Helton won't be traded

Well, after a bunch of blustering this weekend about Todd Helton possibly going to the Boston Red Sox, Charlie Monfort effectively killed the deal on Monday night, virtually assuring that Helton will be in a Rockies uniform at least for the start of the 2007 season.

There are skeptics out there who think that even though Monfort publicly nixed the deal, a deal still may be in the works.  That may be true, but let's not forget that Todd's contract includes a no-trade clause, and he earlier told the team that if they were going to trade him, they were going to get it done this week.  The team can still trade him if they'd like, but Todd has the right to veto it, and all indications are that he will.

Is this good for the Rockies?  Well, the biggest pro is that it doesn't throw instability into a lineup that struggled a bit in 2006.  Two rookies, Troy Tulowitzki and Chris Iannetta, are likely to be in the lineup on Opening Day, and trading Helton would have necessitated playing a third player -- likely Joe Koshansky or Ian Stewart -- who has never played above AA.  Or making John Mabry the full-time first baseman.  Something like that.

Also, while Todd is overpaid, he's still a pretty productive player -- no longer a 30-homer guy, but still a .300 hitter with a .400 OBP.  As the lineup strengthens around him, with Holliday and Atkins back, he may experience a resurgence in Colorado.

The bad?  Well, there's the obvious fact that he's getting paid a lot of money.  Management will either have to increase payroll, which they've so far been reluctant to do, or let Holliday and Atkins go when they reach free agency.  Also, there's the chance that he will continue to decline and his contract will be even more of an albatross.  At least right now Helton is productive enough to be tradeable.  If he has a line of .260/.330/.400, nobody is going to want to take on his contract.

Anyways, on the whole I think keeping Helton was a good move -- but we'll see what I think a year from now.