Location: Denver, Colo. | Ballpark: Coors Field (50,445) | Spring Training: Tucson, Ariz.
Owner: Charlie and Dick Monfort | GM: Dan O'Dowd | Manager: Jim Tracy (interim) | World Championships: 0
Season in seven words: "Change the manager, save the 2009 season." ... Hero: I had the opportunity to acquire Troy Tulowitzki for Jimmy Rollins in one of my high-stakes roto leagues. I did not avail myself of this opportunity. I am not -- how do you say? -- smart ... Loserhead: Jason Marquis, because his mirage of an All-Star first half has somehow hypnotized the team into believing he's a legit option for a playoff rotation. Mark my words: if Marquis goes up against the Phillies in the NLDS, there will be carnage -- like, eight-runs-in-three-innings carnage ... Key need: Somebody to bop Jim Tracy on the head if he contemplates using Yorvit Torrealba instead of Chris Iannetta this week. Also, more live arms for the 'pen ... Prognosis: Surprisingly sunny. It took them a while, but the Rockies figured out that the key to assembling a winning team at Coors Field is defense. Who knew?
09/29/2009
8
7
If it weren't for DeWayne Wise's Spider-Man act during the Buehrle perfect game, Clint Barmes' game-ending corkscrew catch/alert double-up throw to end the Rockies/Cards clash on Sunday would go down as the play of the year ... I love everything about Jason Giambi, starting with his facial hair and ending with his uncanny ability to save the day as a pinch hitter. In retrospect, this was as canny a deadline addition as Jim Thome.
09/22/2009
7
6
You have to like how nobody overreacts here. A few small injuries? They'll heal. A stumble in the mud against the closest wild-card competition? There's another game tomorrow night. ... I'd give the NL Manager of the Year award to Tony La Russa, but Jim Tracy deserves a hearty slap on the back for the job he's done shifting and rearranging the pieces that were already there.
09/15/2009
6
7
They only have to win one of three in San Francisco, right? No matter how banged up the Rockies may be, 3.5-game leads with 15 to go are generally fail-safe. Unless you're the Mets. ... They're doing it through injuries and with the occasional burst of divine providence (Yorvit Torrealba? Seriously?). No matter how things end for them, their 2009 season DVD should prove more exciting than Star Trek and more quirkily twee than (500) Days of Summer.
09/08/2009
7
9
If either of Monday's injury tweaks (Troy Tulowitzki's back, Ubaldo Jimenez's hamstring) prove serious, the wild-card chase will become quite a slog to the finish. ... Yorvit Torrealba, everyday player? Really? Come on. ... Jason Giambi can't play the field, run the bases or touch his toes without tearing something, but he still has an uncanny knack for rising to the occasion, as we saw last week. And don't discount how his presence transforms the genial, well-mannered Rockies clubhouse into something out of a Las Vegas tourism campaign.
09/01/2009
9
6
From "team of destiny" to "team of mess-tiny." See, that's funny because it rhymes! ... Last Tuesday, they were the 25 horsemen of the momentum apocalypse. Seven days later, they're cooked! Finished! Dead in the water! In conclusion, we've reached the overreaction phase of the 2009 baseball season. ... What do the Rockies know about Jose Contreras that the rest of us don't? I guess they're banking on another miracle resurgence by a Lima-tastic pitcher departing the DH league, a la John Smoltz. ... The hitters picked a bad time to go on holiday, but hell, it's not like anybody else is working until after Labor Day. ... Along those lines, fans who watch the Rockies every day swear that Dexter Fowler is an undisciplined dolt just as likely to run his team out of a big inning as put runs on the board with his athleticism. All I know is that the offense cratered when he went down -– and don't give me the "they faced great pitching!" excuse, as the Rockies couldn't get anything going against Vicente Padilla.
08/25/2009
6
8
They were 15½ back and 20-32 on June 3. Since then, they're 51-22 and find themselves a mere three games out in advance of the Dodgers' arrival at Coors Field tonight. Given the defense and depth, one could make an argument for them as the NL's best team. ... A lot of this enthusiasm has to do with the way they surgically excised the Giants' hearts over the past four days. On Saturday, the Rockies were down by five runs and served up five homers to a sissy batting order, but by the end of the day they found themselves on the winning side of the ledger. On Monday night, they started the bottom half of the 14th inning down by three and finished it up by two, courtesy of a walk-off grand slam. ... What else is there to say? I believe.
08/18/2009
8
8
The strike zone remains a hypothetical concept to Ubaldo Jimenez, not unlike the ozone layer or Eastern mysticism, but he has put things together pretty darn well since the calendar turned from April to May: 2.91 ERA, 121 strikeouts and 110 hits allowed in 139 innings. Also, it costs less to sponsor his Baseball-Reference.com page ($15) than it does Andy LaRoche's ($30). ... Dexter Fowler is an athletic specimen. Given the choice of watching him sprint around the base paths during pregame warm-ups and watching the Royals, I'd have to go with the former.
08/11/2009
8
8
The amazing thing about Troy Tulowitzki's 5 for 5, 7-RBI cycle on Monday night? He missed a grand slam by inches, courtesy of instant replay ... At least Clint Barmes is slumping with panache. He might be 4 for his last 54, but all four hits have been home runs ... Aaron Cook is slated to return on Saturday, but man: pitching with turf toe can't be all that pleasant, even if he's been custom-fitted with insoles made of cotton candy and baby blankets ... Seth Smith is underrated, quite possibly because his name is Seth Smith and not Abraham "Action Abe" McGillicuddy.
08/04/2009
8
6
Nice job addressing the shallow bullpen via the Joe Beimel and Rafael Betancourt deals ... After they finish with Philly this week, they play 33 of their final 54 games at home ... About six weeks ago, in one of my roto leagues, a buy-low kibitzer offered to take Jimmy Rollins off my hands in exchange for Troy Tulowitzki. I promptly shooed him away. Since then, Rollins has put up a .277/.340/.482 line to Tulo's .306/.396/.619. The moral of this story: Don't ever listen to anything I say about anything, except maybe dessert cakes.
Preseason Power Rankings
Date
Ranking
Previous
02/16/2009
26
-
Clint Hurdle is in the last year of his contract, making him the easy sacrificial lamb for the Holliday-free Rockies. ... Jeff Francis is already way less than OK physically, and his absence downgrades the staff outlook from mediocre to uncompetitive. ... It would hurt my soul and set western civilization back several decades if dirty-uniformed scamp Scott Podsednik receives a single at-bat that would otherwise go to elite prospect Dexter Fowler.
