tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-51624122011-04-21T19:12:37.915-06:00Baseball on Blake StreetColorado Rockies News. All the low-down from Lodo, and other news from the N.L. West and beyond. A baseball blog devoted to the Rockies and their affiliates. Your lips keep moving, but all I hear is blog, blog, blog. Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.comBlogger1341100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1165700942453491012006-12-09T14:42:00.000-07:002006-12-09T14:49:02.466-07:00The Colorado Rockies haven't been busy this offseason, instead letting the rest of the league engage heartily in kind philanthropy for marginal talent. 2007 promises to be a season of reckoning for Dan O'Dowd, Clint Hurdle and crew, Charlie Monfort makes that clear in today's Rocky Mountain News.Will the team matter? It's hard to say. Right now, I think we have the second best squad in the Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1114601362271712042005-04-27T05:05:00.000-06:002005-04-27T06:09:23.606-06:00As I mentioned a couple of days ago, the Marlins are a model of pitching efficiency, and Josh Beckett's performance last night was true to that assessment. I don't know what we could have done much different once he started to get going. Today the Rockies try to come back and even the series versus the Marlins' least effective starter thus far, Al Leiter, while we'll be using our own least Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1114452402188253992005-04-25T08:52:00.000-06:002005-04-25T15:09:24.026-06:00The off day after our latest bullpen miscue allows me a chance to do some exploration of baseball theory, but first a recap:When I left off yesterday the Rockies had a slim five to three lead heading into the sixth inning. Francis got through that with no further damage and handed the ball over to Brian Fuentes, who made it through the seventh before hitting J.D. Drew to lead off the eighth. Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1114374564168986312005-04-24T13:51:00.000-06:002005-04-24T14:29:24.170-06:00In the top of the third already, Jeff Francis is in a little bit of trouble with two on and JD Drew at the plate. That pop out to short center, where our short centerfileder, Clint Barmes caught up to it, preserves the lead. In the bottom half of the second, Aaron Miles swung at the first two pitches he saw and ended our own threat just as benignly. Miles had a profile up at mlb.com yesterday, Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1114290638594956242005-04-23T14:26:00.000-06:002005-04-23T15:10:38.596-06:00A little after I state that there hasn't been much chaange at the top of the draft board, I read ESPN's Peter Gammons' article that has one GM predicting the first six picks going this way:1 Arizona - Justin Upton2 KC - Alex Gordon3 Seattle - Luke Hochevar4 Washington - Troy Tulowitzki5 Milwaukee - Ryan Zimmerman6 Toronto - Ricky RomeroWhich leaves Cameron Maybin floating down to Colorado at Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1114275993651859672005-04-23T09:42:00.000-06:002005-04-23T11:06:33.653-06:00Jason Jennings' milestone night, tying Pedro Astacio for winningest Coors Field pitcher ever, came at a fantastic time and the fact he made a complete game of it (allowing the bullpen a night off) should pay benefits for the remainder of the homestand as long as none of our other starters implode early. The Aaron Miles walk watch continues, but going four for five still trumps getting a free passBranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1114206920754238012005-04-22T15:23:00.000-06:002005-04-22T15:55:20.756-06:00Yesterday, the Rockies lost in a game I expect to be more typical of the season than the first two weeks have shown, one promising with glimpses of the bright future, but ultimately a letdown due to inexperience and inconsistency. Our offense played hard for four innings commanded the plate and getting solid contact, but when the Phillies' pitchers started to adjust by expanding their targets, Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1114098898870836622005-04-21T09:47:00.000-06:002005-04-21T11:39:08.793-06:00Sorry for the somewhat doubled post if you were reading this morning, I think I lose posts and then mysteriously they appear later after I post a rehash. I deleted one and am counting the days to when I move to my fancier new digs. I will keep you informed on that as well. Now for a little mailbag action (very little, my mailbag is quite small usually)Hello!Google searches have uncovered numerousBranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1114047248809611742005-04-20T18:08:00.000-06:002005-04-21T06:01:16.503-06:00How often has Clint Barmes ranged into left or center and robbed hits already this season? That double play starting catch to get Jamey Wright out of a jam in the bottom of the sixth is why we're sold on him and probably saved the game for us, as a rally by the Phillies there could have been devastating. Still we won, and even though the relievers were again shaky after another good start by Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1114032874661781752005-04-20T14:59:00.000-06:002005-04-20T15:34:34.663-06:00Finally a game without caveats, won from start to finish without the usual "yes, but..." that accompanied our other two victories on the season, and it was definitely a positive step. Jeff Francis was solid, the hitting produced (for the most part, we didn't convert early as much as we could have) and in the bullpen's shortest stint of the year, Chen Hui Tsao and Jose Acevedo came through, go Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1113942701671137092005-04-19T11:14:00.000-06:002005-04-19T14:31:41.673-06:00Too late for a preview, right now it's the bottom of the fourth. Michael Restovich just gave us a 3-1 lead. Francis is looking good, like he's getting into the groove of things and he should turn another lead over to our bullpen. Last night, excluding Ryan Speier's meltdown, our bullpen was solid and it looks like we might finally be getting things somewhat together. Interesting missed call on Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1113836663445091782005-04-18T08:33:00.000-06:002005-04-18T09:04:23.446-06:00Those Damn Bases on BallsToday the Rockies face the Arizona Diamondbacks in a battle between the two worst teams in the league at allowing baserunners aboard. However, really the Rockies are in a class by themselves here in their ineptitude. Right now, Rox pitchers allow opposing batters to reach base at a .412 clip, whereas the D-backs awful staff is giving up .357 in opponents' OBP. How big is Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1113753858936994952005-04-17T10:03:00.000-06:002005-04-17T10:04:18.936-06:00In a couple of hours the Rockies and Giants will take the field in what will be the rubber game of this three game set, thankfully the burden of the losing streak is now off the Rockies' backs. Kudos to the team and the coaching staff for addressing a lot of the problems the team was having in the previous games. Staying aggressive on the basepaths, working pitchers deep into the count and even Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1113670741714438872005-04-16T08:30:00.000-06:002005-04-16T10:59:01.716-06:00Alright, I've gotten it out of my system with my whole "let's fire Clint" campaign. Obviously Hurdle isn't the only person responsible for the Rockies' woes, and though he has made fritical mistakes, it's not like he's working with Murderer's Row. So let's take a step back and look at some of the successes of the season thus far, and try to determine if they are flukes or for real so we have Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1113589713822681202005-04-15T11:24:00.000-06:002005-04-15T12:28:33.823-06:00So last night I caught a bit of the Asheville/Kannapolis broadcast (the Tourists don't have audio, but luckily the Intimidators do and Asheville supplied a hookup on its site) since I wanted to catch up on some prospect happenings. Samuel Deduno was pitching so I figured it would be alright, of course the book (well, my book anyway) on Deduno says he has a bit of a control issue if he lets his Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1113516723172332282005-04-14T15:31:00.000-06:002005-04-14T16:12:03.173-06:00Required ReadingDo Rockies prospects need a yoga coach? Seriously, somebody needs to check in on their conditioning. A couple of days ago I wrote that Ian Stewart hasn't played yet while nursing a pulled hamstring, but I assumed from looking at the stats that Chris Nelson was healthy while slumping. Turns out he also pulled his hammie (on opening day) and hasn't played up to full speed yet. StillBranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1113495469300274352005-04-14T06:53:00.000-06:002005-04-14T10:17:49.303-06:00One more day, one more disappointment. Jeff Francis didn't have a game last year in which he walked more than three batters, but he walks six yesterday (yes, one was intentional). Then, in an echo of Saturday's game when Scott Dohmann came into a close game and pitched himself into a bases loaded jam, Byung Hyun Kim did the same and like Dohmann, cracked at the defining moment, throwing the ball Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1113396562619260842005-04-13T05:59:00.000-06:002005-04-13T06:49:22.623-06:00Changes at the TopI've had enough. Today we're going to start the discussion. It's not just because the Rockies have lost six straight, they will do that and more probably more than once this season regardless of who manages the ballclub, but it's the way they have lost that's so frustrating. Blown leads due to the ineffectual use of the bullpen, shoddy defense, a lack of focus on offense (no Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1113341647040111012005-04-12T14:37:00.000-06:002005-04-12T15:34:07.040-06:00Why are the Rockies losing so much? The bullpen, yes, but look at the production over the last five games from three of our opening day heroes:Aaron MilesPreston WilsonMatt HollidayBetween them they have two walks and nine hits (only one for extra bases) in fifty five at bats. That's equal to a .163 batting average and with only two walks (none for leadoff hitter Miles) their OBP isn't much Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1113336218480886512005-04-12T12:58:00.000-06:002005-04-12T14:03:38.483-06:00It's difficult to speak to the troubles the Rockies are having, yesterday being another good example of a game that the team probably should have won -Brad Halsey just isn't that good of a pitcher- but didn't because of bad discipline and inexperience. So today I will point out more bad news as a way of kicking us while we're down. One of the Rockies uber-prospects, shortstop Chris Nelson, has Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1113254336630720412005-04-11T14:47:00.000-06:002005-04-11T15:18:56.630-06:00I will start with the day's big headline, the announced suspension of outfielder Jorge Piedra for a violation of the performance enhancing drug policy before moving on to other news from the ugly weekend in San Fran.Piedra is only the second major leaguer to be punished thus far as baseball promises to crack down on the steroid issue after letting it fester embarassingly for too many years. Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1113075027425513892005-04-09T13:16:00.000-06:002005-04-09T13:30:27.426-06:00Yesterday's anticipated battle of future NL West stars only half lived up to its billing, unfortunately it wasn't our half. The bullpen is going to be shaky and erratic for most of the season, so we should get used to it as our pitchers continue to develop into their roles. Anyway, today Jamey Wright goes against Jerome WIlliams in a matchup that favors our team a lot more than the Giants, so Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1112968818176004302005-04-08T07:27:00.000-06:002005-04-08T08:00:18.176-06:00A review of yesterday's minor league opening shows the Rockies' system getting off to a slow start, with Colorado Springs, Modesto, and Asheville all losing while Tulsa eked out a 2-1 win. Really the only good performance from a prospect came from the Modesto Nuts' Chris Ianetta, who had two singles and scored a couple of runs thanks in part to little league defense from Stockton. The Drillers' Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1112826741309418682005-04-06T16:14:00.000-06:002005-04-06T16:32:21.310-06:00The minor league preview will have to wait until tomorrow as it is taking longer (as usual) than I anticipated. A quick preview of tonight's game would seem to stack in the Rockies' favor at first glance, with Adam Eaton being another Padres' hurler who has never done well at Coors. But a lot of the reason for that rests with one player who we don't have anymore, Larry Walker, who has owned EatonBranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1112728085863519222005-04-05T13:05:00.000-06:002005-04-05T13:08:05.866-06:00Okay, let’s get to work class. Last night the Rockies came through with a victory in traditional Coors style contest 12-10 and currently hold a half game lead in the division. Today we’re going to look into some of the numbers from last night to see what happened, why the Rockies won, why they almost lost, and try to figure out what we should look for going forward. Yesterday in my pregame I Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1112659218836939252005-04-04T17:59:00.000-06:002005-04-04T18:00:18.836-06:00Gen R had a nifty debut wouldn’t you say? I know I’ve said my share of bad things about Aaron Miles but today at least he has the last word. Seriously, I don’t care if he walks if he can maintain an .833 OBP all year. If he hits three doubles a game, I don’t care if he never steals bases either. Of course reality will set in some time but right now let’s ride this high. Yesterday I said I thoughtBranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1112641219196666702005-04-04T12:18:00.000-06:002005-04-04T13:00:19.196-06:00Rockies vs PadresGame 1 Kennedy vs. WilliamsThe Rockies couldn't have planned a better matchup to start the season if they were choosing the Padres' starter themselves. Williams has been absolutely brutalized in Coors Field in his career and honestly I don't see any reason to expect much different from him today. Kennedy on the other hand has looked sharp all Spring although in his one career Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1112638619497161152005-04-04T12:16:00.000-06:002005-04-04T12:16:59.500-06:00Today is the first day of the year. It might turn out to be the first of what should be many, many setbacks, or maybe it will be one of those days that we see a glimmer of the halcyon days to come. The point is that I see in this team a microcosm of the same battles, whatever they might be, that I have to struggle with everyday. I don't root for them then because I feel that they will win this Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1112571283778123712005-04-03T16:53:00.000-06:002005-04-03T17:34:43.780-06:00Roster Moves - Atkins DL'dWith the cusp of the season upon us the Rockies have made a flurry of moves in the last week as injuries have taken a toll. I'll start off with the most recent and then move on to the trade with the Red Sox a little further down.Losing Garrett Atkins for a couple of weeks may turn out to be worse for Atkins than it is for the Rockies, as Jeff Baker has a bat that could Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1112135008755577362005-03-29T14:34:00.000-07:002005-03-29T15:23:28.760-07:00Rockies Draft Update Part IIOops, I mistakenly referred to Cal State Fullerton lefty Ricky Romero as Ray Romero yesterday. I wonder what brought that about on a Monday evening. BA has a feature on him today for paid subscribers, which at the moment I'm not, so I'm not quite sure what it says about him yet (I had to let my subscription lapse because somebody I share my house with feels that heat Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1112052080187377392005-03-28T13:14:00.000-07:002005-03-28T16:21:20.196-07:00For almost a year now I have had Curtis Maybin at or near the top of my Rockies wish list for the 2005 draft, his season so far hasn't done anything to change my mind: a .800 batting average (isn't high school ball great?) 10 homeruns, 11 steals, but he's done so well that I am now almost positive that he won't be around when the Rockies pick seventh. In fact, I am almost certain he'll go to the Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1112040804665676322005-03-28T12:21:00.000-07:002005-03-28T13:13:24.666-07:00First of all, yesterday was not the type of day we like to see this late in the Spring, but there were a couple of highlights nonetheless. Clint Barmes' solo shot in the first and JD Closser's single later on to extend his hit streak to six straight at bats highlight the improvements those two have made at the plate as the Spring has progressed. I would like to see a little more patience in both Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1111939621801062632005-03-27T08:34:00.000-07:002005-03-27T09:07:01.810-07:00With only a week of exhibition play left, several of the Rockies' major issues heading into the season are nearing resolution. Shawn Chacon's healthy and well pitched four inning outing yesterday definitely relieves some of the tension over his spot in the rotation for now, and with the last couple of roster moves the bullpen and bench are almost set. Aaron Taylor might not clear waivers but if Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1111674585852530782005-03-24T06:47:00.000-07:002005-03-24T07:29:45.856-07:00Since I've been out a little while, I'll be posting several times today and tomorrow to try and catch up. Right now I'm going to give an April preview and prediction for each team in the NL West:What to look at heading into the start of the season:Arizona- The Diamondbacks' start the season with nine straight at home, culminating with the Rockies trip to Phoenix the second week of the season, andBranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1111670825702835992005-03-24T03:56:00.000-07:002005-03-24T06:27:05.706-07:00The news out of the Rockies' camp the last few days has been mostly positive, no major injuries to any of the Rockies' main players and Preston Wilson seems ready. Even our bullpen has been looking sharper after being pretty scary early on. Darren Oliver has come back nicely from his one bad outing and is competing with Jamey Wright for the fourth spot in the rotation. The bad news? Well, Aaron Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1110818900492532632005-03-14T09:09:00.000-07:002005-03-14T09:48:20.496-07:00The promised overview of our divisional rivals will come later this afternoon/evening, hwever first I would like to recap yesterday's "A" game against the White Sox as well as offer one note on Darren Oliver's miserable performance in the "B" game.As far as the final score goes, don't read anything into the loss, were this the regular season we wouldn't have had Mike Esposito (trying to make me Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1110668013972934662005-03-12T12:19:00.000-07:002005-03-12T15:53:33.976-07:00Turnabout is fair playBrewers' starter Doug Davis schooled the Rockies in three innings, finishing strong by whiffing Dustin Mohr and Todd Helton on called strike threes. Meanwhile, Jamey Wright had his first bad outing of the year today and it was ugly, hopefully not too many like this one will follow. The Brewers, like the Rockies, have a good crop of young players, Rickie Weeks, Lyle Overbay Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1110644467372844952005-03-12T08:44:00.000-07:002005-03-12T09:21:07.373-07:00Who is Tim Olson and should we be aware of him? He's a 26 year old utility player, a cut from the D-backs in November, and probably only going to amount to a quadruple-A bench player for his career. He hasn't shown enough power to play at the corners, and doesn't have enough defensive skill to play in the middle everyday so he's kind of caught in no-mans land. If he makes the Rockies it would be Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1110571212419582922005-03-11T12:29:00.000-07:002005-03-11T13:00:12.423-07:00Jason Young is getting one of those rare opportunities that could potentially impact the rest of his career today. With Shawn Chacon scratched due to a hamstring injury, Young gets the start against the Brewers and if he performs well, will likely get further looks from the coaching staff in the next couple of weeks. It's a big day to watch some of the Rockies hardest throwing young pitchers in Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1110500991970371722005-03-10T17:03:00.000-07:002005-03-10T17:29:51.970-07:00My blog has been experiencing some technical difficulties lately, probably thanks to blogspot, but the editing difficulties can all be attributed to me. Sorry about that hack job this morning. I'll edit it and move on. Anyway, another stellar performance posted by our starter today, Jason Jennings (not Chac', he pitches tomorrow). The scoreless streak was snapped on the only hit JJ gave up, a runBranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1110452363975387932005-03-09T16:09:00.000-07:002005-03-10T03:59:23.980-07:00Rockies' pitchers continue their winning ways: Joe Kennedy being the latest to toss a "shutout" in his appearance yesterday, a 6-3 Rockies' victory. Kennedy has pitched worthily enough of the number one role, I just think it's a discredit to make that decision basebd on one hitter. The anticipated Rockies' starters have shutout the opposition in the last three games they pitched, only Jason YoungBranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1110369869335927992005-03-09T04:23:00.000-07:002005-03-09T05:04:29.336-07:00Our Rockies are beginning to look good. Jeff Francis shut down the White Sox for three innings and Marcos Carvajal came in right after with another standout inning putting him squarely in the lead for our Rule 5 keeper. Throw in Todd Helton's opposite field shot and nice at-bats by Jorge Piedra and AAA prospect Tony Miller and it looks like our offense might keep up pace.Don't worry about FrancisBranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1110317609796113172005-03-08T13:36:00.000-07:002005-03-08T14:33:29.840-07:00E-post and Comments:Alright, in an effort to make this thing a little interactive, I'd like to take an opportunity to respond to some of your comments. The problem is I haven't received very many comments. I must be as intelligent and authoritative as I think I am.Be that as it is, I'll respond to what I have received anyway:Hello,I saw some of your blogs somewhere on the net. I think it was on aBranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1110301260469372192005-03-08T09:29:00.000-07:002005-03-08T10:01:00.473-07:00The Rockies swept the split squad double yesterday, nudging past KC 8-7 in the day game and then beating the D-Backs 9-6 in the nightcap. The first game featured a very good early performance by Jamey Wright, who threw four scoreless innings, as well as another scoreless inning of work by Chen Hui Tsao. Tsao gave up two walks in that inning, so control remains an issue, and we shouldn't bestow Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1110211977798641292005-03-07T08:39:00.000-07:002005-03-07T09:15:12.086-07:00Ouch, we were clobbered yesterday. Looking for positives in this game is difficult, at best, unless you're a Rangers' fan, of course. Shawn Chacon is demonstrating more and more that something's still missing and I worry that he's going to be this year's version of Stark or Elarton and left out for the wolves weeks at a time before management realizes that it's just not working anymore. The Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1110152708540946152005-03-06T15:48:00.000-07:002005-03-06T16:45:08.543-07:00Saturday's game was another typical example of why you can't look at the Spring results as meaningful, the Rockies won by scoring five in the ninth off of a couple of the Angels' prospects, yet were only down in the first place because the Angels beat up on a couple of our minor league arms -more on that further down, but first:Jason Jennings: 2 IP, 2 Hits, 0 Runs, 1 BB, 0 K'sRyan Speier: 1 IP, Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1110055985743593522005-03-05T12:11:00.000-07:002005-03-05T13:53:05.746-07:00Good news? No. Though Aaron Miles is not the solution at second base, and shouldn't be considered long term, losing him bumps up Desi Relaford in the depth chart. Some positives that may come of this injury though seem to be a more flexible approach to the lineup which hopefully will open Clint Hurdle's eyes to the gaping wound that Miles' bat represents there at the top. Luis Gonzalez getting Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1110041656324949252005-03-05T08:56:00.000-07:002005-03-05T09:54:16.326-07:00Baseball Prospectus takes a look at Todd Helton's Hall of Fame chances and gives a subtle hint about whether the Rockies should go with Greg Norton or Andy Tracy as his primary backup. I had already penciled in Tracy in my original projected roster for the Rockies and its nice to see some statistical vindication. Of course, last year Clint Hurdle opted to keep Denny Hocking on the roster for two Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1109984448954248972005-03-04T17:14:00.000-07:002005-03-04T18:00:48.963-07:00A nice outing for Chen Hui, and a rough one for Eddie Gaillard in the same game gives Tsao the early lead in the closer battle. Today's game had its highlights for us despite the outcome. The White Sox scored most after our starters had left, Tim Drew at the end bearing the biggest brunt. Anyway, Matt Holliday had good contact, and Choo Freeman continues to double off everybody he faces. On the Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1109888301499905712005-03-03T14:03:00.000-07:002005-03-03T15:18:21.503-07:00Lots of info to analyze today, so I'm going to try to get through as much as possible. First of all, yesterday our season started well, particularly the seasons of Jeff Baker, Jorge Piedra and Choo Freeman, as well as several of our pitchers. Baker's homer was nice, but A) its Spring and B)Felix Diaz has been absolutley brutalized by left handed hitters in his career with the Sox so don't put tooBranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1109818547414861892005-03-02T17:11:00.000-07:002005-03-02T19:55:47.420-07:00The long winter night approaches its end, friends, baseball is upon us. I've already gotten immersed in the college season, it looks like my Trojans are bouncing back from 2004's disappointing year, although Jeff Clement hasn't been impressive thus far. I might have to take him off my Rockies' first round draft wish list if this continues (of course, if it continues, Clement might be available toBranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1108688994857685372005-02-17T17:59:00.000-07:002005-02-17T18:09:54.856-07:00I've avoided posting on the growing steroid scandal, but would like to point out one thing I have thought of in recent days, which is that this could turn out to be beneficial to Todd Helton's Hall of Fame chances. I have never heard Helton mentioned in connection to the stuff, and he really seems to be the type of person who would avoid messing with his body like that. Therefore assuming he's Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1108585242472777172005-02-16T11:09:00.000-07:002005-02-16T13:20:42.486-07:00Trendlines:If we look at the performance of teams as a cyclical function, which unless you have a huge payroll it's going to be (even then cycles are seen, although more subtle) then we can project when teams will reach their peak and for how long, and when they decline or rise. Payroll flexibility and prospect status play big roles (ask the Braves), as does aging and divisional strength or Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1108251335497018022005-02-12T13:52:00.000-07:002005-02-12T16:35:35.503-07:00Tracy Ringolsby posted his top ten Rockies' prospects and hosted a chat about them at BA yesterday. The online community tends to cruelty at times when it mocks this particular Rockies' writer, which given what he writes often is merited. You might have noticed I go after him at times myself, however today I'm going to play the devil's advocate and see if I can mount a defense of some of his moreBranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1107985810964004682005-02-09T13:46:00.000-07:002005-02-09T14:50:10.976-07:00I'm going to post the second part of the revenue thing sometime tonight. I'm somewhat dissatisfied with the lack of cohesion in my argument right now as I go off on tangents frequently. So instead for the moment I'll take a moment to respond to the Ken's comment from my Monday post:
I'm more or less in agreement with your take on how our players rank within
the division. The player that really Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1107880493157064432005-02-08T09:03:00.000-07:002005-02-08T14:38:31.443-07:00Mountains of Money, part 1
The day that the Rockies win the World Series in late October 2008, will be a dream come true for me certainly. But being the greedy fan that I am, it's not going to be nearly enough. I mean the Marlins already have two titles under their belt, the D-Backs one and the Devil rays, well their stuck in the AL East, so it might take a little while for them yet, but anyway,Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1107800726532612782005-02-07T09:18:00.000-07:002005-02-07T11:25:26.533-07:00Ceiling/Fan
There is a widespread assumption among fans that for some reason when a player dons their favorite jersey, special powers are granted from the gods of that team adding a few extra homeruns, a quicker step, maybe some more strikeouts or a couple more mph on their fastball or better break on their curve.., anyway, you get the picture. The 90's era Texas Rangers and Oakland A's Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1107712199765113042005-02-06T09:40:00.000-07:002005-02-06T10:49:59.766-07:00So I was told that one of the mid-major sports was having its championship game today, but as far as I can tell from the TV Week it looks like it must be professional skateboarding or something. Anyway, the plan is to start to get into regular season mode with my blog, the schedule for the coming week looks like this:
Today: A rundown of trade rumors, and a look at possible Spring moves by the Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1107463642402228052005-02-03T13:00:00.000-07:002005-02-03T13:47:22.403-07:00Apparently I need to reinforce the notion for a lot of fans that our rotation is a lot better this year for not having Shawn Estes than it was last year with him. Please people get over him. The problem is that in Shawn Chacon we may have replaced him with somebody worse. Bob Apodaca has his work cut out for him, that's for sure. But let's take a look at where we were last year and the comparisonBranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1107204895403802232005-01-31T11:49:00.000-07:002005-02-01T08:43:45.376-07:00Rockies 2005 Draft update:
Too much publicity for Curtis Maybin makes me doubt that he'll fall to the Rockies at number nine in the draft. Baseball America still has him as the number two prep athlete in the country and he'd be in the top five or six picks were the draft to take place today (Upton, Clement, Townsend, Maybin, Hochevar, Gordon is the order we're predicting here for the moment). Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1106875343465191842005-01-27T17:17:00.000-07:002005-01-31T10:03:50.063-07:00To complement Tracy Ringolsby's piece in the RMN on our four rookie lineup, here are last season's AAA lines and a consensus evaluation of their defense.
J D Closser 24 years old, OBP .384 SLG .440 -decent to above average defense at a skill position
Clint Barmes 25 years old, OBP .376 SLG .505 -average to slightly below defense at a skill position
Garrett Atkins 24 years old, OBP .434 SLG .578Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1106837695613666612005-01-27T06:01:00.000-07:002005-01-27T07:54:55.613-07:00Not much going on, so I'll start looking at our bullpen. As I mentioned in my Ryan Speier entry on the prospect list a few days ago, our troubles here weren't entirely Shawn Chacon related. They weren't entirely bullpen related either, often Clint Hurdle's "defensive" substitutions amounted to pulling any chance of further run production off the field, and when that field is named Coors, this Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1106761534140689042005-01-26T10:31:00.000-07:002005-01-26T12:12:41.013-07:00After I had already begun writing my prospect list, this article came out at mlb.com saying that Mike Esposito and Justin Hampson are on their way to big league camp in Arizona. Chances are neither will break camp with the Rockies, but both should see some action at some point this year. Hampson was close to being on my honorable mention list, but he has quite a few more questions than Esposito. Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1106597552342171602005-01-24T13:26:00.000-07:002005-01-27T08:06:30.730-07:00Steve Reed signed with Baltimore, I'm sorry to see him go, but happy I won't have to watch him pitch against us.
One of the main reasons I started this blog was to highlight Rockies' prospects I felt were getting shorted in other media outlets. This isn't to say that these other outlets were necessarily offbase in their projections or disrespecting the Rockies or that I felt that I could do Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1106431990741580542005-01-22T14:17:00.000-07:002005-01-22T15:13:10.743-07:00Did everybody get a chance to read the Dave Krieger column? Heady stuff, there. Suggesting we sign Troy Glaus to play third for millions of dollars for a year or two until he Mo Vaughns on us and we still pay him a fortune and a half is really the way this club needs to be going. Especially when we have players like Jeff Baker and Ian Stewart that can be blocked in precisely the way he complains Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1106151822956357382005-01-19T07:00:00.000-07:002005-01-19T10:53:50.310-07:00An objective analysis of the NL West rotations:
Jay Jaffe's Futility Infielder site has posted DIPS for 2004 and from these, combined with other metrics of baseball-geekology we can come to a reasonable conclusion of the strengths of each team's pitching staff heading into 2005. Particulary since all five teams are pretty much finished retooling for the offseason. The numbers bear out Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1105629849937079292005-01-13T07:08:00.000-07:002005-01-13T08:24:09.936-07:00Pitching pitching pitching pitching. If the Rockies are to compete in 2006 (or in my fantasy world where Lake Champlain chocolate dessert sauce drips from trees and everyone looks like Johnny Depp or Catherine Zeta Jones, in 2005) it all comes back to the mound. The lineup isn't fantastic, it's not going to be fantastic for two years, but it's not going to be pretty decent at least in that time. Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1105469931460115312005-01-12T12:28:00.000-07:002005-01-12T10:20:34.606-07:00Signs of encouragement: though the sample sizes were fairly limited, the highest road OPS figures of the Rockies last year went in the following order:
1. Larry Walker
2. Todd Heltom
3. Garrett Atkins
4. Brad Hawpe
5. Clint Barmes
6. J.D. Closser
7. Charles Johnson
For fair disclosure, the gap between Helton (.991) and Atkins (.817) is quite wide. Still, the four rookies who all clumped around Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1105544408062903492005-01-12T08:10:00.000-07:002005-01-12T08:40:08.063-07:00Before I get to the Rockies lineup, I should comment on some of the recent moves around the league. Obviously the Randy Johnson to Arizona deal ranks fairly high, the move means the D-backs have traded Johnson for Javier Vazquez and Shawn Estes (signed as a free agent) in their rotation, and gotten rid of Shea Hillenbrand in favor of Sean Green. I previously mentioned that Hillenbrand and Chad Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1105465644114159462005-01-11T09:49:00.000-07:002005-01-11T10:47:24.113-07:00So, bear with me for a moment. Taking a look at the rotations of the playoff teams over the last three years we get a picture of what it takes to get there. In the NL in particular, having an "ace" starter isn't nearly as important as not having a gap starter, or what would be the batting equivalent to an automatic out. Think Scott Elarton, or Denny Stark last year, or Jason Jennings for the Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1105395206588021452005-01-10T13:22:00.000-07:002005-01-10T15:13:26.586-07:00The rotation continues to perplex me. Obviously I am biased toward Jason Jennings as his performance to date doesn't merit the confidence I put in him. Joe Kennedy? Maybe last year was just a fluke. Right now at Baseball Reference his most similar comps through age 25 are Jason Schmidt and Jamey Moyer. Anybody who knows how those two have turned out will know this isn't a bad thing, yet so far weBranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1104342926489735652004-12-29T10:34:00.000-07:002004-12-29T10:55:26.490-07:00The more I look at the division, the more I feel that it's San Diego's to lose right now. Everybody else has just too many weaknesses. San Francisco's too old, Colorado's too young, Arizona and LA are both missing important pieces in their rotations, while the Padres have a nice balance without any glaring weakness. We're still waiting to see where Odalis Perez winds up, but even if he resigns Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1104257623726024822004-12-28T09:56:00.000-07:002004-12-28T11:13:43.726-07:00The Rockies offseason stroll through the flea market of baseball's free agents continues, with the expected signing of Desi Relaford and the somewhat surprise signing of Dustan Mohr. My thoughts on Relaford have already been elucidated in previous posts, I haven't really talked about Mohr yet, so I ight as well now. It sounds like the Rockies' intent is to use Mohr as primarily a platoon partner Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1103906114668702482004-12-24T08:07:00.000-07:002004-12-24T09:35:14.666-07:00The division continues to churn with the J.D. Drew and Moises Alous signings in LA and San Fran, respectively. I neglected to mention before about the Giants picking up Omar Vizquel, and probably didn't mention Armando Benitez either, the former due just to my own oversight, the latter because I'm really not sure how much impact Benitez will have for the G-men. So what do Alou, Vizquel, Matheny Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1103733530830870852004-12-22T08:42:00.000-07:002004-12-22T09:38:50.830-07:00The Rockies took advantage of their lack of depth Monday by trading for Seattle pitcher Aaron Taylor and giving up only a minor league relief pitcher in return. This move is probably the best of the offseason so far for the Rockies, although certain non-moves like not trading Shawn Chacon or letting Royce Clayton and Vinny Castilla walk rather than overpaying them probably are still more Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1103380726088805592004-12-18T06:49:00.000-07:002004-12-18T07:38:46.086-07:00Woohoo, everyday the Rockies get closer to clinching the division, it seems. With the claiming of Alfredo Amezaga off waivers from the Angels, we're a hair's breadth away from the title. Just kidding, Amezaga's career lines make Neifi Perez look like Ernie Banks (ah, but he has a ring, Bran, a ring of power!) No, the real significant move yesterday (almost, apparently there are a couple of Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1103294522169384122004-12-17T07:14:00.000-07:002004-12-17T07:42:02.170-07:00Addendum to the Update
Yesterday while I was writing, Seattle was announcing the signing of Adrian Beltre, obviously shaking things up in the NL West. The division continues to get weaker, after being one of the strongest in baseball just a couple of years ago. If Randy Johnson as expected gets shipped out of Arizona, the atrophy will continue at a relativey quick pace. LA still has to try and Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1103219301118602712004-12-16T10:05:00.000-07:002004-12-16T11:38:26.230-07:00Offseason update:
Sorry readers for the gap, but the Rockies have had a relatively quiet offseason so far. As far as free agents, Vinny left for more dollars in ___(D.C. or maybe not D.C.) while Royce Clayton was one of several signings by the snakes. Since both were signed early (before the deadline to offer arbitration) and since both were type A free agents, Colorado receives draft pick Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1097349028356688012004-10-09T08:15:00.000-06:002004-10-09T13:14:39.933-06:00Next year's top pick?
Right now, Baseball America ranks Cameron Maybin the #2 prospect overall, and since the Rockies are going to pick seventh it might be a bit of a stretch to assume he'll drop that far, but obviously the guy would have to be pretty juiced about not only getting to play with his homeown team, the Asheville Tourists, but then in Coors Field once he reaches the bigs. Who knows, Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1095163863821857362004-09-14T04:59:00.000-06:002004-09-14T06:33:20.313-06:00Some of the things we're learning in the last month:
Competition for the third base job next year will be stiff if the Rockies do re-sign Vinny (who deserves congratulations on the milestones reached last night.) Garrett Atkins is proving (okay, I might be jumping the gun a bit) thus far that he's more ready for the bigs than he was when called up last year and if Jeff Baker has a strong Spring, Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1094565227595788982004-09-07T06:30:00.000-06:002004-09-07T07:53:47.633-06:00The Rockies now come home and try to continue their success against the Padres and Giants in the not so comfortable home park. After nineteen games, J.D. Closser is looking very solid behind the plate and so far, we can continue to have hope at short with Clint Barmes. Our most recent outfield call-ups (Choo Freeman, Jorge Piedra) haven't quite shown the same promise, but with Matt Holliday Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1094253620157867682004-09-03T16:26:00.000-06:002004-09-03T17:20:20.156-06:00Normally I don't like to mingle baseball and politics, but since the President feels its alright to drag our grand game into that more messy arena, why not? No, this is just a personal note, it seems after watching the convention that there are a lot of parallels, the rich Yankees and Fox owned Dodgers of the world seem incontent unless they have all the good things, while almost as rich but moreBranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1093366832577827602004-08-24T10:08:00.000-06:002004-08-24T11:00:32.576-06:00I got up to Montreal last night to catch the Dodgers and Expos, because a very important person to me happens to love the men in Blue. Of course, she was a bit disappointed with the result, a walk off bases loaded walk in the bottom of the ninth. The game was exciting, a bases loaded double by Steve Finley and Adrian Beltre's dramatic game tying homerun were Jenn's favorite parts. The Dodgers Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1092864279621911572004-08-18T11:30:00.000-06:002004-08-18T15:24:39.620-06:00Jeff Francis tops BA's prospect Hot Sheet again after last week's temporary drop from the spot he's held pretty much all season. Ian Stewart clocks in at number ten and Seth Smith at sixteen. Chris Nelson is honorably mentioned.
Jeff Baker still hasn't played for awhile, but he'll be joining fellow Tulsa Driller Jayson Nix and Cory Sullivan in teh Arizona Fall League. The Rockies apparently Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1092831612354849602004-08-18T05:12:00.000-06:002004-08-18T09:21:02.663-06:00Holy Freak, the Rockies' Tri-City club in the Northwest League played a 23 inning marathon starting two nights ago and finishing last night, losing to Spokane, 2-1. There wasn't a run scored until the 19th. The Monday night portion, or the first 20 innings lasted 5 hours and 39 minutes (the total was 6:37). I hope nobody was putting off going to the bathroom until something happened. Then to top Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1092748619235446972004-08-17T06:20:00.000-06:002004-08-17T09:56:49.766-06:00Do you think the Rockies are happy with their first round pick? There were five shortstops taken in the first round this year, and though it's early and one prominent name (Stephen Drew) has yet to sign, Nelson's performance on and off the field has far outstripped all his peers. The one shortstop taken ahead of Nelson, Matt Bush, by the Padres, has struggled with both on and off field Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1092677974131800952004-08-16T09:51:00.000-06:002004-08-16T11:39:34.130-06:00Ah yes, the future, this is more like it: sporadic play, missed opportunities, bush league mistakes, and lest I forget, losing. Hello Rockies circa 2005.
No seriously, growing pains aside, the team this weekend was a fairer representation of what might come than the Philly series. And frankly, I'm encouraged. J. D. Closser seems comfortable now. Matt Holliday is developing nicely, and our Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1092499573430884152004-08-14T09:20:00.000-06:002004-08-14T10:06:13.430-06:00The Rockies' 2004 Campaign gathers strength in an important swing state.
Perhaps the Rockies' recent success on the road really is a glimpse of the future. Maybe, but if Jeff Fassero is part of that, I think I'll pass, thank you. Really, Fassero and Estes' performances of the last two days shouldn't be taken lightly, but going forward, I'd still rather have Jason Jennings, even considering his Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1092251104089581062004-08-11T12:54:00.000-06:002004-08-18T07:15:02.003-06:00In an interesting counter to my and Baseball America's thoughts on Clint Barmes being a nice fit for the Rockies' future, Dan Lucero of Up In the Rockies has posted this. I must admit, had I read that Texas rejected the Rockies' generous proposal of a major league starting pitcher for a AA nobody who's primary position isn't even worthy of a number or direction, well I would have changed my mind.Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1092245225468375632004-08-11T10:32:00.000-06:002004-08-11T12:54:24.630-06:00Yesterday was a nice game for us on several fronts, and not just because we won. Joe Kennedy's return was perhaps the most welcome news, but also in that transaction the Rockies called up J.D. Closser, hopefully for good. Look for Closser to be used starting tonight.
Why is Closser important? Let's go back to last night: Vinny came through for us again, hitting a game winning double for the Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1092159367812910722004-08-10T10:33:00.000-06:002004-08-11T12:11:37.023-06:00In seeming support of my roster projection for next year, Baseball America's Daily Dish highlights Clint Barmes today. It should be a matter of days before he joins the big club, either when rosters expand, or sooner if something opens up. In the meantime he will wait while I go over a couple of oversights from the last couple of posts.
Number one is the promotion of Jorge Piedra to the big clubBranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1092058574781124522004-08-09T07:32:00.000-06:002004-08-09T07:36:14.780-06:00More on Francis' start here, as well as news about his future outside of Greece and inside Colorado. Apparently we'll be seeing him in Denver soon.
Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1092057735573129952004-08-09T05:40:00.000-06:002004-08-09T07:22:15.573-06:00The players to be named in the Larry Walker deal turned out to be named Chris Narveson and John Gall. Narveson appears at first to be the best of the three, though Chris Burch is so low on the totem pole he still could develop into something more than he is right now. Not so with Gall, who is already 26, and is little more than a AAAA player who "doesn't have quite enough juice in his bat to playBranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1091894608705420382004-08-07T09:47:00.000-06:002004-08-07T10:03:28.706-06:00Farewell, Larry Walker, and I hope St Louis proves as kind to you as Denver did to Ray Bourque. The trade at first seems quite losided with the only known thing that the Rockies get is a raw closer just out of rookie ball. Will Jason Burch ever make the bigs? Sources say no, but obviously even if he does he won't come close to contributing on an L-Walk scale. The two PTBNL's could make up some ofBranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1091730408993814732004-08-05T10:02:00.000-06:002004-08-05T12:26:48.993-06:00Alrighty then, it looks like the Rockies' wave of success has derailed a bit with the Cubs visit, but don't blame Jamie Wright, who has proven himself quite a nifty pickup. It will be interesting to see if management decides to hang onto him for next year. Meanwhile, everybody is getting itchy trigger fingers as far as Jeff Francis is concerned. I say keep in mind that despite pitching four gamesBranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1089668171301105012004-07-12T14:01:00.000-06:002004-07-12T15:36:11.300-06:00After the Rockies' best road trip of the season ended with an anticlimactic loss heading into the break, it's not surprising that some are reassesing teh potential for a Rockies' secoond half march into contention this year. Let's squish those right away, shall we, such sentiments might lead to the false hope that Kansas City felt last year, perhaps forcing them to hang onto Carlos Beltran too Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1089321286585498532004-07-08T14:48:00.000-06:002004-07-08T15:14:46.586-06:00Okay, one more administrative type post. First of all in googling for the term "Baseball on Blake Street" I found out that my humble little blog has risen to a mighty 32nd out of 88,300 possible entries. If you include the word "blog", I rise to 17th. I must say I am honored. (You can easily link to this site from the #2 entry baseballblogs.org) I was also honored when MVNetworks tried to snake Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1089318508929493742004-07-08T13:41:00.000-06:002004-07-08T15:36:03.273-06:00My report on the Rockies forty man roster will have to be saved for another day, but I did want to take time to congratulate Jeff Salazar and Jeff Francis on their promotions. The big club meanwhile had its best string of the season snapped last night thanks to Barry Bonds' 1000th career homer. Wait, wait, my fact checker Geraldine Sock Monkey tells me it was only his 987th career homer. It looksBranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1089061936949308862004-07-05T14:38:00.000-06:002004-07-05T15:12:16.950-06:00While waiting for the Rockies to help expand Barry Bonds' lead over Rickey Henderson in the walk department, I thought I might jot down a few notes.
First, there are those that wonder why I never really mention the Denver Post as a source for my information, well when they come out regularly with columns like this, it should be no surprise. How asisnine does Senor Paige think other teams GM's Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162412.post-1088885095565721862004-07-03T13:31:00.000-06:002004-07-03T14:04:55.566-06:00Whew, the last two weeks have been hell for your faithful correspondent, but luckily for me the Rockies haven't done a Tampa Bay and suddenly surged into contention with kite string and pixie dust, so nobody is probably paying attention. The rewards for my labors? Well, check out the new Pink collection at your local Victoria's Secret (oh wait, this is a baseball blog) er, have your girlfriends Branhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419727673855289861noreply@blogger.com0