Mora Signs With Colorado Rockies

Sports News - February 2nd, 2010 - Written By John Ritter

Melvin Mora has signed a one-year deal that will make him the new back-up third baseman for the Colorado Rockies. He is 38 and hasn't been to the postseason since he was 27, and signed with the club as his one last effort to make it.

“The most important thing for Melvin, being that he’s 38 years old and has been playing on a sub-.500 team for many, many years, was to get to the postseason,” Mora’s agent, Eric Goldschmidt, said Monday.

“At Melvin’s age and where he’s at in his career, he really had me focus on the teams that we thought had the best chance of getting into the playoffs."

The Rockies have reached the MLB playoffs twice over the past three years. Mora's team for the last nine years, the Baltimore Orioles, haven't reached the postseason at any time since he joined the team.

The Rockies will pay him $1.3 million over the year. He will back up starter Ian Stewart, and will also play some in the outfield as a platoon-mate with Clint Barmes. All three outfield starters are left-handed, which makes plugging Mora in occasionally an attractive thought for manager Jim Tracy.

Mora has made the All-Star game twice and is a .278 hitter, but only hit .260 last year with eight homers. But he has been in the league since 1999, and brings a passion of making the postseason with the experience of a veteran.

“He brings a lot of experience,” Goldschmidt said. “He’s played in the real tough American League East, he’s played a lot of games at Fenway Park and Yankee Stadium, so he’s faced some of the best pitchers in baseball. And the club does have some very good, young Latin American players that he can be a good influence on and help their career development.

“But I think just his motivation to win and contribute will be a plus in the clubhouse.”