SB Nation User Blog: Rox Girl

Wednesday Rockpile: More notes from Chicago

Rox Girl — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:28:49 -0000

Purple Row gives a big shout out to anybody who served in the United States military on Veteran's Day. Your service to the country is vastly appreciated.

The notes from Patrick Saunders at the Denver Post this morning indicates that the delays to the expected announcement of contract extensions for Dan O'Dowd and Jim Tracy are due to some fine points in the deals still being worked out, but both still seem like locks to return. Meanwhile, other notes from the column include:

O'Dowd also makes note of the distinction between listening to offers for a player like Brad Hawpe and actually trying to move him.
Eric Young Jr. is playing several positions in winter ball to become a versatile super utility player for the Rockies next season.
With no leverage, it will be difficult to trade Garrett Atkins before the non-tender deadline, but O'Dowd is exploring that possibility.
While the club would prefer to sign Clint Barmes and Huston Street to two year deals, they'll go to one year if they have to.

While O'Dowd will be staying, there will be some front office movement. Manager of Baseball Operations Matt Vinnola has jumped ship to join the Texas Rangers organization, where he rejoins Thad Levine and Jon Daniels and becomes that team's Director of Baseball Operations. Vinnola had been in the Rockies organization for 12 years. No word yet on who will replace him for the Rockies, but it's a pretty significant post.

The GM Meetings always have more buzz than actual moves going down as GM's get a sense of where everybody else stands and only start laying the groundwork for deals that come later. What does get revealed is a bit of the strategy, so for the NL West thus far we see the following:

Only the Giants are adding payroll, to the $90 million range. Arizona appears to be angling for a small reduction and the other three teams seem to be trying to keep the status quo. San Fran's $90 million limit would make adding a top tier free agent difficult, but they might get better bang for their money by adding two or three second tier guys anyway.
The Diamondbacks aren't going to spend on starters, but might on relievers this season and have an interest in the Rockies Rafael Betancourt if we're unable to retain him.
Los Angeles is looking to trade for young starters like Detroit's Edwin Jackson. Adding Jackson to Kershaw and Billingsley would make the Dodgers rotation younger, which they probably need to keep up with Colorado and San Francisco after 2010. I don't see the Tigers going for a George Sherrill for Jackson swap, even if the dollars work out, just because the added marginal value of a young cost controlled starter is so much higher than it is for a reliever and the Tigers know this.

Sunday Rockpile: Fogg clearing out, De La Rosa looking for Ollie Perez money

Rox Girl — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 17:04:23 -0000

More photos » by David Zalubowski - AP

Jorge De La Rosa might be on the Rockies trade block this winter.

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Josh Fogg will not be a part of the Rockies 2010 team, it seems, as the club has told the veteran right hander it's moving in a different direction. Losing Fogg would open another slot on the 40 man roster.

Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal has a couple of Rockies notes in his latest. The big blip being that Jorge De La Rosa, who will become a free agent after the 2010 season, is looking for a similar contract to the one that the Mets gave to Oliver Perez last winter. If you're going by the quality of their stuff and their maddening inability to be consistent with it, they actually are pretty similar pitchers, so it's not that surprising. Of course, working against JDLR is the fact that Perez' contract is already deemed a bust, and other clubs will be reluctant to make the same mistake that Omar Minaya did. The upshot, however, is that if JDLR's got his eye on free agent riches, it might behoove the Rockies to consider trading him before then, which according to Rosenthal, is exactly what seems to be happening.

He also has a little on the Rafael Betancourt negotiations. Betancourt purportedly turned down a two year extension in the $6.5 to $7 million range. Rosenthal also mentions the well reported likely non-tender of Garrett Atkins, and sees the Phillies as a possible fit for the third baseman.

We're keeping an eye on the list of available free agent hitting talent, as the Giants are either going to have to dip into that pool or give up a hefty chunk of their decent looking future in trade. Right now, from a Rockies centered view, it's looking pretty good for us, bad for them. One key bat that was supposed to be available to keep the cost of other talent down, Bobby Abreu, re-upped with the Angels (mentioned in these DP wire notes) for two more seasons, pretty much limiting the Giants to making really big, long and expensive plays on a Jason Bay or Matt Holliday or taking a lot more risk with an older player such as Jermaine Dye, Carlos Delgado or Vlad Guerrero.

The Diamondbacks are working out a Chris Snyder for Lyle Overbay trade with the Blue Jays.

The Dodgers are looking into extending Joe Torre.

Thursday Rockpile: Yankees championship hints that death, taxes may also be possible

Rox Girl — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:57:35 -0000

More photos » by Kathy Willens - AP

Charlie Weis was a key midseason acquisition for the Yankees on their quest to their 27th championship. To cover their bases, the Yankees also got some much needed help by signing Jeff Gordon, Serena and Venus Williams, trading for David Beckham, purchasing the rights to Jonathan Franzen and Lang Lang.

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It's so great to see long suffering franchises like the one in New York finally break through and win a championship after many years of loyal, patient, support from their understanding fans. Yes, the one thing that the Yankees World Series win tells us is that the one sure way out of a rut for a franchise is a slow rebuild involving years of patiently developing stars at remote farm outposts as far flung as Seattle, Dallas, and in the case of C.C. Sabathia, that tiny backwater known as Cleveland. By carefully using one's meager television base to develop a trickle of revenue that will allow the team's scouts to purchase the Extra Innings packages necessary to observe the team's various farm clubs and looking for those unwanted scrap heap free agents that prove to be diamonds in the rough like Mark Teixeira and AJ Burnett. Yes, this is a big victory for the little guy, and the Pirates would do well to emulate this model if they ever want to get above .500.

I know many prominent baseball observers thought that we may never see another Yankees championship after their last one so long ago all the way back in Y2K, I'm sure I heard Bob Costas say it, or maybe I knew this woman who said she knew somebody who heard Bob Costas say it, and Joe Buck and Tim McCarver were clearly laughing that the Yankees even managed to get to the Series until the very end, when it finally became clear that this could actually happen, that this ragtag bunch of misfits and castoffs could maybe actually pull this thing off, but this resilient little franchise proved all those doubters wrong.

Congratulations New York, I and the rest of the world raise our fingers in salute to you in that manner of your most charming taxi drivers. May your next championship drought be only five times so long.

Wednesday Rockpile: Clint Hurdle Arlington bound as Rangers hire him as hitting coach

Rox Girl — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:36:02 -0000

More photos » by Tony Gutierrez - AP

At the very least, Clint Hurdle ought to be able to teach Michael Young the proper way to bunt.

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Some people always seem to wind up with the best gigs. According to reports out of Texas, former Rockies manager Clint Hurdle has been picked up by the Texas Rangers as their hitting coach. Similar to when he held the post with the Rockies at Coors Field, half his job is seemingly already taken care of.

A competitive World Series between the two teams at least commonly perceived to be the best in baseball this year is probably good for the health of the sport, and the storyline of longtime Yankees nemesis Pedro Martinez returning to the Bronx tonight for Game 6 certainly builds the drama, adds ratings, and helps make the next TV contract fat and juicy. None of this really helps the Rockies specifically, as any general MLB windfall will be equally distributed, and the only two teams getting a real brand benefit are the two left playing. This year, though, it seems to me to be a much larger benefit to the teams involved than it has been in the recent past. I'd say at least since 2004, and since that ended in a Red Sox sweep without much drama to the Series itself, probably since 2001. Is this just the return of the Yankees and their legions of fans that's at the root, or is there actually something to the "two best teams" idea that elevates the series and the benefits that can be derived from it?

If it's the latter (and I'm not entirely certain if it is, or if it's just the Yankees) it can be seen how the Rockies could benefit from a better national brand presence should they make it back to the World Series in the next couple of years. They could win a lot more fans by establishing themselves nationally as a quality, elite team.

Here are some of the anecdotal examples of the Rockies being branded nationally as a cut below the league's elite, and perhaps even as a cut below the second tier in the NL:

No fear for the Rockies rotation - Down the stretch in 2009, a frequent refrain from fans of the Cardinals, Phillies and Dodgers was something along the lines of: "I'd rather we face the Rockies than the Giants...". Watch as 2010 predictions start to roll out that when mentioning Rockies pitching, how many qualifiers or moderating terms pundits use. "Solid" is a buzzword that you'll probably get a lot. However, the fact is that Rockies pitching was at or near the top of the NL in value for most of 2009 and while there might be some regression in store for 2010, it shouldn't be enough to knock the team's pitching value from the top two or three teams in the league.
The Kruk Theory - Fans that followed the Braves, Cubs and even the Marlins, as well as numerous pundits in the Central and Eastern portions of the country did not seem to perceive a Rockies wild card lead as something natural or sustainable, and there was this sort of inevitable drop that many felt was coming. This had as much to do with a perceived weakness with the Rockies when having to face the Giants and Dodgers frequently down the stretch, as it did with the strength of teams in other divisions. Outside of San Francisco and certain sabermetric circles, there really wasn't a perception that the Rockies were going to continue winning. If we're more than casual fans, we will have hierarchical biases in mind when it comes to projecting. We picture any random 20 game stretch turning out differently for the Yankees than the Pirates, for instance. What this seems to say to me about the Rockies, is that for much of the country, there was still at best a 10-10 perception of that random 20 game stretch at the end of the year.

I think a couple of key questions for the Rockies in 2010 are how they get their national image more in line with their actual level of play, and secondly how they raise that level of play to the point where they can be a legitimate A list team. I've said this before, but I think winning the division is very important for the team in 2010, and that just getting to the playoffs via the wild card may no longer be enough for the duration of the team's current success cycle. We're at a point where winning playoff series, division titles, pennants and world championships become the real goals rather than just being competitive.

Sunday Rockpile: NL West updates and not much else, but discuss World Series Game #4 here

Rox Girl — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 15:08:33 -0000

More photos » by David Zalubowski - AP

4 months ago: Colorado Rockies second baseman Clint Barmes, front, forces out Pittsburgh Pirates' Delwyn Young at second base in the second inning of a baseball game on Friday, June 19, 2009, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

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Jon Heyman had a couple of interesting NL West notes in his column the other day. First, the news that Manny Ramirez will exercise his player option and return to Los Angeles isn't surprising, and while it does tie a significant portion of the Dodgers payroll to him, I think he's proven that he really is the type of star player that can draw a lot of that expenditure back with a contribution at the ticket gate and concession/souvenir stands that wouldn't come if he wasn't on the team. Where it could possibly help other NL West teams is that it also ties a significant chunk of prime run producing plate appearances and innings in the outfield to an aging player that could see a significant drop in his offensive production in 2010. How much Ramirez is going to drop off going forward is difficult to say, but as opposition fans, we can hope that the slower bat and .255/.379/.459 line he put up in the second half of 2009 is a sign of things to come.

The next note about the Diamondbacks exercising Brandon Webb's extension could be more significant, as it adds not only the $8.5 million that Webb will make to Arizona's 2010 payroll commitment, but also whatever money they are going to have to pay another starter as an insurance policy in case Webb's shoulder isn't up to the task. At least, that sort of hedge is how it should ideally work, but with two other rotation spots up in the air already, and apparently not enough money to spend to fill both of them, it looks like there won't be any hedge over the Kevin Mulvey/Billy Buckner/Bryan Augenstein group that combined for an ERA over 7.00 in 117 innings in 2009. According to Arizona's MLB.com beat writer, Steve Gilbert, one of these pitchers will likely be called on to fill one of those two open rotation slots as is.

This is where the starting pitching depth that Dan O'Dowd has built into the Rockies system has really created some separation between the two clubs that will hopefully extend for a few seasons. Is Dan Haren still worth the number of players the Diamondbacks gave up for him? Keep in mind that the Rockies had a similar opportunity to trade for him but balked when the bidding got so high, leaving the path clear for the Diamondbacks.

The San Francisco Giants now have their second baseman for the next two seasons in Freddy Sanchez at $6 million per year. Sanchez gives them a more consistent bat than they've had since Ray Durham left, but this upgrade also leaves them with a player that hasn't even been as valuable as Clint Barmes over the last two seasons combined. Of course, I'm cherry picking my start point there, Sanchez moves well ahead of Barmes once you include 2007 and earlier. What we're of course interested in is which player will be better going forward, and it's probably a more difficult call than a lot of Rockies fans would suspect. As frustrating as Barmes' ten pop-ups and then a home run game is to watch at the plate, his defense has made up a considerable amount of value. Sanchez' defense is acceptable at second, but does dip into negative values in some years, and he's not getting any more nimble with age.

I don't know. Sanchez had a relatively high profile as the best player on a bad team, but take him out of that small pond and he looks remarkably pedestrian when compared to other second basemen around the league

Thursday Rockpile: Rockies close to deal with Jim Tracy, negotiating with Huston Street and Rafael Betancourt among others

Rox Girl — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:48:32 -0000

More photos » by David Zalubowski - AP

Alan Embree likely won't be coming back to the Rockies in 2010.

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Okay, so from Troy E. Renck's article about the state of Jim Tracy's contract negotiations, which currently seems to be pointing to a three year extension, there are several other tidbits, most of which we already knew but with a little more detail added:

Dan O'Dowd will likely get an extension for at least as long, which would leave the team's leadership in place through at least the 2012 season.
The Rockies want to retain Rafael Betancourt and Yorvit Torrealba, but not at the salary of their 2010 team options ($5.4 million and $4 million, respectively) meaning both options are going to be declined. The new bit of information seems to be that in order to retain Betancourt, the team might be amenable to a multi-year deal, but the same isn't suggested with Torrealba.
Torrealba "isn't guaranteed" a starting position over Chris Iannetta, and may look at the free agent market for a deal. Even without Torrealba, it's looking like a relatively robust catching market this season, with several free agent options and a couple of trade possibilities such as Arizona's Chris Snyder for teams to choose from, so I like the Rockies chances of either being able to retain Yorvit at a lower cost than his option, or get an adequate replacement if they can't.
The Rockies want to lock in Huston Street and Clint Barmes to multi-year deals, and have already put an offer on the table for Street.

Renck also gives a World Series notes column with a few of the Rockies picks for the WS.

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Inside the Rockies has some interesting notes lately too:

The Rockies draft was rated number one by Baseball America. Tyler Matzek, Nolan Arenado and Chris Balcom-Miller seemed to be a big help for this initial ranking. If Rex Brothers and Tim Wheeler start showing what they're capable of in their first full seasons in 2010, we'll know that the ranking was justified.

Tracy Ringolsby gives his take on the above options decisions, as well as the two more obvious declines with Jason Giambi and Alan Embree, and says that the offer to Betancourt will likely be for two years.

He also notes that the situation for left handed relief for the Rockies to start 2010 will likely be a combination of Franklin Morales, Randy Flores and prospect Matt Reynolds rather than Joe Beimel. Retaining Flores would involve dealing with arbitration, but he's never made more than $800,000 in any season, and is coming off of a season where he only threw 12 MLB innings on a $600,000 contract, so it could probably be expected for him to sign somewhere in that range. All three combined will likely cost less than the $2.25 million that Embree made in 2009, and the full season savings should be better spent retaining Street and Betancourt. As for performance, Flores' career splits vs left handed batters aren't that far off of Beimel's, and while Embree's career against them has been solid, he imploded against left handers for the Rockies in 2009 before a line drive to leg cost him much of the season. It's easy to see how cheap is the preferable course for the Rockies here.

Wednesday Rockpile: World Series starts tonight, Rockies talent drain starting in front office

Rox Girl — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:43:04 -0000

More photos » by Julie Jacobson - AP

I don't think the Giants end up with Matt Holliday or Adrian Gonzalez, which leaves the guy on the left (Jason Bay) as the big bat I could see them winding up with.

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Still little to report as far as the Rockies go, although assistant to the GM Kasey McKeon, son of the former Marlins manager, has jumped ship to join the Nationals front office as director of player procurement. I've always seen these front office departures as a mixed bag. First of all, it reflects well on the Dan O'Dowd's ability to hire the kind of people that other organizations covet.

One way to evaluate GM's would seem to be to look at their lineage, as often the best will push forward the careers of the people in their hire, so you end up seeing these sort of family trees. O'Dowd's primarily descended from former Indians GM John Hart, for instance, who also sired Mark Shapiro and Jon Daniels and others, meanwhile, O'Dowd's at least partly responsible for the advancement of Josh Byrnes and Jerry DiPoto (both currently with the Diamondbacks) and if McKeon continues to rise, then it could add another notch to his belt. Of course, Theo Epstein can also claim some credit for Byrnes, and Jed Hoyer's hiring already gives the wunderkind two GM descendants.

The other side of the coin is that McKeon's departure does leave the Rockies lacking some scouting help (I'm assuming that's what McKeon did for the Rockies given his new job title) and filling that void with an equal talent could be difficult.

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That last link to the Boston.com article about Hoyer's hiring also touches on the news that Adrian Gonzalez will likely be traded from San Diego. The Padres are going to have a payroll about half the size of Colorado's for some time, it appears, which would leave them an unlikely challenger for the division until the revenue situation down there gets fixed. Arizona will have to reboot soon too, given a deteriorating fan base and an escalating payroll*, and the news that top prospect Jarrod Parker will have Tommy John surgery and miss all of 2010 doesn't help them, either, as it leaves them one less internal option to fill a sizable rotation void.

In short, the bleak news for those two teams leaves the 2010 picture in the NL West much the same as it ended up looking in 2009, with the Dodgers, Rockies and Giants duking it out for the top spot and the second place team being in solid contention for the wild card.

The Giants are making it a priority to address their glaring offensive weakness this offseason, so we can't expect them to fade away like the other two teams.

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In case you missed this in the comments to yesterday's Rockpile, former Rockies top prospect Chin-Hui Tsao has been caught up in a Taiwanese match-fixing probe. Between this and Shawn Chacon's gambling issues, it seems like it's not a good month for pitchers who were once our most promising hopes early this decade. Jason Young, you better keep your nose clean, wherever you are.

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Sunday Rockpile: Jim Tracy is the man, man.

Rox Girl — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 15:51:13 -0000

As you guys can probably tell by now, I must have a natural bias against baseball managers, so Troy Renck's points today about Jim Tracy probably help put me a little more at ease with his coming extension, but I'm still on my guard. Once again, I don't think Tracy had nearly as much to do with the Rockies turning around and winning the wild card this season as Troy Tulowitzki, Ubaldo Jimenez, Carlos Gonzalez and the rest of the Rockies players did. That said, Tracy didn't get in the way of the talent on the team and blow the season in spite of it, a possibility that seemed very real at the beginning of the year under different leadership.

Still not much news about the Colorado Rockies (unless you count this article's lead sentence, by a writer who seemingly must have been around for Colorado's pre-Avs NHL team), so I'm going to give some bullets from the periphery that are a little more indirectly related:

The Brothers Monfort ruminate on the season that was
Of Taguchi, Jaramillo and Hawpe | DailyHerald.com Blogs The Cubs might have been interested in our outfielder were he to be made available
Homeless get pizza as a result of NLDS bet - 9News.com
An Indian Reservation As Economic Engine? : NPR

Despite the recession, the Salt River reservation near Phoenix is booming. It's partly from stimulus money, but the reservation is also drawing investors looking to make a quick return. The Pima-Maricopa Indian Community has parlayed casino revenue into a diverse and dynamic economy.

One of those parlays is the development of the Spring Training complex that the Rockies and Diamondbacks are to share starting in 2011.

Why you have to love those Yankees - The National Newspaper

Unlike, say, the Colorado Rockies or the Minnesota Twins, two other post-season participants, the Yankees engender emotion – be it positive or negative.

Ouch. No, actually, the Rockies are making a lot of ground in the engendering emotion category this year. My friend who runs the fantasy league I participated in absolutely can't stand the Rockies anymore, and actually told me he would rather have had the Dodgers win the NLCS had the two teams met. Given that he's from the Bay area and a Giants fan, I was kind of surprised he was that bitter. This writer's East Coast bias doesn't allow him to see past the Hudson, but the Rockies Revolution is forcing baseball fans out West to pick sides.

NL West notes:

The two Dodgers articles give a glimpse into what our division's major competition plans for the offseason, and it doesn't seem to involve a lot of free agent spending, which is great news for the Rockies. As was the case in 2009, the Dodgers rotation could use a serious upgrade that doesn't seem likely to materialize. The Rockies should continue to make gains on LA if both teams remain pretty much intact heading into 2010.

Thursday Rockpile: Phillies repeat as NL champs; Monforts seem financially healthy

Rox Girl — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 14:52:17 -0000

More photos » by David Zalubowski - AP

6 months ago: Colorado Rockies co-owner Dick Monfort looks on as the Rockies warm up before a baseball game against the Houston Astros in Denver on Tuesday, May 12, 2009. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

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After watching the Phillies pound through the Dodgers in five games by an average score of 7 to 3.2, I don't feel so bad about the Rockies losing their series against the Phils by an average score of 5 to to 3.75. Ha, we played the NL champs better than you did, blue boys.

So, other than the Patrick Saunders report of Dan O'Dowd's extension that BlakeBomber posted last night, there's not much new going on with the Rockies this morning. I guess we could talk about ownership's financial health, as it was reported that an LLC managed by Rockies co-owner Dick Monfort purchased a chunk of bad loans from the New Frontier auction yesterday. The basic premise of mentioning this here is that if the Monforts are financially healthy and not getting into any Bernie Madoff type of Ponzi schemes, and a new investment like this seems to indicate as much, or going through messy divorces to carve their empire, than the Rockies will continue in stability and general health as a franchise.

The Colorado franchise itself still seems to be a great investment for all concerned ownership parties, as there have been no reports of limited partners wanting to jump ship or cash calls being made. Given a larger payroll and the lower average sold ticket price, it's quite possible the team actually lost money this year as claimed, but another playoff appearance by a young team that Denver fans are warming up to, combined with a slowly recovering economy suggests that 2010 should see a rebound and perhaps we could see another bump in payroll for 2011.

I suppose this is a good place to put what should be a basic tenet for anybody wanting to do some 2010 hot stove fantasy rebuilds of the Rockies:

1. IF YOU WANT TO SEEM CREDIBLE, DO NOT SUGGEST A 2010 ROCKIES TEAM THAT REQUIRES A HIGHER PAYROLL THAN WHAT WE SAW IN 2009

We should come up with more of these.

Wednesday Rockpile: Rockies want Street long term

Rox Girl — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 13:43:30 -0000

More photos » by Elise Amendola - AP

Brian Fuentes says that there aren't enough celebratory man-hugs in Colorado.

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Among Troy Renck's notes, which include tidbits about Scott Boras as well as two of his clients with Rockies connections in Matt Holliday and Carlos Gonzalez, plus an update on former Padres GM Kevin Towers, he mentions running into Brian Fuentes at the ALCS and in passing notes that the Rockies are looking into signing closer Huston Street to a multi-year deal. Street would be eligible for free agency after the 2010 season, so this would seem to be a departure from the club's usual arbitration buyout plus an option year, and a strong indicator that the club won't be going through a fire sale and rebuild any time soon. Of course, Holliday would be a good example that there are limits to the Monforts' generosity when it comes to contracts, and some players clearly are still out of the Rockies range and a few others still see themselves that way.

The news also seems to put Street in a core category as far as Dan O'Dowd's blueprint for the team over the next few seasons, and bullpen stability in general is also a noted departure from the first five years of his tenure as Rockies GM. Colorado does seem to be stockpiling some young bullpen arms. If Taylor Buchholz and Corpas can return strong from lost seasons and join Street, Matt Daley and Franklin Morales, the Rockies would seem to be well situated in relief over the next two seasons, particularly if Casey Weathers proves worthy of his hype.

Fuentes' statement to Renck is also somewhat enlightening,

"I came here to be in the playoffs. There is an expectation to win," Fuentes said. "They were just starting to develop that in Colorado when I left. It takes time, but obviously they are on the right track."

There's no longer a filter for Brian of having to be nice to the hand that writes the paychecks as far as the Rockies are concerned, so you can read a little more into his statement. The "just starting when I left..," phrase echoes similar statements I've read by other former Rockies that have left the team in the last three or four seasons, including Holliday, IIRC. In player code, this still puts Colorado cleanly in the second division. It's not a backwater dive where a veteran player feels they're at the end of their run, unwanted and trying to hang on to the last vestiges of their career, but for some reason, it's not yet a glittering beacon drawing them in for the chance of post season glory, either.

This means that despite having a better record and more post season appearances over the last five years than Atlanta or San Francisco, for instance, the Rockies still seem to be perceived among players in some respect as an inferior quality professional organization. Maybe I'm reading too much into Fuentes' words, as the Angels clearly are a step ahead of the Rockies right now, but the other teams he was most interested in signing with last season, the New York Mets and St. Louis Cardinals, are not when it comes to the results that matter. And since it's not just Fuentes that says it, but other players, I'm seeing it as a little more credible as a prevailing notion.

Obviously, I think this gets fixed by repetition of success. For 2010, there needs to be an expectation within the Rockies and among fans that they return to the post season. In fact, I think beating the Dodgers and winning the NL West are almost a necessity if the franchise really wants to elevate itself to that next tier.