Rockies Date Back Nearly to Stone Age

The Colorado Rockies are only five years old, but they’re already beginning to gray around the temples. If not for an injury to shortstop Walt Weiss, who was replaced by youngster Neifi Perez, all eight regulars would be 30 or older, a statistic that has thrown the front office into a bit of a quandary.

The problem: The Rockies are a win-now team with a $44-million payroll but without the wherewithal--namely, the pitching--to win. Their lineup includes sluggers Larry Walker, Andres Galarraga, Dante Bichette and Vinny Castilla, but their rotation has too many slugs.

General Manager Bob Gebhard considered shaking up the nucleus in July, discussing a potential Bichette-for-Kenny Rogers trade with the Yankees, but that fell through.

The Rockies talked to Kansas City about ace Kevin Appier, but the Royals wanted triple-A first baseman Todd Helton, a 1995 first-round pick. No deal.

Colorado has had terrible luck in its quest for pitching. The Rockies traded for Greg Harris in July 1993 and thought he’d be their ace, but Harris went 4-20 in 1 1/2 seasons.

They acquired Bret Saberhagen for the stretch drive in 1995 and made the playoffs, but the right-hander blew out his shoulder after nine starts. They thought Bill Swift would be an ace, but the injury-prone right-hander has been more of a No. 5.

If the last-place Rockies want to trade for a top-notch starter, they may have to give up Perez or Helton, something Gebhard doesn’t want to do. And most free-agent pitchers cringe at the thought of hitter-friendly Coors Field, so it’s not as if Gebhard can rebuild the rotation over the winter.

But he’ll still try.

“Will I make the call to Greg Maddux? Yes,” Gebhard said, referring to Atlanta’s superstar free-agent-to-be. “But how long do you think that conversation will last?”

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One drawback to the trade that sent the Montreal Expos’ Jeff Juden to the Cleveland Indians is there will be no rematch with Houston Astro outfielder Chuckie Carr.

Carr lashed out at Juden last week after Juden hit him with a pitch. Jeff Bagwell then homered to break a 2-2 tie in an eventual 8-6 Astro victory.

“We got to him,” Carr said. “He was very unprofessional. He threw behind me in Montreal, so I guess he had some personal vendetta against me.”

Juden’s response: “Chuckie Carr is an idiot.”

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Someone stuck a thermometer in Cincinnati’s Cinergy Field turf during last Sunday’s game between the Reds and Braves, and it read 152 degrees. Atlanta shortstop Jeff Blauser said his plastic cleats were starting to melt.

“You know how people say they’d like to have your job?” Blauser said. “This was the day to let them step in.”

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Chicago Cub pitcher Steve Trachsel won’t let his 0-6 hard-luck road record depress him. “I could be working back at Sears like I used to,” Trachsel said. “So you just have to be thankful you’re in the big leagues and keep scrapping.”