Best Pro Acquisitions

While they can't build a new stadium, Rockies general manager Dan O'Dowd and manager Buddy Bell hope to win a division title and entertain World Series dreams. So they imported two expensive free-agent pitchers to carry the pennant freight. Mike Hampton is a cream-of-the-crop left- hander who won fifteen games last year for the Series-bound New York Mets, while fellow southpaw Denny Neagle won fifteen for Cincinnati and the Series-winning New York Yankees. Together, these two arms cost the Rockies $172 million on the overheated free-agent market, and if they can't overcome the terrors of pitching at hit-happy Coors Field, there's probably no one who can.