Rockies do nothing -- and that has made all the difference

For years, the Colorado Rockies have been the forgotten members of the National League West.

But then, this is the NL West, won by San Diego last season with an 82-80 record, worst ever for a postseason participant. The Padres actually wound up on the losing side of the ledger considering they were swept in three games by the St. Louis Cardinals in the Division Series.

The Rockies expect a lift from Clint Barmes, the Rookie of the Year front-runner in '05 until missing most of the summer. (Getty Images)

So even though the Rockies did not make offseason headlines, they must be considered when you try to size up what's about to happen out west.

The Rockies did not add a player who figures to break into the lineup or rotation. They brought in role players and tried to deepen the bullpen with moves that included trading Aaron Miles and Larry Bigbie -- who were about to be non-tendered -- to St. Louis for lefty Ray King, then signing aging former closer Jose Mesa.

OK, the phones haven't been ringing off the hook in the ticket office. But look around the rest of the NL West. There isn't a clear favorite.

The Padres, who turned over approximately two-thirds of their roster, added Vinny Castilla at third, Mike Cameron in center and Doug Mirabelli to catch, and swapped Adam Eaton in the rotation for Chris Young. The defense has improved, but the bullpen is uncertain unless San Diego can plug a hole ahead of Trevor Hoffman's ninth-inning duty.

The Dodgers changed their manager and general manager, then unloaded headache Milton Bradley on Oakland and shelled out for infielders Rafael Furcal, Nomar Garciaparra and Bill Mueller, center fielder Kenny Lofton and pitcher Brett Tomko.

Arizona went on a contract dump, getting rid of pitcher Javier Vazquez and third baseman Troy Glaus. The Diamondbacks did add catcher Johnny Estrada, second baseman Orlando Hudson, pitchers Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez and Miguel Batista, and outfielder Eric Byrnes.

San Francisco swapped Edgardo Alfonzo to the Angels for center fielder Steve Finley in a deal that opened up third base for Pedro Feliz. The Giants brought in Matt Morris to join Jason Schmidt at the top of the rotation, but their main focus is whether Barry Bonds can stay healthy.

Then there are the Rockies.

They finished at the bottom of the division last year.

They haven't finished above fourth place and have had only one winning record since 1996.

They didn't add a big-name player this offseason.