| Jordan Walgreen. 4th February, 2009 - 12:54 pm
 The Colorado Rockies and third baseman Garrett Atkins reached an agreement on Tuesday, locking Atkins up for another year and avoiding arbitration.
A one-year deal worth $7.05 million makes Atkins the second highest-paid player on the roster behind first baseman Todd Helton and is packed with incentives for everything from plate appearances to playoff success, which may prove to be the Rockies most valuable move of this off season.
The Rockies need Atkins to emerge as a big time leader after the loss of Matt Holliday and this deal shows the fan base as well as Atkins that is what that is the direction the Rockies are headed.
Atkins hit .286 with 99 RBI and 21 home runs in 2008, but his OPS fell to .780 from a 2007 mark of .853 and a career-best in 2006 of .965.
In 2006, Atkins didn't have such dramatic splits at home and on the road, batting .999 and .933 respectively. In 2007, his road OPS dropped to .773 and in 2008 it was a horrible .661. These road numbers have declined dramatically while he has remained an above .900 OPS hitter at Coors Field.
But the crux of Atkins' struggles in 2008 may be from his struggles against righties. He hit for an OPS of .709 against right-handed pitching in 2008, which is well below his career average. Atkins bounced back from his inexplicable struggles against lefties in 2007 (.773 OPS) to hit 1.014 against them in 2008, so perhaps he can finally bring it all together again like he did in 2006.
Grading the Deal for Rockies: B |
