The Rockies have sent 24-year old switch hitting outfielder Dexter Fowler to AAA. He has played in 47 games for the Rockies this year and he is 30 of 139 (.216 avg, .644 OPS) with 18 runs scored, 1 homer, 4 RBIs and 6 stolen bases. The Rockies have called up 25-year old switch hitting 2B/SS Jonathan Herrera to replace Fowler on the roster. Herrera has played in 45 games in AAA-ball this year and he is 48 of 168 (.286 avg, .699 OPS) with 24 runs scored, 1 homer, 11 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Herrera has played in 28 games with the Rockies (in 2008) when he was 14 of 61 (.230 avg, .556 OPS) with 5 runs scored, 3 RBIs and 1 stolen base. I expect that Fowler will get back to Denver soon if he gets off to a good start in AAA.

The Rockies have released 38-year old righty swinging catcher Paul LoDuca. LoDuca played in 14 games in AAA-ball this year and he was 10 of 43 (.233 avg, .594 OPS) with 5 runs scored, 1 homer and 7 RBIs. LoDuca got bumped after Paul Phillips accepted his minor league assignment as the Rockies like him more than LoDuca. This likely will end LoDuca’s hopes of making it back to the major leagues.

The Rockies have designated 33-year old righty swinging catcher Paul Phillips. Phillips has played in 6 games for the Rockies this season and he was 5 of 17 (.294 avg, .663 OPS) with 4 runs scored and 1 RBI. The Rockies have recalled 27-year old righty swinging catcher Chris Iannetta from the minors. Iannetta played in 8 games for the Rockies earlier this season in which he was 4 for 30 (.133 avg, .569 OPS) with 2 runs scored, 2 homers and 2 RBIs. He didn’t mope in AAA as he earned his way back to Denver. Iannetta played in 17 games in AAA-ball this year and he was 22 of 63 (.349 avg, 1.146 OPS) with 17 runs scored, 5 homers and 21 RBIs. Phillips will accept a minor league assignment if he clears waivers.

Three teams will likely be after catcher Chris Iannetta if the Rockies put him on the block soon. The Red Sox, Rangers and Astros will all likely be interested in him. The Red Sox would probably offer prospects while the Rangers and Astros could give up players that could help the Rockies this year. With that in mind I think I would be looking at the Texas teams. I don’t think the Astros match up well with the Rockies right now but the Rangers would likely be willing to deal Joaquin Arias, Taylor Teagarden and Dustin Nippert for Iannetta and I think that is a deal I would make. Arias can play all over the infield and he is a .300+ hitter in the majors. Teagarden could be stashed in AAA to see if he can get his career back on track and Nippert could work in long relief immediately for the Rockies.

The Rockies have signed 34-year old switch hitting 2B Kaz Matsui to a minor league deal. Matsui played in 27 games for the Astros before this release this year and he was 10 of 71 (.141 avg, .352 OPS) with 4 runs scored, 1 RBI and 1 stolen base. He has now played in 630 games in his 7 years in the majors and he is 615 of 2,302 (.267 avg, .701 OPS) with 330 runs scored, 32 homers, 211 RBIs and 102 stolen bases. This was a good gamble for the Rockies as Matsui might just earn a chance to compete with Clint Barmes at some point in 2010.