Old Denver Sports Zone Content

Rockies Draft

Every year around the beginning of June, the Rockies and all of baseball look to the future with the amateur draft. More so with baseball than other sports, this culmination of a year's worth of scouting is an absolute crapshoot. As opposed to football, where if a top ten pick flops heads will roll (citable examples include Ryan Leaf, KiJana Carter, &c.), baseball's top ten draft picks are lucky to yeild 5 decent major leaguers; and whereas a miraculous story in football is a sixth rounder like Ahman Green becoming a superstar, in baseball, it seems like a fortieth round pick is as likely as a first rounder to make it to the bigs (Piazza, arguably the most prolific cathcher of the 90s, was a 62nd rounder). The top ten picks of the MLB drafts from 1993-7 (guys who should be established by now) include the following notable players: Alex Rodriguez Trot Nixon Dustan Hermanson Jaret Wright Todd Walker Darin Erstad Kerry Wood Todd Helton Geoff Jenkins Chris Benson Travis Lee Braden Looper Mark Kotsay Eric Chavez Aside from the overall trend of top ten picks not making it to the majors, the other major trend is that the majority of those that became good major league players are positional ballplayers, not pitchers. Thus, the Rockies (and all of baseball for that matter) shouldn't draft pitchers in the early rounds, and should steer their strategy towards drafting big bats. The impact of altitude on baseball is undeniable, and the Rockies need to embrace it. A team that plays 81 games in such a unique climate should have the best home field advantage in all of sports. The Rockies should draft big bats early and often. The hits (no pun intended) would be of titanic proportion, as evidenced by Todd Helton, and the misses would be comparable to those of other teams. The bungling Rockies management had drafted one positional player in their history in the first round before the 03 draft: Todd Helton. Their first round picks had been comprised of an assortment of right and left handed pitchers, two of which are inconsistent starters on the verge of being banished to the bullpen (Jamey Wright and Jason Jennings), one of which looks pretty darn good (Jeff Francis), and the others aren't on major league rosters. After ten years of horrible failure, the GM appears to have changed his mind (although in all fairness, the previous regime made lots of those picks), with the selection of 3B Ian Stewart in 03, SS Chris Nelson in 04, and Troy Tulowitzki in 05. Fittingly, the picks from 03, 04, and probably 05, are being touted as the next wave of great players by those closely related to the team. The truly infuriating thing about baseball's draft is that the fans and management won't truly know about all of these players for quite some time, but from what we know, things are looking up. Sam P.S. Baseball America has Troy Tulowitzki rated fourth on the list of prospects, so the Rockies apparently got a steal with the seventh overall pick

A Tale of Two Opposites

Tonight's game (Rockies vs. Sox Take II) chronicles an amazing difference between two teams at polar opposites in terms of record and two other important stats: pitching and hitting. The Colorado Rockies have the best hitting in the league, with four players batting above .300, three in the .290s, and one who will be batting .300 by the All-Star Break. (there's my official helton prediction). The Sox, on the other hand, have the worst hitting in the league, with one player batting about .300 (albeit in just 52 atbats), and one in the .290s (the former Rockie, Juan Uribe). So why do the Sox have one of the best records in the league, and the Rockies one of the worst? It's because unlike what appears to be current-day sentiment, pitching beats hitting every time. I think the Sox's formula will finally force managers to realize that slugging isn't everything, but my question is, what took them so long? If the league had been paying more attention to our Rockies, the league could've figured that one out long ago. What am I talking about? The Sox have the best pitching staff in the league, and the Rockies have the worst. That should say it all right there, because Pitching is something that has always plagued the Rockies, from day one. Our ownership has never been willing to dig deep in those million-dollar pockets and sign a good reliever or two, despite contuining signs that pitching is really what matters. Of course, they weren't too worried back in the day, when the Rockies were still drawing 30K to the field night after night. But this year, with attendance dwindling even further, the only reason to go to the ballpark seems to be Todd Helton, who's deep in the worst slump of his career, and Clint Barmes, former rookie of the year candidate, who's going to be out of business for 3 months. What's so interesting about this game is that it brings all of these facts into focus. If the owners don't see the Sox with their terrible hitting and brilliant pitching with the best record in the league, and take it as a wakeup call that the Rockies need pitching, I don't think we'll ever see a good team under this ownership. But here's to the rest of this year! -Gabe

Luis Gonzales

With Clint Barmes' freak injury and Aaron Miles' less freaky injury, a player that has been deserving of playing time has begun to shine. If you don't know who I'm talking about, it's no. 4, Luis Gonzalez. This super-utility guy (he apparently carries something in the area of ten gloves on road trips) has shown that he has the ability to start in the bigs. He has performed admirably in the wake of the Miles injury and will get more playing time with Barmes out too. I personally believe that he should get the starting job at second base over Aaron Miles, given his power numbers. Gonzalez exceeds Miles' numbers in OBP, Slugging %, homers, and has legitimate power to the gaps. It seems to me that in Coors, a ballpark know for its inflated power numbers, every positional player for a team that plays 81 games there ought to have the ability to knock the ball out of the yard; thus, the Rockies should trade Miles or push him into a utility role (especially with Desi Relaford's revival, he should be starting every game too). Aaron Miles' hitting style would be ok in Coors if he drew more walks, but because he doesn't do that, his OBP is almost identical to his average, thereby decreasing his value. Many teams would be glad to have a contact hitting second baseman in Miles, so there would be some value in return. Keeping to the youth movement, Luis Gonzalez is the younger player as well, and thus should get the starting nod. Desi Relaford has shown something as of late as well, and the Rockies need to capitalize on that by trading him (if they are truly committed to the future). A team with two rising middle infield stars (Gonzalez, Barmes) has no room for a utility man that can hit .320. Normally the view would be that Relaford's stats are merely a reflection of Coors field, but he is hitting better on the road than in the thin aired hitter's paradise. Like Miles, Relaford is a contact hitter with little power, but in contrast to Miles, Relaford works the count and walks very often. This makes him acceptable in Coors, however, the Rox should exploit his rising value by trading him and consequently free up space in the infield while acquiring a good prospect. The following playoff-competitive teams are probably interested in a veteran middle infielder hitting .320 (some have players to give in return): Padres (Loretta down, Xavier Nady is a solid prospect) Marlins (Alex Gonzalez is hitting only .278) Mets (Kaz Matsui is no good) Brewers (loaded farm system, starting SS has .182 BA) Mariners Twins (Loaded farm system, may need a veteran to anchor the infield) Yankees (but who would they trade...) Orioles (badly need infield depth) Blue Jays Don't take this as hostility towards either player, I really like Desi Relaford as a player and Aaron Miles is pretty good too. That said, the Rockies, if they are to stick to their future first philosophy, need to trade Relaford and Miles. I guess the original whizzinator didn't work for Onterrio this time... -Sam

Helton

Though I didn't want to get into this discussion, the good folks over at Purple Row have wondered about trading star Todd Helton, or at least tried to start a conversation on that hot topic. As our disclaimer at the bottom says, he's not for sale, and the rumors are just rumors - but just in case you've really got a case of the giggles about this, here's why we shouldn't, and won't trade Helton. -He's the only reason less-than-diehard fans have to go to the ballpark now that Barmes is out. -He's a good veteran mentor for the kids in the clubhouse, and really ties a young team together. -There's no decent replacement. -Management doesn't want to eat the salary from the 9-year deal he got a while back. -You shouldn't trust our management with any player we might get for Helton. They'll probably end up getting nothing for him anyways. But most of all, Helton himself has said he doesn't want to go, and likes anchoring this young team.. Even though he's in a bit of a slump, there's no reason to dump him like we did to Juan Pierre, who had a bad month, and went on to anchor a Florida team that won the world series. So there's no argument there. Plus, I think Helton will be out of his slump by the all-star break. Anyhow, if you're still not convinced that we shouldn't AND won't trade Helton, you're probably a Dodgers fan or a moron. Or both. But don't take my word for it, please tell me why I'm wrong. Gabe

Juan Pierre vs. P-Dub

In response to my co-blogger's comment that the Juan Pierre trade was the wrong move, consider this: Juan Pierre is one of my favorite players in all of baseball, the guy works harder than anyone I've seen or heard about in baseball; he is baseball's Rod Smith. Like Smith, he has magnified his positives in such an extreme way that the negative aspects of a his player type are almost invisible. Enter Coors Field. Blaming Coors for the Rockies' failures is moronic, but blaming Coors' voluminous outfield for Juan Pierre's "failure" in Colorado is entirely acceptable. In the sense that JP can cover ridiculous amounts of ground in very little time, he is well suited to the mammoth center field of Coors, however, when he was getting the ball back into the infield, the single most pressing weakness in his game, a subpar arm, was unmercifully displayed. Next, Juan Pierre doesn't hit for power, something critical in Coors Field. Every Rockies' player should be able to sock dingers with regularity given their playing environment; small ball isn't what a Coors team needs. JP's gift for stealing bases was rendered irrelevant because so many doubles are hit in the Rockies park, and in addition, outfielders are forced to play farther back, allowing many players to go from first to third on a single. Simply put, Pierre's strengths (contact hitting, ridiculous speed, good range) were mostly irrelevant at Coors, and his weakness (arm strength) was put on display. This is not to say that Pierre was a bad player, but he is tailor-made for any park that isn't Coors. What the Rockies needed was a Tori Hunter/Andruw Jones type, a guy with great range and extraordinary arm strength. Since those guys both are franchise type players, the Rox went for someone comparable, but not quite the same (although range was compromised a bit for power): Preston Wilson. Wilson had 20-40 jack power and hit for about .270 in his first couple seasons, plus he had good range and an above average arm, so the Rockies were indubitably interested. Also, at this time Mike Hampton flat out sucked. After his great half season for the Rockies and sucky season and a half that followed, the Rox desperately needed to dump his ridiculous contract. Florida/Atlanta presented the opportunity they needed. Granted, taking on Charles Johnson's contract was unwise, but the trade accomplished two things: they got an extraordinary power hitting center fielder that lead the league in RBI during his first season in Colorado, and they got rid of Mike Hampton. Frankly, the Rockies and Marlins got the best of that trade, although the Rox ended up with the burden of CJ's contract, which perhaps tilts it towards Florida. The Rockies need to retain Preston Wilson; he is the only power hitting center fielder in the organization except for the iffy AA prospect Jeff Salazar, whose power numbers have been dipping (five HRs on the 54 game old AA season)...that is, unless they decide to make that Luis Gonzalez' position... P.S. The Rox could make this homestand an successful overall if they do well against the so-so Tigers. sam

A Complete Game: Rockies 2, Tigers 0

The Rockies' main problem this year hasn't been starting pitching. Sure, the starters have had their fair share of bad outings, but every pitcher, and more importantly every rotation has a few bad days. So far, if we can say one good thing about the Rockies' pitching, it's that our starters have not even come close to being the worst rotation in the league. And this has all come without Aaron Cook, who was supposed to be our ace this year. No, the problem for our beloved Rockies has occured well beyond when the starters have been pulled, in the realm of middle relief, specifically in the dreaded 7th inning. Rockies middle-innings pitchers have struggled all season, and their failure has been the defining point of another loosing season. Not so tonight, however, and most of that credit goes to Mr. Wright, who pitched 7 and a 1/3 scoreless innings, and dropped his ERA below 6 with this outing. If there's one weakness with our starters, it's been durability. The five starters average a mere 5.74 innings, which means more games than not, the Rockies have had to break into the bullpen early, forcing pitchers like Dohhman (ERA 18.9) to throw. Jamie's stellar, lengthened performance tonight behind a mere 2 runs of offense allowed the Rockies to cut past some of their not-so-successful relievers, and go straight to 8th-inning ace Jay Wotasik, and the recently dynamite Brian Fuentes, both of whom pitched well, allowing no runs. What I'm getting at here, is that for the first time that I've seen this season, the Rockies may just have played an all-around complete game. Though they didn't get much offense, they didn't have to, because behind stellar defensive play from the likes of recently-hot Garret Atkins behind solid, prolonged starting pitching carried the team to victory. The main component behind Rockie failure this year has been the un-timely error, coupled with bad middle-relief. Today, the Rockies avoided all of that in a tight game, and were able to pull a tight one out when it counted. How many times have we been able to say that this year? Overall, I'm beginning to like the way the Rockies have been playing, even against the White Sox, who swept them. In all three Sox games, the starting pitching was great, and the score was close going into the later innings. I'm also seeing the Rockies' hitting develop. Though the White Sox incredible staff seemed to shut us down, we're getting timelier, clutch hits from people like Corey Sullivan, and our outs are getting more productive too, with guys like Dustin Mohr hitting groundballs to move a runner to third. Though the Rockies may not be putting everything together nightly yet, they played a good series against the league-leading White Sox, and looked like a Major League team. I've seen plenty of other series where it's looked like the Rockies are a AAA team trying to hang with teams not nearly as good as the Sox. Whatever the result of the season, our young faces are finally coming together into a baseball team, and based on the latest ballgames (which have been really good games), I think we're going to enjoy the rest of the season. At least, it's looking better than this Monday. Gabe

Rebukery!

Sweet mercy I love baseball arguments, and as such, I will respond to The Good, The Bad, and the Barmes. Preston Wilson will not be retained by the Rockies. Frankly, I'd be surprised if he makes it through June as a Rocky. I think that if the Rockies can retain the guy, that'd be a very good thing, seeing as I have a Coors Field philosophy that would make John Kruk's oversimplifying butt extraordinarily happy; the Rox need power at every position, at almost any cost. When I say almost any cost, I mean, you guessed it, the outfielder must have good range and a good arm. Having Andruw Jones or someone like him is not a luxury at Coors, it's a necessity. On every other spot on the diamond with the exception of short and catcher, I agree with Bill James: screw defense, let's hit, however, Coors' outfield is more double friendly than, um, some kind of..double country club?. "It's nice to have guys like Andruw Jones and Torii Hunter who can get to seemingly anything hit their way, or a catcher like Mike Matheny who gobbles up balls in the dirt and controls the running game, but if they can't hit, they shouldn't play." I agree that baseball "purists" put too much of a premium on defense in most situations, but Torii Hunter has hit close to 30 homers in every season he's played a decent amount of games, and Andruw Jones hovers around 35 homers as well. Point is, the two guys I mentioned as perfect Coors center fielders can crush the ball as well as play stellar defense. I'd like for the Rockies to keep Preston Wilson over the next couple of years (roster spot created by cutting Dustan Mohr) because I think he can regain his form speed and power wise, seeing as he had no spring training this year, but the Rox management doesn't quite agree with me I'd assume... If we trade him, the Rockies better be damn sure that Jeff Salazar is the five tool player that they've marketed him as, because Corey Sullivan can't be the every day center fielder if he doesn't start walking more or hitting more homers. Either that, or somehow get a hold of Torii Hunter, Andruw Jones, or more realistically, Corey Patterson or Carl Crawford. Where catchers matter is in calling a game. Danny Ardoin and Jamey Wright were in complete rhythm together against the Tigers, and Ardoin caught him beautifully. I like seeing Ardoin throw out runners, but yes, the pilfering game is long outdated as much as I hate to admit it. Where the defensive catchers matter is in the framing of pitches and in the calling of a game. This is why the Boston pitching staff loves Varitek: he may not be able to throw many guys out, but he calls a great game and instills confidence in the starter. Like that, Ardoin's primary focus is defense--getting the other team's hitters out. While some catchers, most notably Jason Kendall, are always thinking offense, Ardoin is all defense, totally devoted to the pitcher. If you're asking "are you stalking danny Ardoin," I understand, but my evidence is in that almost every defensive catcher in the bigs lives for the mission of helping out the pitcher as much as possible. And as adressed previously, I don't think defense matters except at three places: catcher, short and center. You need guys with good range and arms at center and short, and you may have to compromise offense to do it. Ever wonder why everyone loves Torii Hunter and Andruw Jones? It's because they're the best athletes in the league, they play the most important position in the game (besides the pitcher, in my opinion), but they also can hit the ball, and not just singles, but doubles and homers. A catcher doesn't have to have a spectacular arm, he just needs to be entirely devoted to defense; framing pitches and calling a good game aren't god given talents like a strong arm, they are products of sheer effort. The shortstop fields a whole lot of balls and has a lot of ground to cover, and unlike the second baseman, he's got a hell of a long throw once he gets to the ball. Whether it's a freakishly strong arm or a quick transfer from glove to hand, the shortstop has to get the ball over there damn fast. I'm a little worried about Clint Barmes at the position, but feel like he can be coached into better play--he's got to avoid panicking if there's a fast guy running to first and either eat the ball or learn to harness his arm strength. I'm tired, so I think that's it. Sam

Rebukery!

A Farewell to P-Dub

With Preston Wilson's trading being considered inevitable by all parties, this is a good time to look back, and look forward, upon Preston Wilson's future and the Rockies' center field future. In his lone full season with the Rockies (again, his trading in the summer of 05 is a foregone conclusion), Wilson was spectacular. He put up the power numbers of a true Blake Street Bomber: .282 BA, .537 SLG, 36 Homers, 141 RBI, and 43 doubles. Oh yeah, one more Blake Street Bomber stat: 140 Ks. Sigh. Truly Galaraga-esque... If you ask me, the trade with Florida in which we acquired Preston was a good one, given the Rockies' old misguided philosophy about not paying attention to the farm system. By the way, shout out to Andres Galaraga. He didn't get Lance Armstrong's press for coming back from cancer, but he has a special place in every Rockies fan's heart. His number ought to be retired at Coors, in my humble opinion. Back to business. Preston Wilson is going to become a rental for some team that's a legitimate contender in the second half of '05. Whereas most of the Rockies' trades of established veterans were salary dumps, they're in a great position here because Preston is still in the prime of his career. The Rockies have a great opportunity to bolster their farm system in a Preston Wilson trade, having decided that they need to free up center field for younger players. While the minor leagues tend to be murky in terms of career speculation (see old article), top flight AA or AAA prospects tend to make an impact in the bigs. The Rox need to get one of these guys. Where on the diamond they should be looking at in terms of prospects is somewhat unclear, but 3b, SS, 1B, and apparently CF (unless Jeff Salazar isn't the real deal) are pretty much set. While the Rockies' Rookies (yes, that's also the name of the kids fan club...not so ironically...) are performing adequately this year, none of them besides Clint Barmes and Brad Hawpe look like impact big leaguers to me, but the season ought to be wrapped up before we judge them all. The point is, if almost all veterans are unacceptable on the roster, then there shouldn't be opposition to bringing in more unpolished rooks in a trade. Don't joke about the Rockies bringing in prospects--the one they get for a very solid player in Preston Wilson may be ready to make an impact next year. The teams that are contending this year are: Atlanta Chicago Cubs Chicago White Sox Anaheim Angels Boston Red Sox L.A. Dodgers Arizona D-Backs Florida Marlins NY Yankees NY Mets Philly Phillies SD Padres Texas Rangers Minnesota Twins Washington Nationals There's got to be a good player in there somewhere... Sam

Welcome to Good Baseball

Watching the game tonight, I was reminded once again of just how good our team could be, and it made me think of a day when Coors Field might again be as ecstatic as Campden was tonight. Before I go any further, let me touch on just that: noise. Atmosphere is a huge part of any sport. In Europe, soccer games draw screaming crowds who shake stadiums, and make the game fun to watch, even on TV. One of the reasons why nobody goes to Rockies games may be because nobody goes to Rockies games. When a ballpark is full, and fans are screaming, it's a totally different feeling. It makes fans appreciate the game, and it drives players to compete even more. It's what makes playoff baseball great even when your team isn't in it, and the atmosphere at Campden Yards tonight made the game so exciting, that I skipped most of dinner to see it. But onto the game. Despite being a win against the division-leading Orioles (which, coincidentally, I've been in Maryland for the last week, hence my lack of posts), a number of good things fell into place. First and foremost, Todd Helton finally got a homerun, his first since May 14th. While one hit may not seem like a big deal, consider this: Currently batting .253 in about 200 at-bats, the difference between Helton at .253 and Helton at .300 is only 6 hits. In fact, throughout an entire season, the difference between an average .270 hitter and a great .300 hitter is only 15 hits - but those 15 extra battles are so tough, only the best make it. Tonight, going 1-3 with a walk, Helton showed that he's still a great hitter - and hopefully he'll continue with a little confidence, especially with the homerun coming to the oposite field, against a good pitcher and good team, in a packed ballpark. Everything is in place for him to go on a tear. Secondly, all pitching was solid, for perhaps the second time this year. What I liked especially was that even though two of our pitchers got in big trouble, they pulled it out in front of screaming fans hoping the worst. Jason Jenning's sixth inning-ender double-play groundball was obviously a terrific performance, but what pleased me more was Brian Fuentes coming back from allowing a run with no one out to put the stomper on and close up the game. After the run scored on a close play at the plate, the crowd went nuts, and Fuentes looked more nervous than I've ever seen a professional athlete. But you've got to give credit to him for ending the inning by striking out Surhoff (keeping him on track to have more strikeouts than innings pitched) and getting the dangerous Mora (batting .310) to fly out to Corey Sullivan, the same man who may have thrown out the ultra-quick Eli Marrero two plays earlier on a close play at the plate that started with Sullivan making a head-first diving catch on a line-drive off the bat of catcher Fasano. It looked like Ardoin had his foot underneath Marrero's slide, and speaking of which, let's talk about a guy who isn't getting nearly enough credit. Everyone always talks about the pitcher who gets it done, but what about the guy behind the plate? Besides being an excellent catch-and-throw guy (he proved that with three baserunner throughouts in his first two appearances), Danny Adroin seems to be a guy that pitchers like. With all due credit to JD Closser, calling a ballgame and recognising what pitches to throw against batters is something that Danny seems to have. Recognising the hard slider as the pitch that struck out Slammin' Sammy Sosa three times during the game is a testament to the fact that Ardoin may have the gift of calling the game. But don't take my word for it. In the last month, in the six games featuring Ardoin (minus the 15-5 Chicago effort which was largely Matt Anderson's fault), Rockies pitchers have allowed just 19 runs. In contrast, in the just three games with JD closser, pitchers have allowed 21 runs. Even though the team has gone just 3-4 with Ardoin behind the plate, this is more due to offense than pitching. The Rockies lost a 2-1 game to the league-leading White Sox, and a 7-6 game to Cleveland. Plus, Ardoin is batting a respectable .250, whereas Closser is well below the Mendoza line, at a mere .188. What I'm getting at is that there's more to catching than blocking a ball behind the plate, and Ardoin has it. He knows how to call a game, and he has some hitting potential. I'm wondering why management chose Closser to ascend the ranks instead of Ardoin, and I will not be happy if Ardoin is cut when veteran Todd Greene returns for the DL after pulling a hammy in a tough play walking across home plate. Overall, we could be a really good team, but I don't think all factors have clicked yet. We're winning games with EITHER good pitching OR good offense, but not both. Once Helton pulls out of his slump (and I maintain that he will), and the clutch hits start coming from a few other guys, I think this team is ready to go on a tear. The question is, who will be there when it happens? -Gabe Back from Maryland, en route to Lawrence, Kansas. P.S. - If someone wants to buy me MLB.TV for the next five weeks (I'll be away) and somehow remove blackout restrictions on my Denver registered account, please e-mail me at potterhead4@comcast.net . Thanks.

Premature Speculations

So some in the baseball community may have been too quick to jump on the BK bandwagon. By the same token of thoughtful decision making, we should continue looking at the sidearmer as a good starter--his less than superior performance on Friday night was an aberration, not the dependable 2-5 run start that Denver fans had become accustomed to. According to coloradorockies.com, it was a one pitch game. BK had nothing except his fastball, which still lacks the velocity to be a dominant pitch, resulting in a less than satisfactory start. If people still watched the Rockies, there would be all kinds of clamoring on radio shows and real writers giving this column inches in the paper to this issue, but alas, the fan-starved franchise's consituency is apathetic, long having accepted losing as a foregone conclusion. Some still care, and they should be wary of hasty and rash decision making on the part of the Rockies. The outstanding opportunity presented in having, let's not lie to ourselves here, a bad team, is the ability to play whoever whereever with no measureable impact on the team's record (Marcos Caravajal is a good prospect, but do you want him starting?). Just like they ought to embrace Coors, the Rockies have an opportunity to give lots of guys second chances if they embrace their suckitude. They're doing this for about five of nine positions on any given night, so for once, the management might just be doing the right thing. The fact that they're in the position to play anyone wherever whenever speaks to management's problems, but oh well, you've got your team allegiances set by the time you're ten, so what're you gonna do? Speaking of pitching, why do the Rockies place a premium on raising their own bullpen pitchers? It makes no sense. The vast majority of effective Rockies relievers have been brought in from other teams. The best example of this is the Rockies pen of 1995, the best in Rox history, (see some other blog's article for the reference to this that reminded me of it...if you're the author of that blog, leave a comment...) which was composed entirely of guys taken from other teams in the expansion draft. Even now, the most successful relievers in the bullpen, Brian Fuentes and Jay Witasick, are a traded good and a journeyman respectively. Relievers are pitchers who didn't have the stuff to start (leave closers out of this for a while), so they were stuck in the pen to be brought out for an inning or two in about one game out of three. Considering the Rockies consistent starting pitching failures, we should have quite a bullpen, huh? Kidding aside, it doesn't matter where bullpen pitchers come from or go, they just need to get the job done. Sam

Astros Etc.

After a decent series against one of the best clubs in baseball, the Rockies are off to Houston's semi-new yard Minute Maid Park. Formerly graced with the fine name of Enron, the hitter's park underwent a name change with the downfall of the corporation and now is affectionately reffered to as "The Juice Box." The team has disapointed this year, but that could have been predicted, albeit not to this extent. With one half of the Killer Bees out for the season, former CF Carlos Beltran in another city, and slugging 2B Jeff Kent lost to the Dodgers, the 'Stros aren't the team they were last year. Even with those losses, however, there is no excuse for their paltry 28-39 record. They have two legitimate aces in Roger Clemens and Roy Oswalt, not to mention an extraordinary closer in Brad Lidge (a Colorado product, of CCHS). They seem to have struggled finding a fifth starter from the statistics; there are four pitchers with 80+ innings so far this season, but the next largest total is the aformentioned closer, who has 31 innings on the year thus far. A bright young spot on the struggling 'Stros is CF Willy Taveras, a speed guy who has 17 SBs on the year. He was included in a Baseball Weekly article about the return of stealing as a major strategical component of a winning team. 28-39...Guess not, huh? Other than that, Morgan Ensberg has provided exceptional power, but no other positional player has posted an eye popping stat line. The Rox, according to the depth chart on MLB.com, are due to face Pettite, Clemens, and Backe. Look for righties Preston Wilson and Dustan Mohr to capitalize on the famously short porch in left against the southpaw Andy Pettite. Sam

Oh God! No Mohr!

~Sorry about that pun. I agree with Rox Head's analysis of this guy. He's no good. While he's most likely being kept around because of his power potential, he's never been on pace to hit more than 20 homers in a season, and the guy needs to learn some plate discipline. If you're a .188 hitter that's taking up a precious outfield spot, you need to be cut. The Rockies should unload him for whatever anyone is willing to give them and call up one of the Sky Sox OFs as long as a winning season is a lost cause. Buchanan has intriguing power numbers, and Choo Freeman deserves another shot before being dismissed as a fizzled out prospect, so for the love of gen-R, get rid of this fossil of a 29 year old and bring in the youth. ~Free agency. If the Rox want to be major players in the bigs, they should focus on raising their own pitchers so as to brainwash them with the Coors Field "bulldog" mentality. If the past years have taught us anything, high profile pitcher signings work out to be horrible for the club and its finances, and low to mid profile positional player signings (aside from Dustan Mohr) work quite well. Examples of the pitching failures need not be mentioned, but the positional acquisition sucesses should be noted. Jeromy Burnitz. Vinny Castilla. Todd Hollandsworth. Andres Galaraga. The list goes on... The Rockies, once they have a respectable record, or even if they don't, ought to be in the running for the premier positional free agents in the coming years. They shouldn't jump at every one, but they should make a legitimate effort to pick up exceptional free agents for this team. Sam

Disorganized implies that there was once order

"The Rockies had a chance in six of the games. But habitual clutch miscues help explain why Colorado's road record (5-31) is one of the four worst in history after 36 games and the overall record (22-48) is the worst in baseball this season." Yeah, what he said. Jason Jennings pitched exceptionally well through the first six innings, allowing only a three run jack to Morgan Ensberg up to that point. In the seventh, JJ imploded after a single by Chris Burke. Something switched in Jennings' head after that unfortunate single much like something switched in his head after Biggio leaned toward's his inside pitch in the third inning. It would be convinient to blame the psychology of the thing on traffic, but although he retired something in the area of 11 straight in the game and thus kept the bases clear, he's pitched well in his past few starts with plenty of men on base. He worked out of two bases loaded jams in a game just last week en route to a 2-1 victory, and the one run wasn't his at any rate. More and more pitching appears to be a psychological excercise once a guy has reached the bigs. Sure the pitching coach may have something to say about something or other, but overwhelmingly, most major league pitchers (even Rockies guys) have the stuff to pitch in the majors, and being successful is just a matter of harnessing it. The examples that come to mind are Jamie Moyer and Greg Maddux, still viable starters though their velocity is in decline. J.D. Closser was stolen on twice yesterday, and indeed was the goat of the game with his throwing error after a not-so-wild pitch. The eloquent George Frasier remarked that JD's towering throw to second base on one of the steals was 'at least on line,' despite being so high that there was no chance of getting the runner. In his frantic scamper to try to save a run, Closser tossed a ball allegedly aimed toward Jennings past the troubling starter, allowing one more run to cross the plate. This is the future. Gen-R at its finest. Closser, though, has made up for his subpar defense with stunning offensive numbers. His stellar average of .203 and OBP of .321 more than make up for the 2 for 25 on stolen base attempts. Actually, Closser's eye consistently inspires speculation that his "slump" is over: he is second on the team with 21 walks. His OBP is better than Aaron Miles', too. Speaking of OBP, Helton's isn't half bad. While it isn't that of a superstar, it definitely affirms everyone's suspicion that he isn't getting any pitches to hit, given that his average is around .250. Don't confuse this with an indictment, 'cause it's not, but why do you think the media hasn't jumped on this story as potential steroid use. Think about it, a slugger's numbers drop huge amounts after steroids are banned. Again, I don't think he did 'roids, I just wonder why the media doesn't, given that the national media is removed from the situation and doesn't have a good explanation for his numbers. The Rockies scored 22 runs over nine games on the road trip. Yeah... Hawpe got some birthday presents from the Astros, but the Rockies didn't capitalize on the free run he errored home in the third. Sam

Woo!

After a second-rate performance by the Rockies on Monday evening, they appeared to be delivering another after the fifth inning on Tuesday in which Morgan Ensberg socked a grand salami off of JJ. It was eerily reminiscent of a three run dinger Ensberg hit off of Jennings just last week in Houston, when JJ was ahead in the count but ended up hanging a pitch like a nineteenth century criminal. If Joe Kennedy has the one inning disease, JJ appears to have the one pitch disease, an ailment of importance for someone pitching at Coors. After the fifth, it looked like the Rox were in for another miserable game in which the late innings become a mere formality. In step...Danny Ardoin? Yes, the "defensive" catcher got things started in the Rockies' five run frame. After various singlings and walkings by Rockies hitters (including Todd Helton's RBI base hit), Atkins socked a dinger over the left field wall with the bases juiced to put the Rox up by one. And up by one they stayed, despite some wild pitch strikeout woes in the ninth. This game was markedly different than others this season because the Rox made a comeback. Probably the most memorable come-from-behind this year besides that of opening day and the San Fran Lead Span Elimination Plan (8 run inning, still lost) (www.rhymezone.com) involved the Rockies hottest hitter as of late, Garrett Atkins. The fact that Atkins doesn't have a nickname is troubling, but not as troubling as Dustan Mohr's postgame antics, which make me really like the Mendozaesque (only in offense) outfielder. I can't let that get in the way of me disliking his average. Here's the deal. We've got to find something to call him. Submit suggestions, and don't rule out the possibility of Atkins Diet jokes. You know, meaty joe, the G-train, and so on. Also, who's the last, and maybe only, player to hit two grand slams in one inning? Senor TGTBATB should be all over this one. Sam

I'd Like to Give a Shoutout...

Well hello, everybody. Been a while. I'm just here proving Sam wrong by blogging tonight, because I ended up getting MLB.TV, so I was able to catch the highlight reel, even though I don't have much time to blog. I've also watched a few games but like I said, I just don't have much time. Anyhow, aftert showing up my co-blogger, I'd also like to congratulate Sam for calling it perfectly a few days ago in his analysis of Brad "Leather" Hawpe (Oh God! No Mohr). Tonight, Brad really showed everyone how to play in the outfield with two stunning catches and one damn good one. Plus, Hawpe had two RBI's on a respectable 1 for 4 night. It's was just an all around good game, and it's fun to see him maturing defensively. Now there's just no justification for putting Mohr out ahead of Hawpe for anything else than the very rare break or to relieve someone else in the outfield. Some other notes about the game that I had: Todd Helton is heating it up. 3 for 3 with a double and a run scored? I think he's finally feeling it, and I still hold my position that he'll be batting .300 by the All-Star break, which brings me to my next point: Who in the hell is going to represent the Rockies in Detroit? If you'd asked me a month ago, I would've said Clint Barmes for sure, but barring another ceremonial nod for Helton, who's gonna be "representin'"? The only people I can justify going to the game are the newly hot Garret Atkins (who isn't even on the list), and perhaps Brian Fuentes, but you can hardly claim that he's one of the top five closers in the league. If anyone has some ideas, please let me know. Finally, I'd like to say congrats to J.D. Closser, who got another home run tonight. 3 Down, 72 to go. Seriously skipper, what did Danny Ardoin ever do to you? Give better defense and better offense a chance. I'm out. -Gabe

Taking Care of Business

Just to let you all know, the reason the post down from this is probably a long time away, is because we're still updating our archives from the old site. (You can read all bout that on our About Page) Anyhow, while you're here, please enjoy the articles that we have up so far. Thanks, Gabe

Nyah Nyah

In the wake of a big victory for the Rox, the newspaper had a very disheartening story. The Rockies are so depleted in terms of starting pitching, they won't have a fifth man until two weeks from now. If there were a nyah-nyah category, I would file this post under it. If you look back at my Shawn Chacon post (and virtually everyone else's Shawn Chacon posts), it was pretty clear that I thought the move was bad. Boy was I right. The Rockies are now starting Jamey Wright as the number four starter. The guy with the 5.85 ERA ISN'T the one sitting out for two weeks, but rather is starting every fifth day. Ok, so there were some injuries. J.J. was unfortunate. Then again, the team should have some kind of backup plan that doesn't involve trading your best starting pitcher for two fringe AA prospects, right? It's a tremendous difference having four solid starters (Chac, Cook, Francis, JJ) and one iffy fifth guy (Kim, Acevedo, Wright, Day, Kennedy etc) and having two decent starters and three iffy guys like they have now. It's really baffling how the true impact of these deals escaped me until now. Chac: traded for two AA long-shot prospects, JJ: injured. Doesn't seem like a big deal, but when you think about it, despite the fact that the Rox lack true Ace material, those were are two most consistent pitchers. Now the Rockies are dependent on inconsistent rookie Jeff Francis and just-rehabbed Aaron Cook to anchor a rotation made up of second-hand pitchers. And I thought they had a shot at 70 wins...how naive of me to think that management would keep a pitcher with a 3 million dollar salary around. Now were stuck with waiver junk, trade throw ins, and a throw it at the wall to see if it sticks mentality that doesn't usually lend itself to solid starting pitching (it works for our bullpen though).

Winning at Coors

How to win at Coors, eh? It isn't exactly a one post type of topic, but I think the one word answer I saw over at PurpleRow may be as close as a succinct answer can be. The Rockies need talent. At no point during the Rockies' history as a franchise have they had a roster good enough to win. The convenient answer was to blame the ballpark, but that's just not fair to Coors. I challenge anybody to show me a team that could've made the playoffs if they'd been playing in, say, the BOB. Can't do it, can you? It's not the ballpark, it's the players. If the Red Sox trotted out an opening day lineup with three rookies, one sophomore, and one terrible second baseman (I can't work that into a major-league experience term), and lost eight of their first nine, the default answer wouldn't be "it's Fenway Park." The answer would be "the players aren't very good." Oh right, the Red Sox would also trade away their starting center fielder with no legitimate replacement ready, resutling in a fast guy that can't hit starting in center, and then two very slow guys trying to cover the expansive outfield of Coor, er, uh, Fenway Park, when the Red Sox realize that Corey Sullivan stinks as anything besides a defensive sub, pinch runner, or bunter. Then the Red Sox would get fed up with their best starting pitcher and his wacky antics, such as wanting to get back to the majors quickly after injuring his leg, and ship him away to another team for two unspectacular AA pitching prospects that weren't in the top ten of the worst farm system in baseball. The starting pitcher was an All Star two years ago, by the way, but the Red Sox decided to turn him into a closer for some reason, but then they changed their minds. If the Rockies retain their good players instead of trading them away (Preston Wilson trade wasn't terrible, admittedly, but they really should've had a replacement in line. Salazar isn't ready, so I'll stop you before you start, Dan (O'Dowd)), they could probably do a little more winning. Just because they aren't trading Todd Helton doesn't mean they aren't trading away everything else that's good. If the Rockies bring impact players through the system and have them reach the majors (and don't trade them), they could probably do a little more winning. So far we've had three proven impact guys come up through the farm: Helton, Chacon, and Jennings. Yeah. If the Rockies have players with decent power, the air at Coors ought to amplify their power, and they could probably do a little more winning. This year's rooks look like a mixed bag; Hawpe has very promising power just because he hasn't learned to turn on pitches yet and pull the ball, but he's hitting dingers to the opposite field regularly. The real power guy that makes everyone salivate is Clint Barmes, though there are (rightly) concerns as to if his performance in early 2005 was a fluke. The point is, if the Rockies should have decent power from every position, shortstop is probably the hardest position to fill in that regard; Barmes, hopefully, is the diamond in the rough that the Rockies usually never find (they usually don't find diamonds in the diamond store, either, though). Atkins has bad power for a third baseman. There, it's been said. Some like his nonchalant demeanor, and so would I if he was hitting the ball out of the park, but he's not. The guy has gap power from a home run power position. On a side note, if Atkins was supposed to be a stopgap while waiting for Stewart, the Rockies should've just payed up for Vinny. He wasn't making anything outrageous, especially for an NL RBI leader, and he could've done wonders for the respectability of the franchise. Also I like him. Luis Gonzalez shows power on a regular basis and has earned more starts over the abysmal Aaron Miles. He could be a long-term solution at 2nd base if somehow all 94 of our first round middle infielders crap out (likely). So here's the thing. Most of the rooks aren't that good. The Rockies can't go entirely home-grown because Dan O'Dowd isn't Billy Beane, yet because of their scamtastically cheap "philosophy," they're only going to pick up bullpen pitchers. More likely is that they'll go after bullpen guys that will start the season with another team, get put on waivers, and then they will claim them and have them succeed beyond everyone's wildest dreams at Coors. Good players, folks. Good players.

Birthday Wins All Around

It's Todd Helton's birthday today, and I think it's only fair that we take this moment to wish him the best. Also, he went 1-3 tonight with an RBI, a walk, and a run scored, pushing his average to .303 on the year. I'd say he's back to his old form. Now let's take a look at the actual game. Aaron cook, who's been fairly streaky of late, went seven full innings (is that legal for a Rockies starter?!), with only one walk (isn't that against the 2nd law of Rockies thermodynamics or something?), but no strikeouts. Nonetheless, he allowed just one run on seven hits, which is spectacular, especially considering he allowed seven hits. Having only pitched in five games this year, I think it may be taking Cook a while to get used to being a starter again, but if you look at it, he's pitched three fantastic games (allowing 1, 2, and 1 runs respectively), one mediocre, and only one totally blowup game, which is more than we can say for most Rockies pitchers, even if we did take just the last five games of their season. Overall, the reason why Cook's record is only (2-1) with only 3 decisions is the completely the Rockies offense. When a starter gives up 3 or less runs in 6 or more innings pitched, the Rockies should be winning the game every time by the time that Pitcher leaves. Also, this marked the triumphant return of Todd Greene, who went 0-3...but, he did pitch a better game, and I'll contend that he too should be catching ahead of JD Closser, because he has some power, and doesn't make the ballpark look like a dog track. Yeah, Closser may have been hot offensively of late, but he's still batting .246 vs. Greene's 275, and at some point we have to face the fact that he needs some major work on his arm. Time for an offensive rundown, but get ready for the second to next complete sentence after this one. It's really going to be a shocker. I mean, you really won't believe it when you hear it...Wow. Dustin Mohr is the most powerful hitter on our team. There, I said it. He jacked another one off of one of the hardest-throwing pitchers in the world tonight, one former rookie-of-the-year, Kerry Wood, giving him 14 homers, the most on the team. AND, the guy went 2-3, with 2 rbis, a run scored, and a walk? Is there some kind of power he has that we just didn't know about because he's been saving it for some kind of non-existant pennant race? In the past two seasons, in 238 combined at-bats, Mohr has 17 homers. This year, in just 80, he has 14. Now, I realize that the only reason I'm making a fuss about it is because he leads the team (pitiful, Derek Lee has 30+ at Wrigley!) in dingers, but I still want to know where this sudden burst of hitting is coming from. Now, he's obviously not great or anything all of the sudden, but he certainly has made up a lot of ground. Back in mid-July, he was batting sub-.200, and now the guy is 30 points over. You don't get that by chewing bubble gum all day. In other news, Helton continues to be hothothot without strikeout, posting a 1-3 game with a run scored, an RBI and a walk (as mentioned above). Holiday also continues to be a baller, with the highest average among starters, and only one of two hitting above-.300 (Helton). Holliday's not being consistently powerful yet, but unlike earlier in the season, he is being consistent period. Bigbie had another miserable game, and I believe my next piece of analysis deserves a new paragraph. Sullivan should be our starting center, for better or for worse. When you don't have a true CF, go with your best. Sullivan is speedier, hits better, and plays better baseball period. Sullivan is a baseball player, over and out. No, he doesn't have homerun power, but he's batting .266, and he's lightning fast. He striked out a lot, but so does Bigbie, who coincidentally struck out today in his only at-bat, and while Sullivan struck out in one of 3 at-bats, he did have a hit, and is a much bigger distraction when he gets on base than his counter part, due to very good speed. Guys, let's face it. Neither guy is gonna be P-Dub, but Sullivan, at least, can fill a little more of those gigantic shoes than Bigbie. Finally, I want to move onto DeJean and Fuentes, because I saw more of this part of the game than any other. DeJean seems to be settling down a bit. Before you say, "woah there", I do know that he got into and barely out of a bases-loaded 1-out jam, allowed a double to Derrek Lee, and a run. BUT, he got out of the jam. This year, DeJean has been a dude who's hot when he's hot, but who really blows up when he lets a guy or two on. The guy has nasty stuff when he wants to, but when he's just been scored on and there's a tear in his eye, he tends to lose control. This didn't happen today, so I think he is settling down. As for Fuentes, well, what is there to say? The guy has proven himself a dynamite closer so far, striking out Nomar and allowing just one, fluky bloop hit to Todd Walker, former Rockie. Plus, Fuentes got the best hitter in the league, Mr. D. Le, to ground out to b-day boy Todd Helton. What I like most about the way Fuentes pitched to night (and the way Ardoin called the throws), is how consistent he was in not giving hitters anything juicy. Todd Walker golfed a pitch low and inside into the outfield that might've been caught if Larry Walker was still commanding right field, and D. Le's only chance at a hit was one he clubbed from a few inches off the dirt. Sometimes, Fuentes does exaggerate spots a little bit, but I don't mind at all if he throws a ball ocassionally because he threw a pitch asked for on the inside corner a little too far inside. He's not the WP type, so it doesn't worry me. What he doesn't do is miss that pitch in the other direction, serving up a fat juicy one that can be smacked. The guy knows how to hit spots on the hands, in the dirt, and up and outside really well, and he doesn't miss in ways that would lead to a hit or a wild pitch. And did you see him serve up a two strikes right away against D. Le? A 75 mph change, followed by a 73 mph change, followed by I think a hard slider in the dirt on the inside that was around 85. Then, he threw a few 90-93 mph fastballs before getting him on a pitch high and away. I'm really, really loving watching Fuentes pitch, because it's exciting stuff. He made Lee look like a kid who just stepped of a merry-go-round on that second change, and anyone who can do that to the guy George Frasier incessantly calls "the most disciplined hitter in the game" is probably worth something. In a quick Former Rockie Update: Chacon shut out the very good Chicago White Sox today with 8 innings pitched and 5Ks, earning his second win in pinstripes as the Yankees took the game 5-0. Anybody who still thought that was a good trade raise their hand........that silence there is the sound of failure, Dan O'Dumb, failure. -Gabe P.S. - Sorry about the lack of posts. Working on the site + school = less coverage. But we're still gonna hang in there with you guys. Promise. P.P.S - The Rockies official website is serving up worse box score titles every day. "Rockies Cook up spicy dish for visitors"? Ha ha...that's almost as bad as the Rocky Mountain News's, "El-Yay!" after the Broncos won the superbowl for the first time...and that was after they won the superbowl, so they're allowed to do something semi-cheesy.

Fuentes vs. Lee Take II

Okay, so Lee won this one...so did Ramirez. So did Barret. As it turns out, thanks to a 3-run Jorge Piedra homer, who now has 4 dingers in his last 20 at-bats, it didn't matter too much. But, after I go through all of the trouble and hard work to compliment Fuentes, and let everyone know that he only misses spots in a good way, he goes and throws two big fat ones over the middle of the plate that were called for down below the ankles by Danny Ardoin. Nonetheless, after a fairly shaky start, he seemed to relax and with a little lucky reflex-redirection, get out of it okay with a nice K against former Rockie Todd Walker, who seemed to be seeing the ball from center field through the wrong end of the binoculars. (How could anyone think it was outside...oh right, a lefty facing another lefty with a weird delivery...I never could hit against lefties). I can't stay long (Much Ado calls...), though I will make a few comments: Though Francis did not have a great game, newly-acquired Sunny Kim came in and won the game, thanks in large part to homers off of all of our power guys, including Mohr, Holliday and recently hot Jorge Piedra. Atkins also showed some power, blasting his 9th, but he also went 3/4 with a RBI and two runs scored. Helton cranked a double to stay hot, and with a walk and a sacrifice managed just one official at-bat, but his average keeps climbing. No one knows why Dustin Mohr is so hot of late, but then again no one really knows how gravity works, either. Meanwhile, my flyboy Corey Sullivan....went 0-3. But at least he had a sacrifice and didn't strikeout...oh well, we'll see what Bigbie does in the next few days and re-assess. On the other side, D.Le had another monster game, going 2/3 with a homer and two walks...The waning Garciaparra adjusted his gloves alot (though this isn't a surprise) and managed a double in a 2/5 day, but also had two strikeouts. I think we're all beginning to feel that his days in hot dog land are limited. Overall, it was a throwback game to the ages of the bombers, with eight homeruns total, and it was a very nice way to take two out of three from the Cubs, who have skipped being bruised, and gone straight on to lying on the floor bleeding in a red-soaked twitchy tanrum. The game was also significant in that it ended Greg Maddux's perfect 8-0 record at Coors Field (aww shucks). Nice series, boys, and way to go Rox Girl over at Purple Row for calling the series perfectly. I couldn't have done it better myself. -Gabe

Stuff and the Things

Okay, okay, so it's been a while. Please bear with us, as we're having some, erm, legal issues, which hopefully we'll all be able to discuss candidly soon. But, just in an update: The Rox lost their first series in 4 tries in the last week of August, dropping the series to the Giants 1-2. The good news: we won a game. The bad news: it looks like my high hopes of...not getting last aren't going well. At 7 games back with 1.25 months left, it doesn't look good - but, least we'll have a shot at them in a series later this month, where maybe, just maybe we can pull some magic off. And, inexplicably, we're only 14 games back in the division...yeah, I know, but if we keep winning two out of three, and everyone else stays constant, and haley's comet comes 50 years early, and the moon's full...well... Anyhow, Helton homered 2 times tonight, and Atkins continued a renewed hotstreak. Meanwhile, Aaron Miles has quickly climbed up to .284...yeah, I know he's still 1 point behind Gonzo, with a worse slugging percentage and OBP, but at the very least, it must be noted that Miles has been hitting much more consistently of late. Also, note that my flyboy Corey Sullivan went 1-3 tonight, somehow managing to score 3 runs, though he struckout twice. Corey's also been hitting slightly better of late, and I hope you'll agree that he should get the nod in center for the season. But the big news seems to be the return of rookie phenom Clint Barmes, debuting in his first game since June 5th, and well, outfielder Brad Hawpe, who went 2-4 tonight with 1 RBI and 2 runs scored. Barmes went 0-5, but you can't blaim him, because those meat-carrying injuries are tough, keep you out for a long time, and it takes a while to get back in the groove of things. I'm sure P-Dub can tell you a thing or two about that, god rest his soul. Anyhow, like I said, the aforementioned legal issues are keeping us from making any regular posting, but hopefully that'll be resolved soon. I believe in the Rockies ability to at least maybe sorta make it a close race for...last place in the NL West. -Gabe

Closing it up

Hi folks, I know we at RDR kinda dropped the ball here during the home stretch, but I couldn't let the season go without a final post before the playoffs end and the wheeling and dealing starts. Overall, this team surprised us all in the second half of the season by playing .500 (or thereabouts) ball all the way through. If they had duplicated that performance over the first half of the season, they would be in the playoffs right now - and that's exciting! This team showed a bit of greatness in the second half of the season, and I hope the core stays in tact and plays together next year. We can only get better at this point, and with a few holes filled in, I think we have a real shot at the division, which I can't see making any major improvements. I see a lot of promise for these guys next year, but there's still an offseason checklist that we have to look at, which will be the subject of this post. Offseason Checklist: 1. The elusive fifth starter. We've got to find someone who can be our fifth next year and be consistent. Sunny, BK, Francis, and Cook proved good down the stretch - even Francis pulled it out at the end. Is one of these guys going to be our fifth when JJ comes back, or do we need another? 2. The middle reliever. Dejean played great at the beginning of the season, but then let up big time at the end, blowing several games. Dohmann was never the answer, so what is? Do we have any call-ups who could fill the roll, or do we need to trade for someone who we know will be a solid middle reliever? For the first time, the closer and setup roles were solidified in the last part of the season, and barring any idiotitc trades, that'll be true next year. So the only real gap that I see in the bullpen is the 6th and 7th inning guy who just shuts people down. 3. Second base. Okay, so I was wrong here. Gonzo came in and played well, really well down the stretch. But he's supposed to be a lifetime utility man, so is he a bonafide second baseman, or do we need to find someone else here? 4. Center field. Corey Sullivan showed that he's can hit, and damn well, if he wants to. He doesn't have a lot of power - yet, but he's the perfect center for Coors defensively, as he's scary fast, and has a great arm. He's also a big time steal threat if he ever gets on. He needs to learn how to walk (obp only in the .340s with a .300 avg), but keep in mind this kid was a rookie. I'm leaning towards keeping him as the starting center - especially seeing what he did at the plate when he started getting consistent starts. But, you may have other ideas, especially considering his power, which at the moment is only gap power. But, obviously Bigbie didn't show Hurdle anything more special than Corey Sullivan, who was getting rave reviews from the TV booth towards the end of the season. 5. The offensive catcher. We have our defensive catcher in Danny Ardoin. He's shown he can handle pitchers wonderfully, and he's got a killer arm - creates outs. He also hits .240 and has real home run power, but that's borderline for an 8th hitter. Closser, who's the best field day for opposing teams since the first day of training camp, is not the answer, especially because he didn't even show that he could hit .240. My guess is bringing Greene back as the offensive catcher, and dropping Closser altogether. True, Ardoin is older, but for the meantime, he's great behind the plate. 6. Ryan Shealy. Okay, he's not really a hole, but he does deserve to be on the checklist. He plays a good defensive 1st base, but we know that can improve given how Helton started, and how much he's improved. Plus, in his sting playing in place of Todd Helton, he tore up the majors much like he ripped through the minors, going .348 in 14 games (I think). This guy is gonna be a real star somewhere, but the problem is, he can't play anything but first base, at a relatively slow 6'+. And the Rockies already have Ryan Shealy playing 1st base - his name is Todd Helton, who's under a huge contract until something like 2011. So what do we do? I say trade this kid to someone who really needs a first baseman for some real major league talent - maybe one or two proven middle relievers and another gonzo-type utility man? I think having Shealy, who proved he's more than ready to play the majors, may be our ticket to filling a few of these holes. So in the end, yes, we have holes - but not ones that are simply gaping, and we're actually doing surprisingly well compared to last year, and even compared to what some NL west teams will face this offseason. We've finally filled in the shortstop position for the long haul, as well as 3rd base (it seems), and 2/3rds of our outfield. Plus, most of what I've identified isn't even asking who we're going to get, but whether what we have now will be sufficient for every game. Overall, I'd say we're in pretty good shape for Gen R+1.

Farewell Mr. Canada

Sir Lawrence Walker has retired, and I'm sure we're all sad to see him go. For years, Larry was a star on this team. Member of the Blake Street Bombers, MVP, and incredible right fielder. I'll always remember a play in 1999 at a ballgame I attended when Walker through out a guy who was trying to go from 1st to home to end the inning from the corner of right field. One hop to Brent Maine and boom. But he did it so many times, who doesn't remember one of those? We'll miss you in the highlight reels, and I'm personally sorry that you never got your ring. You're one of those ones who deserves it. In other news, there's the same old trade rumors coming out of Boston..but I'm telling you, Ryan Shealy is our ticket to middle relief. I think he can be traded and we'll be okay, because he is going to be a starter somewhere, and we don't have room for him in that type of position. BUT, if we're going to trade him, we need to fill our biggest hole, and that hole was in the middle innings.

We're honored...

...to be named a runner-up (Silver medalist is what I think they call it) for Deadspin's Best of Blogdom award for our Rockies coverage. Congrats also goes to our co-silver medalist, The Good, the Bad, and the Barmes, and to the real winner, Dan of Up in the Rox, who's outstanding player-by-player 2005 season breakdown was, well, outstanding, and really impressed the people at Deadspin. Yes, this award did go out on 9/9, but I just got wind of it, so that's why the post is today. But, I personally think all of Rockies bloggers are fantastic, so be sure to check out all of the blogroll, especially the ones I just mentioned, and another one of my favorites, Purple Row, where Rox Girl's fanatic coverage of the Rockies minor league system should be classified a world wonder. In Rockies news, there is none yet, besides Dustin Mohr and Greene being let go of, even though that happened a while ago. That means that we're gonna have to find another offensive catcher, because I'm not going to accept JD Closser as a reliable backup for Danny Ardoin. GGGGGOOOOOO....well, it's hard to root for anyone in this World Series. I think both teams deserve it...but I really like the idea that the Sox, who I believe had one player finish the regular season above .300, could win a world series soley on pitching and insanely good play from their third baseman.

Belated news...

I'm just gonna do a quick run-down of recent Rockies news.. We did not pick up Todd Greene's option...though this news is from October 5th, I'll talk about it like it's new. Greene batted .254 in 38 games and 126 at-bats last year for the Rockies. After the call-up of defensive star Danny Ardoin following Greene's hamstring injury, he was out-performed by career minor-leager Ardoin and was reduced to the third catcher role. The Rockies release says that they'll be looking for offense at the catcher position elsewhere...but where they're finding it, based on the next player, I have no idea. In comes Miguel Ojeda, a defensive catcher who batted an abysmal .147 last year for the Padres in only 102 at-bats in 59 games. This move is slightly surprising, because it's really offense the Rockies are missing at the position, not defense. I'm speculating that this is a move to force backup JD "Please don't run" Closser to play better defense or lose the 2nd position. We still need offense at the catcher position, however, so look for that move in the offseason. The Rox also dropped backup right-fielder Dustin Mohr, whose main attribution to the team was as a veteran clubhouse guy. He was terrible this year for the Rox despite a flury of late home runs, going .214 on 266 at-bats in 98 games. With Rookie stud Brad Hawpe coming on late in the season and ending a .262 average and a flury of fantastic defensive plays, Dustin won't be missed mutch. Hawpe's shown he's very, very strong defensively, and he does show some promise at the plate. He was injured much of the year, only playing in 101 games, so we'll see if a more continuous season will do him good at the plate. Matt Holiday's option was also picked up, no surprises there. Matt posted a .307 average last year in 126 games, and played well defensively. He also showed late power, finishing the year as the Rockies leader with 19 homeruns. The rest of the news is only rumors, so I'll just mention them briefly. Dealin' Dan promised to hold on to Brian Fuentes, our soon-to-be-superstar closer, and we certainly hope to see him back next year. Fuentes picked up 31 saves last year and posted an ERA of 2.91. Though he did play 78 games, only 36 of those (I'm pretty sure) were in save positions, and he only blew five saves. Another impressing figure: Brian posted 92 strikeouts in his 78 appearances, and only 34 walks. That's impressive. The other rumor-mill involves Ryan Shealy, bonafide major-league stud currently playing for the Sky Sox. He batted an astonishing .330 in 98 major-league at-bats this year, and posted 16 RBIs. There's no questioning this guy is a star. The problem: Ryan, at 6-5 and 240lbs, can only play first base. There's talk of getting him in the outfield, but that's a stretch...the good news is, prospects like these make for excellent trades. There have been rumors about trade with the Indians, but my best guess of where to go - no, let me put it this way: if I were Dan O'Dowd, I'd be looking to fill our weakest spot right now: Middle relief. We were terrible this year. Especially in the second half, the middle innings were where we lost most of our games, so that's what we should improve. A GM would have to be dead for 6 months to not put Shealy on his list for replacing your old first baseman, so I think we should be able to get some REAL middle talent for him, something that we need REAL BAD. Anyhow, that's the news for now...I'm happy that I, you know, took the time to post this. Makes me feel like I'm doing my job...yup, doing the job...

Why You Shouldn't Care About The World Baseball Classic

Alright, people. It's getting dangerously close to pitcher workouts, and we're freaking two months away from baseball season. I'm pretty pumped. Major League Baseball, to try to quench my thirst for baseball (and take my money) has created the first ever World Baseball Classic. Don't support it. As tempting as big-league baseball in March may sound, let me assure you, it is not going to be big league baseball. The starting pitchers for team USA are going to be fantastic. Dontrelle Willis, C.C. Sabbathia, Tim Hudson, Andy Pettite, and most likely one of Roger Clemens, Ben Sheets, or Roy Halladay. The problem is that they're going to keep them on pitch counts Now, Buck Martinez has some hazy justification for this crap, namely that the USA has ridiculously good relief pitching, but frankly, we're being gyped. Look at what it's marketed as. The players are supposed to be playing for national pride. Is 50-60 pitches and an early trip to the showers national pride? To quote my freshman year English teacher, that is crap. MLB, get it straight. If it's about national pride and being the best you can be, then don'tkeep guys on pitch counts (except Roy Halladay--he's scheduled to pitch (162x9) innings this year, so resting him is cool). Have a look-see Pitchers in the first round of games, scheduled from March 3-10, will be limited to 65 pitches. The amount rises to 80 pitches for the second round, set for March 12-16, and 95 for the semifinals on March 18 and the championship March 20. A 30-pitch outing must be followed by one day off, and a 50-pitch outing must be followed by four days off. No one will be allowed to pitch on three consecutive days. Some of the blame should be placed on the players, too, for not speaking out against this crap. Instead, Johnny Damon is saying something about how the US isn't getting the respect they deserve. Let's hope it works out better for us than it did for the Patriots. Note, that's not a comment about Johnny Damon sucking, it's a comment about how he's the only player that's said anything about the WBC, to my knowlege. Don't watch the games on principle, people. This is crap.

Josh Fogg

So according to sources, the Rockies are battling the Giants and one other unknown team for Josh Fogg. The Rox are offering a guaranteed roster spot with a little bit less cash than their foes, and Fogg may be able to help them late in the rotation or in the pen if he is signed. His agent says, "he's not afraid to pitch at Coors Field." Fogg is a soft thrower that rarely tops 90 with his fastball, and has previously had problems keeping the ball in the park. This seems like a good fit for Coors, eh? Seriously though, it's better that it's Josh Fogg and not Kevin Millwood. At least if Fogg screws up, we won't have to pay him ridiculous amounts of money.

Fogg Signed

So the Rockies have signed mediocre to bad pitcher Josh Fogg. I guess all we can hope for is that he is the next Byung-Hyun Kim. In a good, non-choking way. Speaking of athletes, Shawn Chacon just signed a 3.6 million dollar contract with the Yankees. Way to stick with your home-grown talent, O'Dowd. Way to stick with it. Please re-view my anti-anti-Shawn Chacon diatribe here. Baseball's almost here.

Brad Hawpe

Well, because of my strong desire not to do anything related to school, I have decided that we here at RDR will be doing some evaluation of last year's rookies, seeing as the Rockies free agent pickups have thankfully been not ridiculous and minimal. I was also inspired by an article over at Bad Altitude about Detroit sucking that referenced Dmitri Young. To be blunt, I believe that the cieling for Brad Hawpe is something resembling Dmitri Young, which is not half bad, actually. Young, over his career, has hovered around .290 in terms of batting average, with roughly 20 homers a year and an OPS of about .820. Hawpe, in his first year in the league, had an OPS of about .745, would theoretically average about 20 homers per season, and batted .262 last year. Now, given that he probably won't progress past Young's numbers, the question becomes: assuming Hawpe gets there (which he may well not), are Dmitri Young's numbers enough for a right fielder called part of the foundation of the Rockies? Looking at Young in relation to the rest of the league in 2005, he was 69th in OPS, which is not so hot, and was 65th in homers, with 21. Young circa 2000, though, would have finished the same in homers, but would have finished at about 50th in OPS. So, what we have here is a situation in which Brad Hawpe looks to be, at best, a middle-of-the-pack outfielder. The advantage of developing him yourself though, is that you won't pay him 8,000,000 dollars like the Tigers are Young. In light of this recent discovery, the major league viability of a Rockies team with Hawpe in one of the corner spots is dubious. In a hitters park, or any park, for that matter, you want to have offensively outstanding corner outfielders, either OBP or slugging-wise, but Hawpe looks like he will develop into a guy that would simply occupy a lineup slot with simply average offense. It should be noted that my prediction is based entirely on another prediction, which is that Hawpe will end up as a Dmitri Young type, which is not necessarily true. He could very well learn to pull the ball with power and hit 30 homers a year and prove me wrong, but as it stands right now, he has yet to prove that he will be anything beyond average. Cheaply average though.

The Gyroball?

I read an article over at yahoo sports (link) about some sort of ridiculous Japanese-made pitch. It is apparently better and more efficient that American pitches, much like Japanese cars, watches, etc. The point is that this pitch has the potential to change baseball--if it exists. The whole thing is about how there are rumors about the thing, but nobody's caught it on tape. Now call me a ridiculous racist, but every time I'm on vacation and a tourist site, Asians are conspicuously eager to take photos and videos. The same thing happened at Coors when Gabe and I were there. This group spent the whole game taking pictures of them with Coors in the background. With the advent of cameraphones and videophones, I find it highly unlikely that this pitch exists but hasn't been captured. I don't know the state of televising in Japan, but if the pitch is that good, I'd assume it has been used in a televised game. A pitcher on the Japanese team said something about how he might use it in the WBC, and frankly I'm intrigued.

Sort-of-Rockies-Related Post 1--MVP 2006 NCAA Baseball. It is a game preview/summary?

Note: I'm probably going to refer to the game MVP 2006 NCAA Baseball as all of the following in this entry: MVP, MVP 2006, 2006, NCAA, NCAA 2006, the game, etc. So let' s just be clear I'm talking about MVP 2006 NCAA Baseball. In February every year, after the Pro Bowl and before the combine, I come to the realization that baseball is rolling back around again. I also come to the realization that it won't start for another month and a half in all of its full glory, and I demand a fix. This hold-me-over is usually a couple of fantasy baseball magazines, and more importantly with regards to this "article," a baseball game of some sort. In doing my research on the games every year, it's almost always the case that EA turns out the hands-down best product on the market. It works this way for football, too. Unfortunately, EA didn't make an MLB game this year because 2k got an exclusive license from the league, so they did something incredibly ballsy; EA decided to make a college baseball game. College baseball has a pretty small following on the coasts, if I understand it correctly, and here in Colorado, there's virtually no mention of it though the UNC Bears are apparently pretty decent. It's only in the thick mid-section of America that NCAA baseball has any sort of legitimate followers. I've heard stories of just how awesome the college game (not the video game) is and how fun the College World Series in Omaha is, but really beyond some ESPN2 viewing, I had no idea about NCAA baseball. The 2k6 game isn't going to be released until about a week before i get out of school, so I bought NCAA for the price of 30 dollars. Smart move by EA; I wouldn't have bought the game if it were fifty or so, but the lower price compelled me to give the game and NCAA baseball a shot. The first thing you will notice in your first game of NCAA is the intro. They pretty much just found clips of Major Leaguers playing college ball (Helton is pretty much the first guy you see, so hoo-rah) and put them to a soundtrack. Not bad, but from the beginning, you kind of get the feeling that EA knows that NCAA baseball as an independent entity doesn't have the legs to stand on its own, but rather must lean on stars that rose from its midst. This is evident in that they used the same basic system as last year's MVP MLB 2005 game, which isnt a bad thing. The second thing you'll notice is that you have the option to either give the players fake names or leave them as just numbers. I opted for fake names because I don't know who any of the players are anyway, and it's pretty funny to look at pitchers named Hollandsworth and a second baseman named Closser (I guess they used MLB names rather than just a normal database for some reason...?). For diehards, this might be a turn-off, but I'll wager dollars to donuts that someone will go ahead and make named rosters for download like they do with NCAA football. The point is that with the high turnover rate in college baseball, names are only important for four years anyway. The game itself is really spectacular. I haven't fooled around with dynasty mode, preferring to just play individual games and mini-games until I'm good enough to not drive the Tennessee baseball program into the ground. EA made a few pretty big changes this year from last year's MLB game, and the most important is the new Load-and-Fire batting system. The Load-and-Fire batting system is a bit tough to get the hang of, but fooling around for an hour or so in the batting mini-game makes you a viable hitter. Rather than last year's system which relied on the left analog stick (where do you want to go with the ball) and the A button (X on Playstation 2, I think), this year's is dependent on the two trigger buttons and the right analog stick. It sounds complicated, but it's not. When the pitcher releases the ball, you pull the right analog stick down and when you want to swing, you push it up. Up and to the left is a pull swing for a righty, up and to the right is an opposite field swing for a righty, and straight up is a straight swing, if there is such a thing. To go for power, you just hold down the left trigger while swinging, and for contact, hold down the right. Pretty complicated-sounding, but once you get the hang of it, it's fairly easy. You can also go back to last year's system if you so desire. The new batting system brings the game to a new level of reality. Because you can load and then wait to swing (though this diminishes your power) , it's possible to bat like a brainy player, rather than like Andres Galaraga. When will his number be retired? I demand action. Anyway...this batting system is very realistic. If you want to pull the ball, you've got to be really quick with the stick, because most of the time you'll swing late and send a lazy fly to the infield. This system makes it pretty damn clear why you can never miss with a change or a curve on the inner half. If you try to hit for power to the opposite field, it will end poorly, as you have to wait longer in your stance on the pitch and your power potential is diminished. Pitching is the same as last year, and as I mentioned before, you will be punished for screwing up. CC Sabbathia can miss with a fastball on the inner half and get away with it, but Moyer can't. Note: I am using these names rather than "That tall Florida pitcher with the 94 mph fastball" because I still don't know any of their names. Even the fake ones. Fielding is pretty cut and dried, and as usual, there is a huge quantity of spectacular plays made each game. One infuriating part of the game is the errors, which come in bunches, and at the most inconvenient time possible. You've got to be careful how hard you throw the ball, because overthrows are common. So, in conclusion, the game is sweet, and until 2k6 comes out, I'd suggest playing this one, as it's only 30 bucks.

The Debate: Freeman and Sullivan

With the Choo-over-Corey campaign well under way over at Baseball With An Altitude, I figured it was time to step in and give an opinion. As anyone who followed the blog last year (read: no one) will know, I touted Cory Sullivan, despite all the controversy, as the true choice for starter after Preston Wilson left town. He was hitting fairly well, and he's very fast - a perfect choice at least defensively covering the huge Coors (center) Field, and perhaps a candidate for the leadoff hitter. Immediately after making this statement known, my decision was immediately stripped of all authority - Cory went on to bat .254 from June to July, with a sub-.300 OBP. But he was still playing well in the field, and in September, he went on a tear - batting .387 to bring his season average to a respectable .294 - overall, he had a fairly good year. Now, to be fair to Cory, it was his rookie year. Things were shaky, he wasn't playing every day, and as the TV kept telling me, "he has great baseball instincts." Perhaps that's what I liked about Cory - he always seemed to know what he was doing out there. Enter Choo Freeman. Once a top Rockie prospect, Freeman has never had success in the majors. In a lifetime 112 at-bats in the majors, Freeman has a stunning(ly bad) .204 average. I know he hasn't had much major league experience, but when you think about it, neither has Cory, and Mr. Sullivan has already proven that he CAN be a very effective hitter. Give Cory a little time to mature, and I believe he will be a .300 career hitter. Choo, on the other hand, has no proven hitting ability, and the only thing he has going for him is that he is just as fast, and maybe a little faster than the +22 lbs. Cory that showed up at training camp, but that's about all he has going for him. So when you sum up the two, you look at an average center fieldman who has the potential to be an above-average hitter, in Cory, and a big fat question mark in Choo. When I look at this team, the one thing I like is that there are no giant questionmarks like there were last year. I think Cory can be a sufficient starter for the meantime, and put up a near-.300 average and 10-20 home runs in a good year. He may not have as much power potential as Freeman, but even for Coors Field, that's not what you need in a leadoff man. I'm a firm believer in seeing, for one of the few times in the past 11 years, a Rockies team that is vaguely recognizeable as the same team that took the field a year ago. For one of the few times since the era of the ever-changing plans for re-birth, it looks like this could actually happen, and I'm excited. They say if it ain't broke, don't fix it, and Cory is far from broke.

Opening Day!

After ever so long, and even a rain delay to interrupt the fun last night, baseball has begun in truth. No more ridiculous batting averages and pitcher-yanking. This is the real thing. I ended up at the game courtesy of the moms, which meant I got to eat a hot dog on someone else's dollar (well, dollarS, really), and also had to do the thing which I secretly love, which is explain things to noobs. The ma' isn't really a noob, but anyhow...The game was not what one expects at Coors Field. Last year, the combined run total was about 20, and during most of today's game, it looked like it was about to burst into being a slam-fest again. Somehow though, pitching prevailed. Early on, Jennings looked shaky, walking a guy in the first inning and giving up a run. He regained his composure and more importantly, his pitching, though, and then ended up pitching several innings of solid ball. Jennings worked seven innnings of one-run ball in the win. That's pretty much what the Rockies need to be a better team this year besides, you know, more offense. Working out of jams was a central theme in the game, as JJ did it repeatedly, as did pretty much every reliever in the game. Two new bullpen acquisitions performed semi-admirably in the game. Ray King, the lefty from St. Lewis, allowed one run in two thirds of an inning, but considering he was the victim of a throwing error that put men on second and third with none out, it was pretty impressive. Jose Mesa came in to face righty Chad Tracy, who grounded in an out, but then ended the inning smoothly. In the ninth, he allowed two baserunners, then left the game with one out and runners on first and second. Closer Brian Fuentes entered the game and brought the Rockies to the bottom of the ninth with the score still tied. In the eleventh inning, with Hawpe up to bat and Matt Holliday at third, the sophomore right fielder grounded the ball to second. Holliday, running on contact, sprinted home and beat the throw from (edit) Connor Jackson with a head first slide to the outside of the plate. Traffic was hell, pedestrian and auto, but it was worth it. Shot thoughts (as in bulleted): -The relievers despite numerous opportunities, did not blow the game like they usually did early on last year -Coors Field is huge. Lots of deep fly balls stopped on the track during the game for both sides. -If the Rockies starters can work into the sixth or seventh, it looks like the bullpen will be able to keep the team within striking distance or maintain the lead -Hot dogs are expensive -A lot of people must ride RTD to games, because there's a strike on and this was by far the worst opening day traffic I've ever seen -Opening Day is awesome. Even if you're not that into baseball, it's just amazing. It's something uniquely American and I hope it's still like this when I'm seventy -This is non-polititcal, but rather just an observation: being an Iraqi civilian would be scary as hell. during the flyover, I almost peed myself. We were in the third deck, and good God those planes are loud, fast, and filled with weapons. Baseball's here!