Third baseman Garrett Atkins is on the verge of free agency, a member of the Rockies' 40-man roster in name only and due to be non-tendered on Dec. 12. Atkins became a $7.05 million bench player in 2009, losing his starting job to Ian Stewart and finishing with a .226 average, nine home runs and 48 RBIs.
Atkins, who turns 30 on Dec. 12, is not that far removed from a 2006 season in which he hit .329 with 29 homers and 120 RBIs.
Asked what happened to Atkins, Rockies general manager Dan O'Dowd said, "I don't know what happened to him, I really don't. The guy was in the prime of his career, and somehow he just lost his swing path."
Atkins had an on-base-plus-slugging percentage of .965 in 2006, .853 in 2007, .780 in 2008 and .650 this year. He has gone from a hitter who drove the ball from right-center to left-center to one who has become progressively more pull-oriented.
Atkins turned down the Rockies' overtures about a long-term contract after the 2006 season, preferring to go year-to-year while eligible for arbitration with an eye toward a huge payday in free agency.
"The way the game is set up," O'Dowd said, "the arbitration process pays for power and RBI, for run production. Maybe he felt this greater need to try to hit more home runs, because he was naturally more of a line drive hitter, and tried to lift the ball and do some different things.
"But I talked to him about that, and he never would admit to me that was ever the case, so that's purely my speculation. And I don't think it's been the case for the last two years. I think he just simply lost his swing and has had trouble finding it."
Dating back to 2006, Atkins has been aiming for free agency after the 2010 season. Instead, he is about hit the market a year earlier once the Rockies non-tender him, in a market flush with third basemen such as Mark DeRosa, Adrian Beltre and Pedro Feliz, along with Troy Glaus, coming back from injury, and Miguel Tejada, close to moving from shortstop to third base at age 35. Atkins isn't going to hit the free agent jackpot this winter and is likely to sign for a good deal less than the $7.05 million he earned in 2009.
"I think Garrett will bounce back," O'Dowd said. "I definitely think he needs a change of scenery for that to happen. I do think he'll get a job, and I think he either gets it done this year or his career could end very quickly."
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