DENVER -- Though hardly enthusiastic about being traded to Colorado, Cuban pitcher Rolando Arrojo has a unique perspective on his move to the Rockies.

	Arrojo

"It is easier to change cities than countries," Arrojo said Monday after Tampa Bay shipped the right-hander to Colorado as part of a nine-player, four-team trade.

Arrojo defected to the United States in 1996 while playing for Cuba in a pre-Olympic tournament in Georgia. His wife and two children later joined him in Florida, and his mother, brother and sister-in-law eventually fled to the United States as well.

"My family is not pleased, but they will adapt," Arrojo said. "In this country, everything is close."

The fences at Coors Field could appear uncomfortably close for Arrojo and Scott Karl, who was also acquired by the Rockies on Monday.

Karl, a left-hander who went 11-11 with a 4.78 ERA for Milwaukee last year, said he looks forward to the challenge of pitching at altitude.

"If I pitch the way I should pitch, I'm a groundball pitcher and those don't go over the fence," Karl said. "If I don't pitch well, it doesn't matter what park I'm pitching in."

The Rockies also acquired third baseman Jeff Cirillo from Milwaukee and infielder Aaron Ledesma from Tampa Bay. Cirillo will replace Vinny Castilla, who was traded to Tampa Bay, leaving no one remaining from Colorado's original 25-man roster in 1993.

"I know there will be expectations put upon me because Vinny was the man over there," Cirillo said. "It will take people time to get over him. But I think once people see me play for a while, they'll realize what kind of player I am. I take the game very, very seriously."

Rockies general manager Dan O'Dowd is taking his rebuilding plan seriously. He has brought in 15 new players since the World Series ended, while trading popular players such as Castilla, outfielder Dante Bichette and reliever Curtis Leskanic.

"I've got e-mails the last two weeks from people who want to run me out of town," O'Dowd said. "But you still have to make these decisions on what's best for the future of this organization."

Rockies right fielder Larry Walker, who has a no-trade clause, has been watching O'Dowd's handiwork but would not say whether Colorado has improved because he did not want to offend any past of future teammates.

Walker, however, did take a stand against owner Jerry McMorris, who increased ticket prices and pointed out that $3.28 from every ticket goes toward Walker's $12.5 million annual salary.

Walker said O'Dowd has saved McMorris millions of dollars by trading high-priced players such as Bichette, Castilla and pitcher Darryl Kile.

"Maybe Jerry McMorris should take back the ticket-price raise he put on everybody," Walker said. "I feel bad that Jerry said it's all my fault, so maybe Jerry should give back the money he took from the season-ticket holders."

As for the ever-changing face of the Rockies, Walker said introductions will be in order come February.

"Everybody's going to have to stick, 'Hello, my name is ...' on their uniform in spring training," he said.