Jose Contreras is coming off a 6-13 season and will be 38 on opening day, so there's a strong chance his career is over.

Jose Contreras filed for free agency on Monday, a mere formality that signals the end to his time in Colorado.

I know I’ve harped on this before, but I wanted to take one more look at the Contreras-for-Brandon Hynick deal.

In his brief time with the Rockies — seven games — Contreras faced all of 76 batters, made two starts (one of which lasted just three innings), blew a save and ate up three mop-up innings in a late loss to the Dodgers. Officially he went 1-0 with a 1.59 ERA with 17 strikeouts and eight walks.

He also threw two postseason innings, giving up one run on three hits with two walks.

It could be argued that he played a valuable role in the bullpen, but that role could just have well been filled by someone like Joel Peralta or Juan Rincon, both of whom were left off the postseason roster.

I’ll say this for Contreras – he certainly didn’t fall flat. But his contributions barely made a blip on the screen.

After the trade, Hynick was assigned to the White Sox’s Triple-A affiliate in Charlotte, where he won his only start with seven dominate innings. Giving the 24-year-old righty 11 wins for his third-straight season in double-figure victories. His minor-league record now stands at 41-24 with a 3.40 ERA.

Hynick will likely compete for a spot in Chicago’s bullpen next year. Contreras, on the other hand, was not classified as a Class A or Class B free agent, meaning the Rockies will receive no draft picks as compensation if he signs elsewhere.

So Hynick’s future, whatever that might be, went into 270 Jose Contreras pitches. Sure seemed like a lot to give up.

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