Yardbarker: Rafael Betancourt

Colorado Rockies talking to Rafael Betancourt about new contract

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:05:45 -0500

The Rockies are talking to former Tribe reliever Rafael Betancourt about a two-year deal.

Olney On Wagner, DeRosa, Betancourt, Wolf

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 11:34:35 -0500

The free agent rankings are out, so ESPN.com's Buster Olney breaks down the winners and losers. Here are the details from his latest blog post: Billy Wagner is a Type A free agent, so teams will have to surrender a draft pick to sign him if the Red Sox offer arbitration, as expected. This hurts Wagner's value, since he's coming back from Tommy John surgery and teams will hesitate to give up a top pick for an injury risk. Olney wouldn't be surprised to see Mark DeRo...

Elias Ranks The Free Agents

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 17:17:00 -0500

Here are the rankings via AOL Fanhouse: Players with * have 2010 options in current contractType A free agents (with former team):Jason Bay, OF, BostonRafael Betancourt, RP, Colorado*Orlando Cabrera, IF, MinnesotaJohnny Damon, OF, YankeesOctavio Dotel, RP, White SoxJermaine Dye, OF, White Sox*Chone Figgins, IF, AngelsMike Gonzalez, RP, AtlantaJohn Grabow, RP, CubsKevin Gregg, RP, CubsLaTroy Hawkins, RP, HoustonMatt Holliday, OF, St. LouisOrlando Hudson, IF, DodgersJohn Lackey, SP, AngelsCliff...

Dan O'Dowd named The Sporting News' Executive of the Year

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:01:29 -0500

SMUG via i.a.cnn.net View full size photo » According to The Sporting News' Jeff D'Alessio, Colorado General Manager Dan O'Dowd has won the publication's Executive of the Year award. The man well known in the past around these parts as "Dealin' Dan," "Dan O'Dud," and "Dan O'Clown" was largely viewed as a genius this season, simply for firing Clint Hurdle and re...

Tuesday Rockpile: A visual refresh

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 09:37:51 -0500

More photos » by David Zalubowski - AP ? Browse more photos » By now you've noticed Purple Row looks a bit different. There's a bit more gray and white on the pages now, and all the boxes and widgets on the sidebars are more rounded on the edges. Headlines are now left-justified, which will take time to look correct, and they also look blah right now. The site's tagline gets buried under an ad,...

Thursday Rockpile: Rockies close to deal with Jim Tracy, negotiating with Huston Street and Rafael Betancourt among others

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 09:51:12 -0500

More photos » by David Zalubowski - AP Alan Embree likely won't be coming back to the Rockies in 2010. Browse more photos » Okay, so from Troy E. Renck's article about the state of Jim Tracy's contract negotiations, which currently seems to be pointing to a three year extension, there are several other tidbits, most of which we already knew but with a little more detail added: D...

Gone Gavel Gone, Betancourt isn't in Session

Sat, 25 Jul 2009 09:18:00 -0500

Through the rebuilding years, or the few years previous to the players we got that are actually good, there was a relief pitcher that hung around that drove me crazy.

Rafael Betancourt was the center of hatred for a bad bullpen for me. He wasn't the worst relief pitcher, but for whatever reason, I didn't trust him. It often led to me calling him "Betansuck."

Then he had his brilliant 2007.

Then he became the guy that constantly touched his cap, regardless of performance. And this blog would obsess about that, because I like quirks.

Last year he drove us crazy with his bullish attitude of not listening to his damn coaches.

So maybe you say, the coaches suck anyway. I say he was sucking last year, so what's the difference?

Now he's a member of the Colorado Rockies.

A part of me is sort of sad. I'll no longer be able to add up the cap counter because really, he's not a part of this lovable bunch of misfits that can't provide us Cleveland Indian fans with a winning season when they're supposed to.

A part of me agrees with the trade, because a part of me is saying we got something for him and we can't draft anyway, so why settle for a draft pick?

But another part of me is just... bleh... As if, we won't really miss him.

Sure our bullpen is in shambles and he was one of the few pieces that hasn't sucked beyond expectations.

But really, Rafael Betancourt is an expendable arm.

However the Indians haven't ruled out the possibility (like they did with Casey Blake) of possibly bringing Betancourt back in the offseason.

It could happen, especially if Betancourt sucks it in Colorado and doesn't increase his signability.

I doubt the cash-strapped Rockies are picking up his option, it's the reason the Indians traded him, he was essentially a free agent this offseason despite that option laying around.

$5.4 million for a relief pitcher that isn't closing and isn't consistently one of the best set-up men in the game? Too much. If Betancourt could even do close to his 2007 every year, maybe, but that isn't worth it and I don't think the Rockies will disagree, unless of course he's perfect from last night to the end of the year.
"You never know when this is going to happen," said Betancourt. "I've seen a lot of guys come here and leave this year. Now it's my turn."Good luck to Raffy Right in Colorado though. The nicknames and hat touching will not be forgotten. The silly graphic the Indians put up at one point in 2007 that had Raffy's headshot in a Judge's cloak and the words "Betancourt is now in session" is something I don't think anyone can really forget if they were at a game that had that.

And really, the guy was in session when he was on the mound. He'd take forever just to throw a pitch so much so that the Tigers decided to time him one time. That lead to that snake Jimmy Leyland trying to get the umpires to get him to speed things up because apparently, he was taking more time than the MLB rulebook allowed.

Fudge that. He may take long, but screw you for not liking it, because he was one of ours.
"I've been thinking about this situation," said Betancourt. "I feel I've been lucky to be around here for all these years. It makes me proud to do what I did here."Betancourt isn't in session and the cap counter has been updated for the last time this year. I will take it down at season's end, but if he does return in 2010 to the Tribe, you can bet it will be back in action.

The upside is I don't have to upload a picture every time he pitches a game (even though I didn't do it every time this year). I tried counting them by watching the games at first, but soon realized I don't have a camera on him the entire time, so that's impossible. So the final total is a rough estimate that is based off him touching his cap three times between each pitch (including when he makes an out).

But really, do we realize what we got in Rafael Betancourt?

The guy was a struggling position player with Boston. We got him and put him in the bullpen and he became a major league relief pitcher.

Yeah he got busted for performance enhancers one year, but after a successful 2007 and years and years of.... nothing... we've seemed to forgotten all that.

I think I might have rambled enough though. I wanted to try and organize my thoughts a little more, but it just sort of came up as I was typing of all the memories.

The guy has been here for awhile, things just keep popping up.

His 2007 was special. I don't think "a good 2007" does it justice.. The guy's ERA was out of this world, he was the top set-up guy that year and his control was even more pin-point than Cliff Lee's last year.

He was un-touchable.

And with Rafael Perez, they were the Raffy Twins...

Now that Perez has sucked it up and Betancourt is gone, there is no more of that. We have to hope Raffy Perez comes back and Chris Perez is actually worth a damn for them to be the Perez Twins.

Again.. Rambling.

But aside from all the cap-touching and the Betancourt is in session stuff, the lasting memory for Raffy Betancourt is the day he and Victor Martinez sent the Indians to the post-season. Betancourt struck out Mark Ellis and immediately went into a celebratory mode with Vic. The two Venezuelan's hugged and jumped into the air as their teammates ran in to celebrate the joy of going to the playoffs.

Until we meet again Raffy. So far we are cheering for DeRosa in St. Louis and Betancourt in Colorado. Help us if Carl Pavano goes to the Brewers or Jamey Carroll and Ryan Garko to the San Francisco Giants.

Thanks for everything... Even the cap touching and heart-attacks. You wouldn't be a Cleveland player if it was simple without any quirks.

Transactions: Betancourt Traded

Thu, 23 Jul 2009 21:21:52 -0500

More photos » by Matt Slocum - AP Rafael Betancourt has touched the brim of an Indians cap for the final time. Browse more photos » Traded Rafael Betancourt to the Colorado Rockies for RHP Connor Graham (A+) After the 2002 season, the Indians didn't have a lot of money to spend. They had committed to a complete rebuild, but still had a lot of dead wood on the payroll. So they went the cheap route, si...

Breaking News: Rafael Betancourt Traded to Colorado

Thu, 23 Jul 2009 14:42:13 -0500

Per Anthony Castrovince: The Indians have traded Betancourt, a fixture in their ‘pen since 2003, to the Rockies in exchange for Class A right-hander Connor Graham. It was the second swap of the summer for an Indians team that dealt Mark DeRosa to the Cardinals last month, and it could be a sign that the remaining [...]

Coffee is for Closers!

Tue, 27 May 2008 03:33:00 -0500

Rafael Betancourt. Terrible closer? Check. Joe Borowski. Deserving of coffee? Nope. If this were a life and death situation, I'd suggest calling in the Wolf. As is, Alec Baldwin of Glengarry Glen Ross fame should be enough to fire up the tribe. Wouldn't it be great if professional sports teams called in ballbusters like this to get the team's attention?

Wow, MLB Has A Delay Of Game Penalty

Wed, 04 Jul 2007 04:52:11 -0500

Twice in Tuesday night's game against the Detroit Tigers, Cleveland Indians relief pitcher Rafael Betancourt's unusually long, frustrating windup invoked a normally dormant rule that one must throw the ball within 12 seconds if nobody's on base, or have it be called a ball. And we're just _now_ using this rule?