The Rockies have acquired 34-year old righty swinging 2B Mark Ellis from the A’s along with cash considerations for 25-year old righty reliever/starter Bruce Billings and a player to be named later. Ellis has played in 62 games for the A’s so far this year and he is 47 for 217 (.217 avg, .544 OPS) with 21 runs scored, 1 homer, 16 RBIs and 7 stolen bases. Ellis has now played in 1,056 games in his first 9 years in the majors and he is 1,015 for 3,828 (.265 avg, .729 OPS) with 533 runs scored, 86 homers, 434 RBIs and 62 stolen bases. Ellis will likely take over the starting job at 2B immediately and give the Rockies improvement both in the batting order and in the field defensively.

Bruce Billings wasn’t considered a top prospect for the Rockies. He did make his major league debut earlier this year when he worked in 2 innings allowing 5 hits and 1 run (it was earned). Billings was sent to the minors shortly after that game. Billings has pitched in 29 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball this year and he is 6-2 with 1 save, a 4.47 ERA and a 1.57 WHIP. He has now pitched in 126 games (76 starts) in his first five years in the minors and he is 36-31 with 2 saves, a 3.80 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP.

This was a good deal for the Rockies as 2nd base has been a black hole for them so far this year.

The Rockies have dealt 28-year old righty swinging 3B Josh Fields to the Nippon Ham Fighters. No idea who or what the Rockies will get for him. Fields played in 50 games in AAA-ball for the Rockies this year and he is 65 for 178 (.365 avg, 1.103 OPS) with 53 runs scored, 11 homers, 45 RBIs and 7 steals. Fields has played in 217 games in parts of five years in the majors and he is 167 for 713 (.234 avg, .724 OPS) with 95 runs scored, 34 homers, 107 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. With the emergence of Ty Wigginton at 3B, the Rockies decided that they had no need for Fields anymore so they essentially let him work out a deal with a team in Japan.

25-year old righty swinging 2B Brad Emaus is really ripping the ball in AAA for the Rockies right now. He has played in 43 games in AAA-ball for the Rockies this year and he is 49 for 157 (.312 avg, .961 OPS) with 36 runs scored, 9 homers, 27 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. Emaus looked overmatched with the Mets earlier this year. He played in 14 games for the Mets this year and he was 6 for 37 (.162 avg, .424 OPS) with 2 runs scored and 1 RBI. With switch-hitting Jonathan Herrera and righty swinging Chris Nelson struggling at the plate right now, it might only be a matter of time before the Rockies give Brad Emaus a shot.

33-year old righty swinging 3B Ty Wigginton is on fire with the bat right now. In his last four games, Wigginton is 7 for 16 (.438 avg) with 5 runs scored, 5 homers and 8 RBIs. Wigginton has now played in 59 games for the Rockies this year and he is 55 for 200 (.275 avg, .857 OPS) with 29 runs scored, 12 homers, 32 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. He has pretty much taken over at 3B and the Rockies couldn’t be happier. They hope he can keep up the good work.

Righty swinging LF Ellis Burks walked quietly with the Rockies but he carried a big stick. He played with the Rockies in the pre-humidor days and he racked up some big time numbers for them. His best year with the Rockies came back in 1996 when he finished 3rd in the MVP Voting in the N.L. while also making the All-Star teams and winning a Silver Slugger Award. Burks played in 156 games in 1996 for the Rockies and he was 211 of 613 (.344 avg, 1.047 OPS) with 142 runs scored (led the majors), 40 homers, 128 RBIs and 32 stolen bases. Burks played in 520 games in his five years with the Rockies and he was 558 of 1,821 (.306 avg, .957 OPS) with 361 runs scored, 115 homers, 337 RBIs and 52 stolen bases. Burks is #7 in Rockies’ history with a .306 batting average. He is also #3 in OPS (.957), #6 in triples (24), #8 in homers (115), #10 in RBIs (337) and #9 in stolen bases (52) in Rockies’ history. Burks was only with the Rockies for a short time but he made his mark in team history.