simply as either "superficial" or "deep". The superficial hemangiomas appear above the surface of the skin and deep hemangiomas appear below.
- The deep ones appear as a blue or gray discoloration on a portion of skin, while superficial hemangiomas will appear as a bright red and raised growth.
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Art Waeterling : Born and raised in New York City,Dr. Waeterling Biblical training under such teachers as Walter Martin, Herbert Ehrenstein, and Stephen Olford. He holds an undergraduate degree in Psychology from Houghton College; a graduate degree in Philosophical Theology from Wesley Theological Seminary; a Masters of Theology from Princeton Theological Seminary, with a Doctor of Ministry in Pastoral Psychology and Interpersonal Relationship from Fuller Theological Seminary.
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June 22, 2013Lieutenant Gregg HastingsPublic Information Officer(503) 731-3020 ext email@example.com/ORStatePoliceAn Oregon State Police (OSP) sergeant stopping to help what looked like a disabled vehicle and motorist along Interstate 5 between Glendale and Canyonville located a missing northern California man who had left earlier tht morning from the Vacaville-area enroute to Elk Grove and got lost. The man's family were notified and arrangements made for his stay in a Medford-area motel where family are traveling to pick him up. On June 21, 2013 at approximately 5:25 p.m., OSP Sergeant Jeff Allison stopped to check on a vehicle parked on the northbound shoulder of Interstate 5 near milepost 82. The vehicle, a white Chevrolet Lumina van displaying California license plates, was occupied by a 88-year old Vacaville, California man who said he was waiting for his daughter. The man's story changed several times and when told by Allison that he was in Oregon, the man was surprised because he thought he was still in California. A check through the OSP Southern Command Center dispatch revealed the elderly man had been reported missing earlier that day after leaving Vacaville at 10:30 a.m. The man's van was out of gas, the van's battery had died, and his cell phone was no longer working. OSP contacted the man's family who advised they would be enroute from San Jose, California. OSP contacted AAA and had his van towed, then Allison drove the man to Medford where he bought him dinner and checked him into a local motel that the family had made a reservation for him to stay at until they arrived to pick him up. At the family's request, his name is withheld.
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Decisions Await Rockies
The Rockies winter checklist starts with signing general manager Dan O'Dowd to a contract extension. It's hard for him to make decisions on the future when his deal is weeks away from expiring.
Then comes the signing of manager Jim Tracy, after which the 2010 coaching staff can be put together.
And then comes the real challenge, the groundwork for the 2010 roster.
Here is the status of players from 2009:
Potential Free Agents, 2009 salary (buyout of 2010 option)
- RHP Jason Marquis $9.875 million: Has told former teammates his goal is signing with the Mets.
- C Yorvit Torrealba $3.5 million ($500,000 buyout on option of $4.0 million): Could be back in part-time role, but $1 million is most likely max salary.
- LHP Alan Embree $2 million ($250,000 buyout on option of $3.0 million): Age and late-season broken leg make retirement likely.
- RHP Josh Fogg $750,000: Could return but would be a minor-league deal again.
The Rockies paid a minimal amount of salary for following potential free agents:
- RHP Jose Contreras, $10 million: Interest in returning in middle relief, but Matt Belisle would probably fit better in light of age.
- 1B Jason Giambi, $4 million: Great clubhouse presence and could return, but Rockies might need roster spot for a right-handed bat who can play first and third.
- RHP Rafael Betancourt, $3.35 million ($5.4 million option): A keeper, but contract would have to be redone, most likely leading to a two-year deal at a lesser amount annually.
- LHP Joe Beimel, $2 million: Could be back, more likely Rockies will keep Randy Flores to go with Franklin Morales.
- RHP Juan Rincon, $750,000: Minor-league invite possible.
- RHP Matt Herges, $800,000: Minor-league invite possible.
Potential Arbitration Cases, 2009 salary
- 3B Garrett Atkins, $7.05 million: Likely non-tender.
- RHP Huston Street, $4.5 million: Three-year deal likely
- LHP Jorge De La Rosa, $2 million: Multi-year deal possible
- 2B Clint Barmes, $1.625 million: Multi-year deal likely
- RHP Taylor Buchholz, $1.055 million: Will open 2010 recovering from surgery.
- RHP Matt Belisle, $800,000: Seems a lock to return
- RHP Joel Peralta, $640,000: Not expected back
- LHP Randy Flores, $600,000: Should return for similar deal
- RHP Jason Hammel, $422,200: Expected to be in rotation
- C Chris Iannetta, $415,000: Will return as No. 1 catcher
- OF Ryan Spilborghs, $415,000: Trade possibility
- SS Omar Quintanilla, $408,000: Trade possibility
- OF Matt Murton, $403,000: Likely replacement for Spilborghs as extra outfielder.
Signed to deals for 2010 (increase from 2009)
- 1B Todd Helton: $16.6 million (none)
- RHP Aaron Cook: $9 million ($250,000)
- OF Brad Hawpe: $7.5 million ($2 million)
- LHP Jeff Francis: $5.75 million ($2 million)
- SS Troy Tulowitzki: $3.5 million ($2.5 million)
- RHP Manuel Corpas: $2.75 million ($2 million)
- RHP Ubaldo Jimenez: $1.25 million ($500,000)
59 Comments »
Thanks Tracy! Great information.
Spilly seems like such a good deal, and a big part of the heart of this team. I would be very upset if they traded him.
Hammel is also a bargain. Definitely sign him! DLR and Jimenez are also keepers.
Good analysis in Giambi. He was a great addition for the late season, but that is a tough choice for a whole season.
Time to fish or cut bait with Spilly.
Also, I didn't see Stewart mentioned, but I suspect he's making the league minimum or close to it, but what exactly does his contract look like?
He's got over 700 big league at bats now, but I don't think we've seen the best from him quite yet. Hopefully he'll make some strides in the strike out department next year.
Also, Seth Smith isn't mentioned either. Could we be looking at Smith as a trade candidate for a right handed bat?
Hopefully Atkins can come back to his old form in 2010. He is about 1/10th of the club's budget and for him to not produce is a real killer.
My concern with Barmes is that he's such an all-or-nothing guy, and in the last month was more of the latter. A long-term deal also blocks EY2, who might not have the defense but adds so much havoc to the top of the order. Or, what about trying to figure out a deal with the Orioles to get Brian Roberts? In looking at his stats, he might be unavailable, but they could use a thump in their lineup like Hawpe.
You are right on Stewart's contract. It was $404,000 this year.
Tracy, there's a typo in the title. It should read "Decisions Await Rockies."
I'll truly miss Spilly if he's traded. It'd be nice to keep Giambi, but I agree that he lacks some flexibility off the bench.
Dustin: yeah, the guys who are missing are pretty much the pre-arb guys, those with fewer than 3 years of service time. It seems like the standard Rockies procedure, if the players aren't on multi-yr deals (like Corpas, Tulo and Jimenez), is to give them nominal raises over the MLB minimum.
Spilly's issue is that with Fowler and Gonzalez around to cover center, filling his remaining role (RH backup corner OF) with Murton, who has 1 pre-arb year left, will be very tempting. Even if Spilly were to accept a modest raise in his first arb-eligible year, Murton would be about a $million cheaper.
I would guess that Giambi is going to try to find an AL team if at all possible (so he can DH), so even if the Rockies were interested, re-signing him would be a long-shot. And as Tracy notes, that's a huge "if" given that there's not really a space for him.
How did this meme of trading for Brian Roberts start? As long as we're dreaming, why not dream of Chase Utley?
I sure hope the Rockies management exercises some constraint. All this talk of trading and wheeling-and-dealing is giving me a bad taste in my mouth. It's one thing to let Marquis go and perhaps trade Hawpe or Atkins for a money player who can produce in the crunch. But it's another to put Smith, Spilly, and possibly Torrealba, guys who contributed in a big way to this team's personality, on the chopping block. I want to win the World Series too, but I grew to love this team because of the players, not just because they happen to play in Denver.
No disrespect to you Tracy. Excellent report. I would just rather see the team tweaked for next year, not overhauled.
How about a trade in the line of Hawpe and Barmes for Dan Uggla? Get a third team involved if the Fish don't want Hawpe.
I do wish we had more right handed bats, but I think it would be a huge mistake to trade Smith. At this point I'd rather trade Stewart for a right handed third baseman than Smith for a right handed OF. Smith is the real deal all around hitter and I would gladly give up Stewart's power for the consistency of Smith.
If we use the VORP (Value over Replacement Player) methodology, I see more pluses with not signing Barmes. While his defense is spectacular, his clutchless hitting (even with ~75 RBI and ~25 solo shot HRs) leaves such a hole in the lineup.
Would we have been better off with 4-5 clutch hits in the Divisional series vs. solid defense at 2B in the 4 games? EY would really change the dynamic of this team with Fowler and Gonzales, how much worse could his defense be?
That Barmes 0 for 14 was so painful to watch…
The Denver Post said that there is a great possibility that Hawpe will be traded and we won't have him next year. Do you think this is possible?
Whatever happens, the starting pitching looks like its going to keep this club deep for a while now. Hopefully we can carry the successes of this on to the next year in regards to pitching. Could be Ubaldo's break-out year. It would be nice to see him sub 3.0 ERA.
Mike: I'm not sure where you draw the line between "tweaking" and "overhauling," but the Rockies' core is young and will remain largely intact. So I'm pretty sure the organization will be "tweaking" and augmenting by most people's definitions.
Some favorites will likely move on, but a strong core will remain to lead the team.
I agree with ProgMatinee about Stewart. I'm just not sold on him offensively. Defense is great though. Reminds me too much (and I'm dating myself here) of a left handed Dave Kingman–all or nothing.
I really don't want to watch Barmes anymore. As much as I have rooted for him to get his game together, he has no sense of his own strike zone. Uggla or Roberts are interesting, but so might Orlando Hudson who will be a free agent.
Anybody think Matt H might consider coming back, or will the bidding get way out of hand.
A trade or free agent pickup for a right hander to replace Marquis until Chacin or Friedrich are ready seems imperative.
Don't waste ur time or money with Marquis! Also, I would like to see them keep Yorvit, but as Tracy mentioned at a much lower cost. He was great at the end of the year with his bat but the future at catcher for the Rox is definitely not him. I would like to see the Rox do something at 2nd too. Barmes isn't going to cut it. The guy can't lay off of balls, therefore will never hit consistently.+
Consider a "speed" game in 2010. Here's my line up
Eric Young – 2B (sacrifice the defense for the speed at top of order – does it remind you of '07 Matsui & Taveras?)
Dexter Fowler – CF (needs upper body strength to be a very special player but seems to be able to move the runners along)
Carlos Gonzales – RF (His increasing maturity is scary good)
Tulo – SS (not a true #4 but who else?)
Seth Smith – LF (How high is up?)
Todd Helton – 1B (it's time to become a "role" player but watching his swing and plate savvy is is worth the price of admission)
Ian Stewart – 3B (must become a 280 to 300 hitter with 80+ RBI's – hard out of the 7 hole)
Ianetta/Torealba/TBD – C (Ianetta must carry the load with his bat. Hit 270 and 15 HRs)
Pitcher's Spot
Jimanez (All the tools! but what's between his ears?)
Cook (stay healthy – he's not a #1)
Francis (win 15+ like '07? Wouldn't that be special!)
De La Rosa (Its not the arm that's the issue but the game that is played between his ears)
Morales (doesn't have the mind set to close but does have the arm to start and dominate! Maturity?)
Long Relief
Fogg (?)
Eight Inning
Off the Bench
Barmes (can we afford his bat on an everyday basis? Probably not)
Trade Hawpe, Barmes, Atkins and maybe even Stewart for a real #4 hitter? probably doesn't work but we can't assume we get nothing for these guys. Also, the pitching in the system looks impressive with Chacin, Rogers, Smith and Reynolds just to start.
The future looks bright – I got my purple shades!
Get the deals done with Tracy and O'Dowd. Both have earned it.
The players who aren't mentioned are under control of the Rockies without arbitration potential so I didn't mention them.
The salaries listed for arbitration eligible are the salaries of last season and they will increase dramatically.
Barmes had the most hits of any major leaguer back in the month of June. Can he get back to that is the big question… Talk of a mult-year deal seem the Rockies are behind him.
The initial expectation is that Hawpe will be with the Rockies next year, unless someone comes in and makes a strong offer, simliar to a Matt Holliday deal, there is no desire to move Hawpe.
Excellent conversation starter, Cowboy. Here's my random thoughts:
1. You'd have to be nuts not to try to trade Hawpe. He's clearly our 4th best outfielder now. He looked like a bargain earlier this year; now you'd have to take someone else's big contract on in order to move him. You've got to be looking for clubs with matching pieces – Hawpe for someone else's middle reliever, or for a RH hitting corner player would work. Carrying his full salary simply ties ownership's hands.
2. Spilly. Why trade him? I mean, I would if I could get a top prospect, or a cheaper Betancourt. But he's not worth that much. His arb salary will be manageable, and he perfectly fills this club's needs with 2 lefty hitting outfielders in front of him on the depth chart – 3 if Hawpe is back. Keep him for another year.
3. Barmes. Long-term contract = long-term mistake! He's 30, he probably had his career year at the plate, his defense is great, but he's only going to head in the wrong direction as he ages. A 1-year arb signing is fine, but expensive utility men (and that's what he is going forward, 2011 on) are a luxury we can't afford. If EY or Chris Nelson develop, we've got a cheap alternative.
4. Q. Nice guy, replacement level, zero trade value. Someone else's NRI. I hope he catches on somewhere.
I like Barmes…I think the Tulo/Barmes combination make a lot of difficult double plays that fans take for granted. I was lobbying for Tracy to pinch hit for him at times in the postseason, but not necessarily because he's a bad hitter he was just in the middle of a terrible slump. That happens.
Moving Gonzalez to more of a power-hitting spot in the lineup would be interesting. You probably never would have thought Tulo would be our cleanup man two years ago…It would be hard to move him from the leadoff though where he's shown the potential to be one of the best in the league there.
I also think we need to keep Atkins just because he can play 3rd and 1st, which means he's very valuable in replacing an injury to either position.
I love Carlos in the leadoff spot. You can't put Cargo behind a slower guy because it takes away his speed. The only other place is #2 and it seems for whatever reason Dex is comfortable there. I kinda like it because Carlos is too powerful to ask him tobunt, but Dex with a little more practice could be a terrific bunter. Its better to have Carlos #1, so Dex can bunt him over, then you got Todd and Tulo to drive Carlos in.
If you switch Dexter to the #1 I think it commits the Rox to swing away with Carlos, Todd and Tulo, which becomes "all or nothing".
I'd love to see a lineup with Young, Fowler and Cargo as the first three like JR said here. But I don't think Young's defense will earn him a starting nod, though.
I think when it comes to infielders the Rox are going with defense first. I don't think Barmes has much of a stick, but until someone else steps up (like Chris Nelson or Eric Young from the minors) Barmes is our guy. He's about as close to perfect on defense as you can get.
I'd like to see the Rox pickup Uggla like ProgMatinee said, but Uggla is terrible in the field, so I don't see it happening. We sure could use a big-time right-handed power hitter, though, to keep the opposing leftys honest.
All I can say about next year is that I am excited. At least we've got our starting rotation set (as long as Francis comes back). That's usually the biggest concern going into spring training. The last few years it's been Cook, UBaldo, after that who knows.
In MHO the first question the Rockies have is do they want/need a right handed power hitter. If the answer is yes, who do they sit? If the answer is no then I think you have to let these "leftys" play even against the left handed pitchers. It reminds me of how Baylor handled Helton (no leftys, some leftys, then all the time). If these guys are going to be the starters they have to be the starters all the time with the backups playing only 1 or 2 times a week. It is the only way they will get better.
In MHO the second question involves Barmes. As a defender he is great. I think he can make 99.9% of plays. But as a batter he is ??????. I think the HRs were a fluke. He did have that one good month, but was that a fluke too? He can't bunt. He can't hit to the right to move a runner over. He swings at balls because pitchers know they don't have to throw strikes to him to get him out. I think the Rockies should keep him though to be the infield backup at 2nd, SS, and 3rd. and the mentor for EY Jr. EY brings alot more to the table than Barmes. He is not the fielder but he can hit lead off, (wasn't he hitting over .300 in CS when the brought him up), bunt steal plus is a switch hitter. EY and Dex batting one two as switch hitters remind you of anybody?
I agree with JR's batting order except with Helton batting 5th (in 2010 and 6th in 2011) and maybe the catcher (right handed bat) batting 7th with Stewart 8th to break up the left handed bats.
With Barmes becoming this year's Q, that would open a spot for a right handed power hitting 1st baseman to back up Helton.
What do you guys think?
I have said this before time and again, Stewart had much better numbers this year than Mike Schmidt did at the same age. Look it up! The Rockies would be foolish to trade him. He has way too much upside offensively and his defense is great. Some pieces of the puzzle need to continue to develop from within and he is one of those pieces.
On another note, this has been one heck of a website this year. All of you continue to post responsibly and leave the trash talk out of it, something that seems rare these days. Most comments are very thoughtful and I pick up a lot from them. Tracy, Jack, and whoever else drives this thing…thank you!
Great column and comments.
As Agbayani said, I think that Hawpe should get traded because he is the 4th best outfielder on the team, and, if the Rockies free up his salary, it can be put to better use elsewhere. My hope is that some other team wants Hawpe (why not, he was an all-star this past year) and we can get a good young player or two, rather than some other team's overpriced veteran, in return for him.
I think that we should resign Barmes for 2 more years. His defense was great, and hopefully he can regain his stroke at the plate. Hopefully, within 2 years someone else within the system is ready to take over.
I think that Atkins should be non-tendered, and we need to sign a right handed hitting corner infielder who can pinch hit and step in when Helton or Stewart need a day off. Atkins is too expensive for how he is performing.
I would hope that we could keep Spilly at the 4th outfielder. Tracy, what do you think Spilly will get paid this coming year, and how much more will that be than what Murton will get paid this coming year? Spilly is a good fielder, a pretty good hitter, he bats right handed, and I think that he is great in the clubhouse.
For the first time in many years it seems that our pitching is set up pretty well for the coming year. The starters should be Francis, Ubaldo, Cook, Hamel, and DLR, and we seem to have a number of relievers (hopefully the Rockies resign Bettancourt). I assume that Chacin, Rogers, Deduno, and Roe will be 4 of the starters at AAA, and Friedrich should be there before too long, so hopefully if a starting pitcher gets injured that one of these pitchers could step up. Tracy, what do you hear about Greg Smith, Greg Reynolds and Casey Weathers?
I think that Omar doesn't make the team next year. Barmes becomes Tulo's backup, and EY backups Barmes and is a 5th outfielder.
Yorvit was certainly an asset at the plate. Perhaps he gets resigned for a year, until either Chris steps up and can take back the starting job, or McHenry or Rosario make their way through the minors to the Rockies.
Nice to see a winter checklist that is realistic as well. We as fans and followers of this team are even taking note of what this team is about and how it is run. Hope the Monforts lock up O'Dowd and Tracy for next 3 years and then after the Series let the chips fall as they may in the coming months.
I would really like to see a few sound moves this off season whether that means trades or signings but there needs to be a little work with the bullpen again if we can't keep guys like Beimel and Betancourt. I hope we can work those guys in and keep them around to help out Street but you also can't forget Taylor Buchholz will be back mid way next year to add even more support. Our rotation looks good and I don't know what you would do to upgrade it other than sign a veteran or two to keep in the springs in case of injury. I think we would all like to see Giambi back but I don't know if another national league team will try to outbid us once he hits the market. I wouldn't mind seeing Hawpe moved if we got back a good package like we did for Holliday.
Murton is pre-arb, so he'll be around the $400,000 mark. Spilly will likely come in around at least 1 – 1.5 million higher.
Spilly's in his first year of arb eligibility. Last year in his first year of eligibility, Barmes negotiated a $1.625M deal. 1st year arb-eligible OF's from other teams with less than full-time playing time seemed to have signed deals ranging from around $1.2M (Gabe Gross) to $2.25M (cf. Cody Ross and Jeremy Hermida). Note that none of these guys are exact comps–Gross was worse, Ross probably a bit better, and Hermida got more playing time.
The difference doesn't force their hand but it's not insignificant, either if the team's budget is such that O'Dowd needed ownership approval to take on the $1.6M or so left on Betancourt's contract.
It probably depends on how they feel about Murton's bat and how much they value Spilly's glove and clubhouse presence.
If EY2 is seen more as a super-sub than starting 2B candidate, which seems to be the case given the rumors of a multi-yr deal for Barmes, then that's another threat to Spilly's role with the team.
Mike, good analysis on arb salaries. But after a year in which he was well below average, I can't see Spilly comin in at more than 1.5.
Agbayani, don't forget the Boras Factor.
Tracy, Great site and comments from all. Question for you or Jack: How much value does Atkins, Hawpe, and Barmes have on the trade market? What can you reasonably expect to get for each of them? Personally, I would trade Atkins and Hawpe, and maybe even Barmes. I too think Barmes has seen his best years and now has settled into what you see now- decent power, lots of srikeouts, not much clutch hitting, and ok fielding. Too bad Giambi isnt a RH hitter, which the Rocks badly need, but he fits in better as a DH in the AL anyway. I sure missed my guess on him. Didnt think he would help the Rocks, but he sure did. Isnt it fun playing GM!
Is Spilly a free agent after next season? Does he have much trade value this off season?
How do the Rockies feel about Matt Murton as a replacement for Spilly? Is Matt Miller in the Rockies' plans at all? He appeared to have a very good season in Colorado Springs this past year, and yet I never read anything about him.
Spilborghs is arbitration-eligible for the first time after this season. So he won't be a free agent until after the 2012 season. Miller's shortcoming is his defense. One member of the organization described it as "bearable."
My take is that Spilly will not sign with the Rockies, first because Boras is his agent, and second because he wants to have an opportunity to start every game. If the Rockies have no plans of unloading Hawpe ($7.5M), there is very little chance of him starting next season with Smith, Gonzalez and Fowler also in the mix. I'll miss Spilly if he isn't offered arbitration, but this is a business.
I'm guessing they'll sign Barmes for a few years. He's very streaky as a hitter, but his defense is above average. He'll likely groom EY2 to replace him in the next few years, if Young can settle down, and he'll be the utility middle-infielder. People talk about Young's speed, but he was caught 50% on stolen base attempts. He needs to mature, and I still don't understand why he was on the post-season roster with his penchant for being picked off. I'm saddened they didn't use McCoy in the post-season instead since he was more deserving of it.
Thanks, Jack, for answering my question about Matt Miller. If his defense is just "bearable", that's certainly a concern given the size of the Coors Field outfield and the fact that we have plus outfielders in Fowler, CarGo, and Spilly.
I have heard concerns about EY Jr.'s defense as well. We have seen some players work hard and improve their defense. Helton made himself into a great fielder with practice, and Atkins made himself into a better fielder, although still not great. Do we have any sense as to EY's work ethic and whether he can work himself into a good fielder. He certainly has all of the athleticism that you could ask for.
Julian, Rockies have no desire to trade Hawpe unless they were to get a Holliday-type deal, which means a right-handed hitter at the stage of a Carlos Gonzalez, and a young, quality, late-inning reliever.
There is a feeling within the organization that Hawpe is a part of the foundation of the attitude of this team. He presents a stronger package in clubhouse than he does on the field, and on the field he There is a strong team concept to Hawpe's entire approach. His contract is very reasonable at $7.5 million. And while there were some struggles this year, remember he did hit .272 against right-handers a year ago.
What Hawpe has shown throughout his career is that he accepts challenges and surprasses expectations.
Just my opinion, on this point, but I wouldn't be surprised if the organization feels that in two years, after Helton's contract is up, that Hawpe could return to first base, his natural position.
I have no problem with a couple year deal for Barmes at all. His defense is fantastic at 2B which is a critical up-the-middle position. I get just as frustrated as everyone else when he continually gets fooled on sliders low and away, or grounds out weakly to 3B on fastballs on the outer half that he should be going the other way with. But he will crush a mistake in the middle or on the inner half, and we're talking about the 8-hole hitter here…not someone in the heart of the lineup. He will expand his strike zone sometimes, but that's not all bad necessarily for an 8-hole hitter. I would rather see him try to hit a ball just off the plate with RISP and 2 out than take a walk and leave it to the pitcher to get that hit. That being said, if he gets hot for a week and Tracy starts batting him 5th (seriously Tracy??? Torrealba batting 5th???) I will have a problem. :)
As for Stewart, the kid deserves a chance to be in the lineup every day. Give him the chance to succeed or fail for all of 2010…he deserves that chance. He's one of the most patient hitters on the team, so my bet would be that he succeeds.
A lot of people seem to want to trade Hawpe, I don't, because he was horrible in the second half, he was. He might have been a victim of his own first half success. If some one said in March he'd end up with the stats he did, most people would've been happy. The problem was the greatenss before the All Star game and the crappiness after. Maybe he was bummed that Carl Crawford caught his home run.
Why was he horrible in the second half? How did he go from All Star stud in the first half to being benched in the playoffs? Is this something he'll overcome and be productive over entire seasons in the future?
That's what I'd like to know. It would be a bad idea to get rid of his power. There doesn't seem to be enough of it down on the farm.
Hey, speaking as a Mets fan, I'd love to see Marquis come to Flushing. I think he'd be a great fit.
Also, redirected from MetsBlog, and they pointed out that you're now keeping this blog up independently of your now-defunct newspaper. Good for you, man, because nobody would blame you for packing up and seeking greener pastures. Keep up the good work (for as long as you can)!
I sure hope Mets get Marquis! :)
and trust me u rox fans we like your team way better than those Phillies..i was rooten for ya the whole way
If Francis weren't coming back to the Rox rotation, I'd say lock Marquis up to a multi-year contract. He was brilliant for 5 months out of the year. If we did not have Marquis we would not have made the playoffs. He has made the playoffs 10 straight years for four different teams–the cubs, Cards, Rox and Braves. He's a winner. Period.
And if he does go to the Mets, he'll do really well in the pitcher-friendly Citi Field. And, who knows, he might make it eleven straight years with five different teams.
Rockpile, I think you are on target. The reason that Marquis was acquired, to begin with, was because the Rockies were not expecting Francis to pitch in 2009. They knew it had to be his decision to have the surgery, but they figured it was inevitable. As a result, they wanted a veteran guy who had a track record. Marquis lived up to his track record. Remember, he did win 15 games, and in the first two months, when the Rockies were stumbling he kept them from disappearing. Face it, he ahd sevne of the team's first 19 victories. Bottom line, though is while his addition only added $5 million to Rockies payroll, becuase Rockies were unable to uinload Vizcaino in the deal, and Cubs chipped in some money, but it's a $10 million payroll item when you bottom line the deal and Francis is already signed. I would think Rockies fans and followers would all wish Marquis well whatever happens because he was a true professional.
I loved watching Marquis pitch (and hit). He is the type of pitcher that I would welcome on any team I root for any time. But he will be gone, both by his own wish, and by the needs of the team.
He reminded me of the good, early Mike Hampton when he was here — a true battler on the mound and at the plate.
When we signed Marquis, I figured we were getting someone who would be able to throw a ton of innings, and he didn't disappoint. For me, the true gem came on June 30 when he 2 hit the Dodgers while throwing only 86 pitches in the CG shutout. That was simply amazing and probably the best game he's ever pitched. I'm glad it was in a Rockies uni. I don't think there is anyone more disappointed in how he pitched in the last few months more than him. He kept the team afloat during those rough first few months, and the true fans won't forget that. He's leaving some big shoes for Francis to fill.
Spilly doesn't have a choice on whether to sign or not, except that he can retire. The choices are on the Rockies side: non-tender him (make him a free agent), or tender a contract, in response to which Spilly can file to go to arbitration. All Boras can do is push the arb case, and the Rockies will still have a good idea of the pay range given Spilly's past salary, experience (first time arb-eligible) and performance.
Hell, yeah. I'll be rooting for Marquis as long as he doesn't sign with an NL West team and also not when the Rox play whoever he signs with. ;) Really enjoyed having him be part of the Rockies family this year and wish him all the best.
Tracy, as others have asked, opinion on chance of getting Holiday back?
25% plus?
Cards made it as far as Rox for all practical comparisons. Holiday, "I want to sigh with a contender".
Boras makes it 1% or less with me unless Holiday takes more control of his destination and heart(getting back with his friends) and will settle for "realistic" money.
On a couple subjects,
Hawpe isn't going to be traded unless it's a solid deal, along the lines of what the Rockies received for Holliday. Attitude, personality in the clubhouse, and offensive potnetial are top quality. Final six weeks were a struggle for him, but he is learning. I don't see him being dealt.
Holliday is a long shot, at best with the Rockies. Less than one per cent might be overstating the chances the Rockies have. I would say none is more likely.
I wouldn't even expect the Rockies to broach conversation. He turned down the 4-year, $18 million extension that would have kicked in in 2010 without any type of counter offer.
As for saying he wanted to play with a team that had a chance to win, that was one of four explanations I heard that was attributed for him on leaving. I don't think he really knows why he left other than money and that is his option. I think he tired to come up with various explanations to try and justify leaving, when in reality it is not something he needs to justify because it is an option he has.
Thanks, Tracy.
There was an interview with Holiday, I believe by one of your colleagues, Krieger maybe, I think before the season started in which a couple comments from Holiday stuck with me that I always thought if Matt searched his soul he might come back to the Rockies. I think Holiday ended up admitting that he didn't even know what the offer from the Rockies was (the 4-year, $18 million extension). When he was told he kinda went, huh, really? I got the feeling he felt a little ashamed. But who knows? This was an interview in print and sometimes hard to interpret. Also, The Rockies may feel scorned and dealing with Boras is not desirable to them, correct?
Steve N., I think you have a good grasp of the situation.
And Phillies slugger Ryan Howard "settled" on similar money to stay with the team he loves…just sayin'. :)
Marquis would be a good fit for the Mets. If he can pitch at Coors Field, he can certainly pitch at Citi Field.
As I read the comments there seems to be a consensus that Barmes and Hawpe should be packaged and shipped out. Barmes had a lousy August, batted sub .200 but nearly .260 in September. The case for Barmes is that he could be the next Mark DeRosa with a versatility that any club would want. His numbers as a second basemen put him ahead of Uggla and Hudson along side Utley when it comes to fielding. Funny that some say Barmes is 'over the hill' at 30 but want to trade for a 31year old Utley. Give him a decent three year deal, he's better playing for us than against.
Hawpe would be a real loss to this team and a gain to a number of others (don't you think the Cubs would put together a solid package to replace Milton Bradley with Hawpe). A left handed power hitter with a cannon for an arm, he'd look great in Wrigley's right field.
I suggest that having Barmes, Hawpe, Stewart and Ianetta in major slumps in the second half, that maybe it's time to look at the hitting coaches. They aren't swinging the bats but they should be providing the guidance and diagnosis to get these guys back on track. Management brought in two experienced former managers at the beginning of the season in anticipation that Hurdle would fail to right the team. Tracy became interim, Baylor didn't. When the team jelled it became more apparent that Tracy would be offered a deal. Baylor may have realized he isn't in the Rockies long range plans.
Tim R, Baylor was never brought in as a possible replacement to Hurdle. The assumption you made about him not feeling he fit into the Rockies long-range plans is a bit of speculation without any basis. I don't mean to sound to hard on this, but Baylor did not mail anything in.
If you are going to have the hitting coach shoulder the blame for the players who slumped in the second half, then who do you credit with the turn arounds for Tulo, Gonzalez and Torrealba, and steady improvement of Fowler and the solid season of Helton?
This team did win more games than any team in Rockies history and had a winning record on the road for the first time ever. Not bad for a 20-32 start.
The comment regarding Baylor was speculative. In what has become a very long thread I thought there was little if any mention of the role that the hitting coach may have played in the poor second half performance of some players.
Regarding those who did hit well, I won't discount Baylor's contribution to Gonzalez or Fowler any more than I'd discount Tracy's contribution in allowing them to become starters. I'll concede to you (and Baylor) on Torrealba. He had a terrific second half. Helton was healthy again and it showed not only in his performance but enjoyment of the game. He should be a future Hall of Famer, but very under appreciated outside of our region. Tulo was also healthy and returned to his 2007 form. I'm sure Baylor makes suggestions to both but they are natural hitters. I'm sure that someday though, Tulo will realize that not every high fastball is a pumpkin ready to be put on the concourse.
"And Phillies slugger Ryan Howard "settled" on similar money to stay with the team he loves…just sayin'."
The difference is that Howard is making that much as an arb-eligible player! If Howard were a free agent, do you think he'd "settle" for that deal?
I'm not sure why I thought Murton was pre-arb since Tracy listed him as arb-eligible. Looking over his record, it does seem that this year pushed his service time over 3 yrs. So scratch that above. He won't make as much as Spilly, but the difference between them is less than stated above.
Jack and Tracy,
One of the main determining factors for the Rockies roster is payroll. The Rocks spend around $70M per year, the Yankees spend around $200M per year.
I understand baseball teams will get much of their revenue from radio and television broadcast rights, in addition to the number of fans attending the games.
I know this has been done before, but not for a while that I have seen, is how much each team will earn from their various revenue sources.
I think it would be interesting to see how much more revenue the large market teams, Yankess and Red Sox for example, than the small and mid size markets.


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By Kate Gibson, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Shares of the following companies made notable moves in the U.S. stock market Friday:
Blockbuster Inc. shares were up 13%, two days after the film-rental company won court approval to continue operating in Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Europe's Week Ahead: Telecoms and banks
BP, Alcatel-Lucent and BNP Paribas report earnings next week. The Bank of England also unveils its latest interest-rate decision.
BMC Software Inc. shares climbed 3.4% after the provider of business software raised its profit forecast for fiscal 2011 on the heels of second-quarter financial results.
Coinstar Inc. shares surged more than 24% after the operator of movie-rental kiosks and coin-counting machines reported a third-quarter profit that beat analysts' estimates.
Estee Lauder Cos. /quotes/zigman/130587/delayed/quotes/nls/el EL -0.16% shares rose 10.5% after the seller of beauty products hiked its full-year income expectations. See more on Estee Lauder's revised outlook and first-quarter results.
First Mercury Financial Corp. shares soared 43.5% after Toronto's Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. /quotes/zigman/17244/delayed CA:FFH +0.20% said it would acquire the specialty insurer for $294 million in cash.
MIPS Technologies Inc. shares advanced almost 6% after CNBC host Jim Cramer recommended the chip manufacturer.
Maxim Integrated Products Inc. /quotes/zigman/75170/delayed/quotes/nls/mxim MXIM -0.17% climbed more than 10% after the chipmaker reported a first-quarter profit that more than doubled from the comparable year-ago period.
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Monster Worldwide Inc. /quotes/zigman/323748/delayed/quotes/nls/mww MWW +1.81% shares climbed 25.5% after the world's biggest online-recruiting site projected fourth-quarter earnings would come in above estimates. See more on analyst upgrades for Monster and details of its financial results.
Seagate Technology /quotes/zigman/118457/delayed/quotes/nls/stx STX +1.18% shares rose 5.5% following reports that private-equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. is likely to withdraw from a group looking to take the hard-disk-drive maker private.
Stamps.com Inc. /quotes/zigman/92950/delayed/quotes/nls/stmp STMP +1.17% shares jumped 10.5% after the provider of online postage services announced a special dividend of $2 a share, payable Dec. 2.
TeleNav Inc. /quotes/zigman/118009/delayed/quotes/nls/tnav TNAV +1.79% shares gained more than 28% after the provider of navigation technology reported better-than-expected financial results for its fiscal first quarter.
Vivus Inc. /quotes/zigman/56708/delayed/quotes/nls/vvus VVUS +5.36% shares climbed more than 26% after regulators did not request additional trials of its obesity pill, signaling the drug could be approved early in 2011.
Le Gaga Holdings Ltd. shares rose 18.5% in the U.S. public debut of the Chinese vegetable grower.
AMAG Pharmaceuticals Inc. /quotes/zigman/107237/delayed/quotes/nls/amag AMAG -3.08% shares tumbled 17.6% after the maker of an anemia drug said it would trim its work force by 24% and was in talks with federal regulators about changing its drug label.
Exact Sciences Corp. /quotes/zigman/85083/delayed/quotes/nls/exas EXAS +2.67% shares dropped 20% after researchers reported positive findings on the company's colon-cancer detection test.
First Solar Inc. /quotes/zigman/102025/delayed/quotes/nls/fslr FSLR +0.29% shares fell almost 9% after the world's largest manufacturer of solar-power panels said it would cut prices to combat softening profit margins. The company reported third-quarter financial results late Thursday.
Genworth Financial Inc. /quotes/zigman/340124/delayed/quotes/nls/gnw GNW -14.02% shares skidded almost 10% after the financial-services firm posted third-quarter profit below Wall Street's expectations.
NuVasive Inc. /quotes/zigman/92312/delayed/quotes/nls/nuva NUVA +9.01% shares lost 28.5% after the medical-device maker cut its 2010 earnings and revenue forecasts.
Sunoco shares fell 5.7%. The gasoline producer and retailer's loss in its refining segment mostly offset "solid" quarters for its coke, logistics and retail businesses, RBC Capital Markets analyst Jacques Rousseau said in a note to clients. Sunoco's third-quarter earnings missed the consensus estimate, he noted.


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Are you planning for the summer yet? Summer school, camps, sports. There are lots of ways to fill up the hours once school is out. What are you doing?
Mom's Talk
Each week, our Wentzville Patch Mom's Council tackles a new question from readers. Look for the responses in the comment section. Add your own opinion and let us know if you have a question!


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HOUSTON – Temperatures will once again be in the mid-90s on Wednesday afternoon with a chance for scattered rain.
"We have a hot day on the way today -- humid as well," said KHOU 11 News Meteorologist Brooks Garner. "This morning we had a little rain along the coastline, but most of it dissipated as it moved inland."
There's a 30- to 40-percent chance for showers through the weekend, mostly in the afternoon hours. We'll top out in the mid-90s with overnight lows in the mid- to upper-70s.
Next week there's little relief from the heat as a mix of sun and clouds continues.
Download the free WeatherCaster app for your hourly forecasts and severe weather tracker.


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