Diamond In the Rox

With the season at its virtual mid-point, let’s take a look at the current state of the rockies and some of the reasons for why they are where they are:

• With roughly 60% of the season completed, the rockies are 18 games below .500 and 8.5 games out of first place. Eight and a half games out of first isn’t horrible, but 18 games below .500 is embarrassing. As it’s been well noted, the only reason the rockies aren’t much, much further out of first is the overall mediocrity of the NL West. ESPN reported this morning that this is the first time since 1994 that a division has reached the All-Star break without a team over .500.
• The rockies have had seven losing streaks of at least four games and two streaks of eight losses. Conversely, they’ve had only three streaks consisting of at least four wins.
• The team ERA is 4.95, ranking them 15th in the NL. The starting rotation has collected only 27 wins with 11 of those belonging to Aaron Cook. The ERA of the starting rotation is 5.28, also good for 15th in the NL.
• The offense is hitting .258, ranking 7th in the NL, and has scored 419 runs, ranking 10th. These are disappointing results from a team expected to have a “prolific” offense.
• Key young players struggled early on: Troy Tulowitzki, Manny Corpas and Franklin Morales. Tulowitski tried to play through his struggles until getting injured. Corpas lost the job of closer to former closer Brian Fuentes and Morales ended up in Colorado Springs. Jeff Francis, not a youngster, but key to the rotation, struggled all season until going on the DL July 2nd.
• Despite all this negativity, there have been a few bright spots: Willy Taveras’ proficiency at stealing bases, Aaron Cook’s emergence as the staff ace that the rockies’ have envisioned him for years, and Chris Iannetta’s development into a solid starting catcher.

What’s next? What should the rockies try to accomplish in the remaining 66 games of the 2008 season? The rockies’ chances of playing meaningful games in September have evaporated to almost nothing, their proximity to first place notwithstanding. If they were going to make a move in the division they should have done so by now, so nothing at this point leads me to believe the next 66 games will be much different than what we’ve already witnessed. So, a lot of what the rockies do from here on out should be with an eye to the 2009 season and beyond. How do they do that specifically? I think that largely depends on whether or not they honestly believe they can sign Matt Holliday.

This article in the RMN suggests that Dexter Fowler could be in a rockies uniform much sooner rather than later if the rox trade Taveras. Fowler is considered by many to be the best center field prospect in the game right now. Fowler plays great defense and would add an element of power to the center field position that we haven’t seen at all since Preston Wilson and haven’t seen on a regular basis since Ellis Burks.

Let’s root on the NL in the All-Star game with Clint at the helm. It would be nice to see the NL get into the W column again after going 0-10-1 over the last 11 seasons.

Until next time, go rockies!

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The rockies’ 2008 first-round draft pick Christian Friedrich will be making his professional debut tonight with the Tri-City Dust Devils. Friedrich is a left-handed pitcher from Eastern Kentucky University and was the 25th player taken overall.

The rockies will have three representatives in the All-Star Futures game. Pitchers Ryan Mattheus and Casey Weathers and center fielder Dexter Fowler, all with Tulsa, will play for the U.S. team. Here are the complete U.S. and World rosters.

The most widely circulated rockies’ player among the trade rumors is Brian Fuentes. It’s not surprising, given that the rockies have made it well known he is available and the fact that he is a left-handed reliever and a good one at that. The team mentioned most as a destination for Fuentes is Tampa Bay. With the resurrected (and currently injured) Troy Percival as their closer, Fuentes would be a very nice addition as the Rays attempt to dethrone the Evil Empires that typically rule the AL East and make the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. As many as eight other teams have been identified as having some interest in Fuentes, including the Evil Empires. Florida has been reported to have an interest in both Willy Taveras and Yorvitt Torrealba. Taveras doesn’t fit into the rockies’ long-term plans and Ryan Spilborghs could replace him in center field while Torrealba has requested a trade after losing significant playing time to Chris Iannetta. I’d be surprised if Taveras is dealt, but expect Torrealba to be somewhere else.

Until next time, go rockies!

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It’s a few days early, but I decided it was time for the monthly post here at DITr. I wasn’t entirely satisfied with the results of the site redesign in the spring, so I took another crack at it. I’m much happier with the finished product this time around. There are still a few items to work out, such as fine tuning for IE, but for the most part it is complete.

The trade of C.C. Sabathia to the Brewers may set off an initial phase of trade activity. We already saw some evidence of that with the Cubs acquisition of Rich Harden from Oakland. With two of the primary trade targets off the market, don’t expect teams that believe they need some help to wait around much longer. The Brewers’ tactic of dealing sooner than later may also lead to a new trend. Major trades typically take place around the third or fourth week of July as the trade deadline approaches, with sellers dangling their commodities for all to see, riding out the buyers’ sense of desperation and pitting them against each other, waiting to pull the trigger on a deal until one team’s offer is clearly superior to the others. The Brewers’ philosophy was simple: for the price they were going to pay for Sabathia, and the price was significant, they wanted the extra five or so starts they’d get from him compared to if they acquired him the end of July. The message from the Brewers to the Indians was: if you feel this is a good deal, then do it today, not next week, not tomorrow, today.

The injury to Ryan Spilborghs and subsequent trip to the DL should mean a u-turn for Seth Smith somewhere around Academy Blvd. in Colorado Springs. Spilly’s injury should put off any movement of Scott Podsednik, who was rumored to possibly being released. With Willy Taveras a little gimpy, Podsednik is the only legitimate alternative in center field. Jeff Baker’s recent injury makes me wonder all over again why guys slide head first, ever.

The draft file has been updated with all the signings. So far the rox have signed twenty five of their draft picks overall and their top four picks.

Until next time, go rockies!

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