It's already been a busy day for the Rockies what with their declined options on Jeff Francis, Octavio Dotel and (possibly) Miguel Olivo, but the Denver Post's Troy Renck has even more news from the Mile High City. All of Renck's links are from Twitter…
- John Buck is not a candidate to play for Colorado next season, but Renck "knows for a fact" the Rockies like the Angels' Mike Napoli.
- The Rockies are interested in Jose Lopez, among several other right-handed hitters. Lopez had his 2011 option declined today by Seattle and could be non-tendered next month.
- Lopez could be a right-handed option at first base to platoon with Todd Helton, which would make Jason Giambi "unlikely to return." Then again, Renck notes Giambi "really didn't fit last year" in terms of a platoon situation and he was very popular in the clubhouse.
- Melvin Mora wants to come back next season, but there might not be enough playing time available to satisfy him.
- Renck says there's about a "60%" chance that Francis returns to Colorado. He notes that Pittsburgh could be interested in Francis if former Rockies manager Clint Hurdle is hired to manage the Bucs and if Zach Duke is non-tendered.
- It's "uncertain" if Joe Beimel will be pitching for the Rockies next year.