SB Nation User Blog: Rox Girl

Sunday Rockpile: Blackmon and McKenry make the All-Congenial team

Rox Girl — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 13:56:50 -0000

Charlie Blackmon gets at least some respect from Baseball America. Jim Callis named Blackmon and Michael McKenry to his NL team of the best players left off the top 10 prospect lists.

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In an article for subscribers of Baseball America, Michael McKenry (c) and Charlie Blackmon (cf) made Jim Callis' team of the best NL prospects left off of their respective teams' top ten lists. In a display of where the prospect depth in the division is, Callis' team also includes two Giants, but no players from any other NL West team. I'd actually have had McKenry in my Rockies top ten and I'm not alone in that, but Callis brings up the concerns that he's maxed out his potential. Blackmon, on the other hand, seems to get a lot more credit for his potential despite being relatively old for his levels of play thanks to a recent switch from pitching. As that statement probably implies, I'm not completely sold on him yet, but that might just be because I'm stacking him against the young OF's already on the Rockies rather than other cf prospects around the majors.

Both McKenry and Blackmon will have a short window to prove their MLB value to the Rockies, as even though there are bench roles opening on the MLB team that they could fill in the near future, there are other quality options (Wilin Rosario at catcher, Delta Cleary or Tim Wheeler for the all purpose outfield slot) for those roles nipping at their heels at lower levels.

Despite having an equal number of players on the All-not-Top-10 team, the Rockies still trail SF by quite a margin on the prospect front just because the Giants have the more advanced and polished group right now. After Buster Posey, Dan Runzler and Madison Bumgarner graduate from prospect status this season, the systems will be pretty equal, but the downside of that means that the Rockies will be having to play the aforementioned trio.

Outside of that, there's little Rockies related news to report. It was interesting to me to read that Javier Lopez, who made his MLB debut with the Rockies and remains probably the team's best all time Rule 5 draft selection (well, actually he was Boston's Rule 5 selection and we just traded for him) and who recently signed with Pittsburgh, still makes his permanent home in Colorado.

Thursday Rockpile: Garrett Atkins agrees with Baltimore, Carroll to play in LA, Lopez in AZ

Rox Girl — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 14:26:41 -0000

We're seeing a rush of transactions this week as teams and players try to put things in place before things will get very quiet around the Christmas and New Year's holiday period. Yesterday was pretty significant for several important members of the Rockies 2007 pennant winning team. We learned:

That Garrett Atkins would sign with Baltimore
Jamey Carroll is heading to play with the Dodgers
Rodrigo Lopez will be pitching with Arizona, or maybe Reno
And that now that they have his good friend Atkins, the Orioles are also interested in Matt Holliday.

Thomas Harding has quite a bit of news in his latest Hot Stove Report for the Rockies official site, including Dan O'Dowd's reaction to the Carroll signing, where he states that the team's desire is to find a more offensive oriented utility player, but Harding then includes Nick Green in the subsequent list of potential candidates anyway. If Carroll's offensive utility isn't enough for the Rockies, Green's certainly wouldn't qualify and I'm a bit skeptical about Quinlan as well.

The other two players mentioned, Fernando Tatis and Melvin Mora, should project to be worth more at the plate than Carroll. I think Tatis is my preferred target because he's also a competent defender, but Mora does have that intriguing angle that signing him would mean that the Rockies and Orioles basically swapped their once great but recently disappointing third basemen.

Harding also includes the note that Jose Contreras wanted a three year contract, which the Rockies wisely walked away from, and repeating the news from yesterday that the team and Yorvit Torrealba seem to be drifting apart in negotiations, and Miguel Olivo is looming larger as a Plan B in the quest for backup catching.

Matthew Carruth at FanGraphs went over the shifting WAR value in the NL West from 2008 to 2009, finding that the Rockies jumped from 21st to 6th thanks mostly to a massive improvement in the pitching performance.

Wednesday Rockpile: Future, former and false (and falsely accused?) Rockies unite!

Rox Girl — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 14:33:21 -0000

More photos » by Gene J. Puskar - AP

By jove! That Grays pitcher's use of the whirligig ball is outstanding! We must pursue his services post haste.

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Tracy Ringolsby's new article for FoxSports.com highlights the shifting market for Matt Holliday and implies the slugger may be receiving his comeuppance for rejecting the Rockies four year, $72 million offer before they traded him to the Athletics. Ringolsby astutely notes how all of Holliday's reasons for that rejection seem absurd in hindsight.

The article also talks a little about Garrett Atkins' effect on the free agent third base market and how with new ownership, the Cubs may decide to leave the Cactus League for Naples, FL. The Cubs are typically the Cactus League's biggest draw, so it would be a big hit economically to Arizona, but I don't know, Spring Training without Cubs fans could make it that much better for everybody else.

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Atkins' most clearly revealed suitor would be Baltimore, although it appears the Orioles are still downplaying interest in the third baseman, which makes sense from a leveraging standpoint given that there's not really a clear competitor for a contract with him.

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Another former Rockie looking for work appears as though he may be heading for Washington. Fellow SBN site Federal Baseball takes a look at what signing Jason Marquis would mean for the Nationals. Just be advised before commenting that there may be some residual bad blog blood between users of our sites after our snarkiness during the season series got on their nerves, so please be on your best behavior.

One thing that I think that Ed Chigliak's post makes clear is that I think Nationals fans and Rockies fans share a common appreciation for Marquis, probably based on our realistic expectations for him, that seems to be absent with many fans elsewhere around the majors.

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Huston Street, then a member of the Athletics, was one of several MLB players treated by Anthony Galea, a doctor under investigation by the feds for the possible illegal distribution of performance enhancers to athletes. Street visited Galea to rehab a right elbow ulnar nerve that had been causing him issues. The NY Times article seems to suggest a guilt by association course of action. As fans then, I think we don our righteous outrage and demand justice. Let us string Street up on the hanging tree at dusk.

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This article seems to confuse the professional careers of Chih-Chia Chang, who never played in the United States although he was sought after by a few MLB teams before signing with Seibu, with Chin-Hui Tsao, who did play with the Rockies and Dodgers. At any rate, both Chang and Tsao are still embroiled in the Taiwanese professional baseball league game fixing scandal the article talks about.

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Finally, Patrick Saunders at the Denver Post writes about how the Rockies are looking less likely to sign Yorvit Torrealba as the off season progresses after being so close last Friday that a deal seemed imminent. It seems that Torrealba will either need to concede the final $400,000 between the two sides or look elsewhere for employment. The article goes on to also talk a little more of the Rockies interest in Matt Capps. While we can generally rule out the Rockies winning a pitcher that has as much interest as Capps supposedly does, his relationship with Tracy, the team's contending status, the reputation of Bob Apodaca and at least the strong possibility of closing after 2010 (which also implies a willingness to give Capps a multi-year deal) should work into the Rockies favor, but given the heavy interest, I wouldn't put us as front-runners by any means.

The way Pirates GM Neil Huntington misjudged the market on Capps seems to be the chink that finally ends his honeymoon phase with the media and fans in Pittsburgh, as Dejan Kovacevic takes him to task. I'm speculating that the Pirates GM probably had better deals for the reliever on the table last July than he did in November, and was trying to build interest back to that level but apparently didn't realize how the trade value of small and mid market players due healthy raises can drop substantially in the period immediately leading up to the non-tender deadline. It's a lesson Huntington probably won't forget, and I think it's further evidence that there's probably a learning curve for most new GM's.

Sunday Rockpile: Tender is last night...

Rox Girl — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 16:25:36 -0000

More photos » by Kathy Willens - ASSOCIATED PRESS

5 months ago: New York Yankees pitcher Chien-Ming Wang delivers in the second inning against the New York Mets in a baseball game at Citi Field in New York, Sunday, June 28, 2009. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

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So last night's deadline to tender contracts to players came and went without the fanfare that was expected by many. The Rockies provided one of the biggest names on the non-tender list with Garrett Atkins, but several other players rumored to be cut loose either reached deals with their teams or were at least tendered offers.

The Dodgers tendered contracts to all nine of their unsigned players still in team control, proving wrong some of the most dire reads on that team's finances. Actually, on the whole, MLB teams seem to be a bit more healthy economically than many predicted. Other players tendered contracts that were earlier rumored to be on the bubble included Kevin Correia of San Diego, Corey Hart of Milwaukee, Dioner Navarro of Tampa Bay and almost all eligible players from Minnesota and Florida.

The cases of players that were non-tendered fell into two categories: players that are clearly declining in production and not likely to be worth their arbitration awards like Garrett Atkins or Jack Cust or Ryan Garko, or players coming off of or entering lost seasons due to injury like Chien Ming Wang or Jose Arredondo. Perhaps the most curious case to me is that of John Buck of Kansas City, who doesn't project to be that much worse than Jason Kendall, but would likely be willing to sign for quite a bit less than the $3 million a year that the team is giving Kendall. The Royals spent the difference for roughly a quarter of a win, which given the state of that franchise seems beyond pointless.

With Buck entering the FA market, it adds one more potential target for the Rockies should Yorvit Torrealba not re-sign with the club. Torrealba returning still seems the most likely outcome, as I haven't seen signs that the interest in him from other teams still looking for catching help outweighs that of the Rockies.

Wang seems to be the non-tender that is getting the most interest from clubs right off the bat, but former Brave Kelly Johnson might be a more interesting player to look at for the Rockies as a utility infielder/complement to Clint Barmes, although his left handed bat doesn't help one of the Rockies primary off season goals. Garko would be almost ideal if he could play third base, but since that's not going to happen, he too seems unlikely to be of interest to the Rockies. Basically that's the situation with almost all of these players, some fatal flaw makes signing them to anything more than a minor league contract with a NRI to spring camp risky.

Thursday Rockpile: O'Dowd adds hardware, Tracy pushing perennial contender status, Torrealba talks in stasis

Rox Girl — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 15:10:24 -0000

More photos » by Matt Slocum - AP

The Rockies are too good not to contend, says Jim Tracy.

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As expected, the Rockies did not take any player in the major league phase of the Rule 5 draft this morning. Somewhat unexpected, the Rockies didn't lose any player in it, either. The good news about this is that the team kept its talent. If you want to take a pessimistic look, it also means that the team no longer has the enviable prospect depth it once did.

Really, however, it should be noted that a lot of the players that the Rockies were most likely to lose (even though that didn't prove the case with Aneury Rodriguez or Corey Wimberly) in this draft were dealt in the summer and last Spring for help in the team's 2009 playoff run. These trades netted Jason Hammel, Matt Murton, Joe Beimel and Rafael Betancourt, and all involved prospects who would have needed to be put on the 40 man roster to avoid exposure in the Rule 5 draft. It's moves like these that probably helped Dan O'Dowd get Baseball America's Executive of the Year award.

Alright, other than that, since I'm late and since you crazies have already bloated yesterday's thread to beyond a bursting point, just a links roundup this morning:

Rockies' Tracy: We are too good not to contend - The Denver Post
Jim Tracy, the NL*s manager of the year, said today Ubaldo Jimenez would enter spring training at the head of the rotation and that he prefers Todd Helton, Troy Tulowitzki and Brad Hawpe in the heart of the lineup.

Dollars behind the day's deals - The Denver Post
The winter meetings heated up even more Wednesday, with the Brewers landing pitchers Randy Wolf and LaTroy Hawkins.

Rockies-Torrealba talks stuck in impasse - The Denver Post

Tracy: Jimenez ready to be ace - The Denver Post
Rockies manager Jim Tracy doesn*t fear expectations. He embraces them. He considers the suggestion that the Rockies* U-turn was a fluke a "slap in the face."

Wednesday Rockpile: A take on the D-backs trade, and other notes from the Rockies and the NL West

Rox Girl — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 13:12:48 -0000

More photos » by Matt York - AP

FILE - In this Sept. 19, 2009 photo, Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Max Scherzer adjusts his cap during the first inning of a baseball game against the Colorado Rockies in Phoenix. If this was his only look while facing us, I would miss him dearly.

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There are three ways to make an objective trade analysis: first, use a straight statistical projection for the players involved and accept the face value outcome of the numbers that it comes up with, second, look at it from a win-win viewpoint where the ideal outcome for all parties takes place, or third, look at it from a lose-lose viewpoint where the worst outcome for all parties takes place. Any analysis that veers away from these three is no longer objective and falls into the category of guesswork, even if it proves correct.

As far as the first way of looking at yesterday's big trade, by using the 2010 CHONE projections, the Diamondbacks receive 45 runs of value over replacement, the Tigers, 23, and the Yankees, 4. I'm not a math person, but I'm guessing that in future seasons projections would show the Tigers making up that ground on the Diamondbacks. The Snakes do seem to get the most present value from this trade.

Using a win-win-win analysis, the Tigers probably come out ahead given the promise of Austin Jackson and Max Scherzer (who could be two star players at peak value), which would trump that of Edwin Jackson and Ian Kennedy for the D-backs. This scenario still has the Yankees behind because the ideal peak value of their one player, Curtis Granderson, would not match the peak value of the pairs of players the other two teams received.

Finally, looking at it from a lose-lose-lose scenario, the Tigers come out ahead again, a realistic bust scenario for them still has them receiving some positive bullpen value from two of their three pitchers with a small monetary cost for their trouble. The Diamondbacks bust scenario would be negative to replacement production from Jackson and Kennedy, but positive value in the form of innings or alternatively total loss to injury with a moderate monetary loss. Again, this scenario has the Yankees as trailers, as they would be on the hook for Granderson's remaining salary if he is no longer able to perform at a major league level.

Now, I'm not going to say that all these analyses that we're seeing that suggest the D-backs screwed up are wrong, but I will say that they're subjective and based on biases the analysts have toward the players involved rather than a strictly objective reading. I will also say that I think the Yankees are getting too much benefit of the doubt here, call it East Coast bias or just the aura of championship team, but I don't see them getting enough benefit from this trade to justify the cost of the players they gave up.

Subjectively from a Rockies oriented view, starting pitching at the back of the rotation was the Diamondbacks biggest weakness going into the off season and the net gain of a starter at the expense of a reliever helps them quite a bit. At the very least, Jackson and Kennedy are going to be able to give them a healthy chunk more innings than Scherzer and Schlereth, which is a large boon. Given that Brandon Webb's recovering shoulder might not be ready for a traditional Webb workload, it might be more important than a lot of people realize. They still have depth issues, and they don't have a lot of money to rebuild their bullpen, but I remain in the camp that the Diamondbacks made themselves better for 2010 yesterday.

I also remain firm in my belief that they are nearing the end of their window of opportunity. Edwin Jackson is a two season acquisition, tops. Webb becomes a free agent after this season. The Diamondbacks only have one pitcher of prominence near the top of their prospect pipeline. The cost of maintaining the core of this team through arbitration will be too large for the market and ownership in two seasons, and the peak of their next core of players is still five or six seasons away. I think Arizona's front office won't admit it, but they do seem to be making moves as though they have to win now.

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The major Rockies news from yesterday has the team making strides to keep Yorvit Torrealba, but will look at Miguel Olivo or Josh Bard if a deal for Yorvit falls through. Olivo and Bard represent a downgrade from the quality of catchers the team has been rumored to be interested in prior to this, and show how the market for catching is drying up. It could see some additions on Friday, but it looks like the Rockies don't want to take that chance. I'm more of a gambler and inclined to wait it out, but I could see the team's line of view here.

Olivo and Torrealba also figure prominently in the San Francisco Giants search, but the team is reluctantly reconsidering giving their starting job to top prospect Buster Posey. As Matt Wieters showed in Baltimore last season, there's not always a smooth transition from AAA to the bigs for star catching prospects. The Giants are also facing the prospect of relying on Madison Bumgarner to fill out their rotation before they would prefer him to. Giants fans that have been feeding off the hype of their prospects for so long are excited about this, and eventually these two could be formidable opponents, but short term for 2010, I think this benefits the Rockies and Dodgers.

Bruce Levine says that the Cubs talked to the Rockies about our outfield depth, but it's not clear what came of that discussion. Given statements by Dan O'Dowd and other hints from published reports, I would guess our asking price is high enough to keep the Cubs looking elsewhere to fill their needs first.

Garrett Atkins mildly interests the Orioles, too mildly for them to give us anything for the likely non-tender candidate.

Careful wording by Dodgers brass has led some to speculate that the team might be facing a budget crunch in 2011 as a result of the McCourts' divorce. Ned Colletti has denied reports that he can only offer free agents one year deals, a rumor that circulated yesterday that would have certainly added to the pile of circumstantial evidence that's been suggesting that the Dodgers are facing some money issues. So far, Colletti's words and the team's actions don't quite add up, but I've said before that as a GM he's shown a propensity for waiting out the market, so this off season really has been consistent with his M.O. and I'm not going to count on a Dodger downfall just yet.

Sunday Rockpile: You know it's slow when we're covering the Windy City Thunderbolts...

Rox Girl — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 17:07:10 -0000

More photos » by David J. Phillip - AP

I have no idea if Robert Perry is related to the Texas governor, I just couldn't decide on a photograph.

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My apologies for being so late today. I'm working out some longer analysis pieces that I'll probably have to break into a couple of installments here as well as working on some player profiles for the Hardball Times. Those aren't the reasons I'm late, though. The reason I'm late is because my brunch date ran way over time from when I thought it would. At any rate, it's not like you're missing much:

Rockies sign Robert Perry - Perry, an outfielder, got as far as Lake Elsinore in the Padres system before being released and catching on with the Windy City franchise of the Frontier League. Perry's minor league stats were rather pedestrian, at best, but it seems he hit pretty well in the indy league. It seems he's likely destined to be only minor league filler, but getting back into affiliated ball does give him that chance at a big league call-up someday.

And other than that.., well.., uhm., former Rockies farmhand Eric Wulf has a hunting show... that's pretty exciting isn't it?

Okay, the good news is that the Winter Meetings are this week and more actual Rockies related moves should start happening.

Thursday Rockpile: Greg Zaun now reportedly on the radar for Rockies

Rox Girl — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 14:36:17 -0000

More photos » by Chris O'Meara - AP

4 months ago: Tampa Bay Rays' Greg Zaun follows the flight of his second-inning double off Baltimore Orioles pitcher Jason Berken during a baseball game Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2009, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

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While not the Rays catcher I was talking about yesterday, Jon Paul Morosi and Ken Rosenthal note that the Rockies are interested in Greg Zaun, who actually is available should he decline Tampa Bay's arbitration offer. Besides the Rays desire to re-sign him and the Rockies interest, the post also notes that the Brewers have interest. MLBTradeRumors has been following Zaun and other FA's and notes that the catcher earlier expressed that he planned to make his decision by the end of this week.

Thus far we've seen the Rockies attached to rumors with Yorvit Torrealba, Brian Schneider and now Zaun for a 2010 contract, all three of which are a higher grade than what one would typically associate with a back-up for Chris Iannetta. As a fan of the team, I definitely applaud this direction, I want the highest quality possible for the 25 players that break camp with the team next April, but there's certainly going to be some trick to maintaining egos. Whether it's Iannetta's with the strong backups the team is seeking or Ian Stewart's with the pursuit of a right handed bench bat that can play third, Jim Tracy's going to have to make sure everybody understands and is comfortable with their roles on the team. He did a great job of this during the regular season in 2009, I hope that continues.

Troy Renck has picked up on the Jose Contreras to Japan vibes that have been playing out during the off season thus far, with his son heading there with a foreign exchange program.

Jack Etkin notes the bounty of left handed pitching prospects the Rockies are enjoying right now.

Jon Heyman tweets that the reason the Rockies felt confident that Jason Marquis would decline arbitration was due to a falling out he had with the team over not getting a playoff start.

Los Angeles

Dodger fans at TBLA are up in arms over the team's decision not to offer arbitration to any eligible player on Tuesday, thereby forfeiting the opportunity to receive draft pick compensation in order to avoid the risk of these players accepting. Most suspect is the decision with Randy Wolf, and the apparent financial motivation behind it worries some about what other horrors might come at the non-tender deadline. I'm not getting my hopes up about these most dire predictions. I do see some clear financial constraints, but the team likely made the decision to not offer arbitration to Wolf, Orlando Hudson and others to ensure that it could offer arbitration to the younger players it wanted to keep, with James Loney and Russell Martin being the two closest to the fringe.

The real question remains what will become of the team's rotation, as if Wolf is too pricey, one wonders where their limit would be. Ned Colletti as a GM has shown a willingness to wait out the market, to bleed players and teams of every last bit of leverage before making a move, so I'm not expecting this to get answered any time soon, and could see the Dodgers trying to pull a page from the Rockies playbook by waiting until the roster crunch at the end of Spring Training to pick up their last starter(s). While financial difficulties in LA are a blessing, the bad news is that they're still a strong team in the meantime.

San Francisco

As another post in the above linked FoxSports hot stove blog reports, San Francisco is looking in a variety of directions for their offense, with Nick Johnson, Adrian Beltre and Dan Uggla all on their radar. Those three players would be mutually exclusive of each other, the Giants could only get one, but we know they're dabbling in the catching market and poking around for an outfielder as well.

Arizona

Since their acquisition of Aaron Heilman, there's been little news from AZ. I really haven't even seen them linked to players despite reports of having some money to spend and needs to fill. I don't know what to make of this, other than to suggest that they are living up to their team's nickname and sitting back, waiting to strike. The Diamondbacks, like the Dodgers, did not offer arbitration to any eligible players with Doug Davis being the most glaring omission given the team's need for starting pitching.

San Diego

The Padres continue to revamp an organization that once drafted Matt Bush with the first overall pick, sharking away Red Sox scouting director Jason McLeod as Jed Hoyer continues to stick it to his former employers.

Wednesday Rockpile: Rockies interested in Bobby Crosby and others, plus some other thoughts

Rox Girl — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 14:51:09 -0000

More photos » by Kevin P. Casey - AP

Another Dirtbag could be joining Troy Tulowitzki in 2010.

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As discussed in yesterday's Rockpile, Baseball America has put together their Rockies top 10 prospects, with four 2009 draftees cracking the list, including Tyler Matzek at number one.

The Rockies made the decision to offer arbitration to Jason Marquis and Rafael Betancourt, but not Joe Beimel or Yorvit Torrealba. The team is also expressing interest in bringing Bobby Crosby in as a utility infielder who could play multiple positions and more or less replace Garrett Atkins as a primary corner bat off the bench. Also interest in free agent pitcher Noah Lowry has been expressed.

Time to take a step back and spell out what I'm seeing with these moves:

The decision to offer arbitration to Marquis surprised quite a few, but added to the Rockies interest in Justin Duscherer and Lowry, it indicates that Dan O'Dowd might not be entirely comfortable going all in on a Jeff Francis recovery with only unproven internal prospects as insurance, and will be looking for an MLB experienced plan B. In recent seasons, O'Dowd has tried to stack plenty of starting options going into Spring. I don't think the team expects Marquis to accept arbitration, but they don't offer it to him if there's no room for him in their 2010 plans and they didn't feel they could get their money's worth out of him.
Alternatively, and a bit less likely, it might mean that the Rockies have an intriguing trade offer on the table for a current starter, the guess would be Jorge De La Rosa given that his name popped up in last month's GM Meetings, but don't want to pull the trigger on the deal without a better succession plan in place.
Bobby Crosby as Atkins' potential replacement is going to be one of those "trust me" sort of moves that could backfire on O'Dowd, but in that event is unlikely to make us any worse off than we were last year with Garrett's big slump. It could also pay off. As a replacement for Ian Stewart and Todd Helton, and given Jim Tracy's heavy reliance on platoon advantages, Crosby would be batting against LHP's mostly with the Rockies, against which he hit .265/.333/.460 in 2009 while playing the bulk of his games in pitcher friendly venues. Added to his defense and lower cost, I'm actually interested to see where this will go and am pretty comfortable with the decision.
As for the Rockies catching front, the decision to not offer Torrealba arbitration while not closing the door to his return is a little trickier to gauge. There are other moves around the league like this that indicate small or mid-market teams feel that the arbitration process is overvaluing catchers, and that they can fill their needs on the open market at better cost efficiency. One intriguing possibility for a replacement for Torrealba is expected to be a victim of this trend, as the Tampa Bay Rays are expected to non-tender Dioner Navarro in a few days. Adding a 26 year old switch hitting bat could be useful. I haven't seen any indication that the Rockies would be interested in Navarro were he to be available, but I'm hoping I do if it does happen.

Sunday Rockpile: What to do with one's freedom...

Rox Girl — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 15:06:10 -0000

More photos » by Tony Gutierrez - AP

8 months ago: Colorado Rockies' Christian Colonel rounds the bases after hitting a grand slam off of Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Erik Bedard in the first inning of a spring training baseball game in Peoria, Ariz., Friday, March 27, 2009. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

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The "Rockies" stories this weekend are more on the periphery it seems, although the two below do tie together with a common love of the game thread, as players just can't put the gloves down. One young player now looks what to do to keep his career alive while a pair of relative old timers tear up the amateur circuit...

Onward, Christian Soldier...

Christian Colonel is playing a waiting game this offseason, as the now former Rockies farmhand enters a journeyman phase of his career. Stories like Colonel's are at once heartbreaking to me and somewhat familiar. What do you do if you're decent at and love doing one skill that quite a few people that are better than you get paid pretty good money for, but find yourself deemed just out of that skill range, or not finding a sufficient chance to show that you can be as good? It's not a comfortable position to be in, by any means, and Colonel's doing a good job of putting a brave face on it, but it's got to be tough right now for him.

Bichette still happens...

A Jupiter, Florida based Roy Hobbs team led by former Rockies Dante Bichette and Joe Grahe eliminated a team from Covington, Ky, before being eliminated themselves in the semi-finals to a team from Pensacola. Bichette and Grahe both played pivotal roles for the Rockies in their 1995 wild card season, while Bichette's exploits are well remembered, Rockies fans might forget that swing-man Grahe was called on to enter the rotation when Bill Swift got injured in late May.

In June and July, Grahe made eight starts and the Rockies went 6-2 in those contests, with Grahe thankfully bumping Omar Olivares from the back end of that rotation and providing some needed stability when Swift returned. The Rockies built their NL West lead to five games before Grahe himself got injured. He didn't return until September and wasn't quite as effective as the Rockies division lead dwindled and they barely held on to the playoff spot. Grahe was certainly somewhat lucky during that summer stretch, and he never pitched quite that well again, but his work was instrumental and he should be fondly remembered by Rockies fans for that.