SB Nation User Blog: wolf213

The Resurgence of Franklin Morales

wolf213 — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 16:32:28 -0000

The Resurgence of Franklin Morales

Good read. Breaks down Franklin's mechanics from last year as compared to this year.

Tulsa Driller Scouting Report

wolf213 — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 19:43:51 -0000

Tulsa Driller Scouting Report

From our friend Jon Sickles at minorleagueball.com

Brad Hawpe Won't Start Allstar Game

wolf213 — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 17:01:21 -0000

Brad Hawpe Won't Start Allstar Game

Victorino gets the start instead for defensive purposes

Reds Talking about Atkins

wolf213 — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 21:44:21 -0000

Reds Talking about Atkins

Rockies and Reds are discussing an Atkins deal; Also goes on to mention that an EY Jr. for Freddy Sanchez deal makes no since, and that the only Pirate the Rockies are likely targeting is Matt Caps.

With nothing to lose, Tracy has Rockies winning

wolf213 — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 07:04:10 -0000

With nothing to lose, Tracy has Rockies winning

Jack Etkin has a must read piece over at Rocky Mountain Independent. Everyone should check it out.

Somethings in the Works

wolf213 — Fri, 29 May 2009 16:47:04 -0000

Somethings in the Works

Rosenthal had a little blip in his article about the Rockies... quite an interesting little development.

A look at Clint Hurdle's (Possible) Replacements

wolf213 — Fri, 22 May 2009 18:28:57 -0000

With Clint Hurdle on the hot seat, I figured it would be a good idea to look at the pros and cons of who might be able to take over the reigns once Hurlde is gone. I have ordered things in the way I see them going down.

Clint Hurdle - There is always the possibilty that Clint Hurdle will retain his job. While seemingly more and more Rockies Fans want Hurdle gone, given this teams history, I can see him sticking around for a while longer.

Pros - Well there was that thing back in 2007
Cons - .464 Career winning Percentage as a manager, and a team that seem sto have given up on him. Plus he tends to throw his players under the Bus quite a bit, (see Tulo, Fassaro, et al) and while in the past he has remained probably to loyal to his veteran players such as Keep Chacon as a closer, giving Atkins to many AB's when struggling, recently he seems to be anything but consistant in terms of lineup construction. He also tends to give players such as Barmes and Q! to many at bats.

Jim Tracy - Most of the time, its the bench players that take over after a Manager is canned in the middle of the season.

Pros - 4 seasons above .500 as manager of the Dodgers from 2001-2004. Holds a .496 winning percentage which looks even better when his years with the Pirates are taken into account
Cons - The 4 winning seasons he has had are most likely the product of a very good Dodgers team, and even though he has had more winning seasons then Hurdle has, he has been to the playoffs only once while captain of a ship. I'm also not sure if he's the guy that can light a fire under a team.

Don Baylor - A lot of people are wanting the return of Baylor ball, and there are some indications that he was brought in to be a replacement for Hurdle should he be canned.

Pros - The early Rockies teams always seemed to over achieve for him, and players usually have nothing but good things to say about him. He is the type of Manager that can light a fire under a team and get them to perform.
Cons - .484 Career record as a manager speaks for itself, however he did win Manager of the year once. He also tends to burn his pitching staff.

Vinny Castilla - A popular fan favorate when he played, and recent manager of the WBC Mexico team. He has indicated that he wants to manage in the Major Leagues one day.

Pros - Fan Favorate who would help generate fan interest again.
Cons - No Manager experience outside of the WBC, and even though he works as a special assistant to O'Dowd, he really doesn't have much coaching experience to speak of either.

Tom Runnells - Current Sky Sox manager could wind up in the bigs leagues again

Pros - He does have experience managing, as he was the Expos Manager in 1991 and 1992. He's been the sky sox manager for several years as well
Cons - He wasn't exactly a great manager for the expos in 1991 or 1992, and I belive if he was a good candidate he would be managing a major league team by now.

Walt Weiss - His name is alway brought up in Manager conversations among fans.

Pros - Reconizable name who was a hardball type player when he played.
Cons - Has indicated in the past that he doesn't want a full time coaching job. For examble he was offered the benching coach job this year and turned it down.

Fowler it is

wolf213 — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 00:32:58 -0000

Fowler it is

Fowler is starting the season with the Rockies. Also Etkin is reporting that Morales will start game 3

De La Rosa Signed

wolf213 — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 22:31:02 -0000

De La Rosa Signed

For 2 million this year.

Saturday Morning Rockpile: Herges gone; A look at left field

wolf213 — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 06:40:24 -0000

First and foremost for the news of the day, Matt Herges has signed with the Indians according the the Rocky Mountain News. While Herges was very good in 2007, posting a sub 3.00 era, he was much worse in 2008 and his loss is not huge to the team, considering his projections this season have him being no more worse then this guy.

Also from Troy Reneck at his Denver Post Blog, it looks as if the coin flip for deciding homefield advantage on tie breakers by coin flip is gone. Instead homefield advantage will be given to the team who had the best in season recored against each other. In 2007 the Rockies had the series advantage by 11-8 so the tiebreaker game would have still been in Denver under this new system. This system also seems to be a better way to determain homefield advantage in my opinion.

I think we should take a look at what will be in left field this season for the rockies, now the Holliday is gone. While this subject has been touched upon breifly, I think an in depth look at our options will be useful. What I have done is averaged the 3 projections for the 2 main contenders to get an idea of what we can expect. Numbers in the standard Ave/OBP/SLG/OPS format.

Player A: .282/.354/.452/.806

Player B: .267/.345/.461/.806

Basically look at the numbers, player A and B will for the most part give us the same kind of production with the bat. Where the difference lies is with defense. While one player has played the OF before and has been able to play CF in a pinch a few times, the other is strictly a corner infielder. If you havn't figured it out yet, player A is Seth Smith and Player B is Ian Stewart. I have heard a lot of grumbling lately from here and the comment sections of the two Denver newspapers about Stewart in LF. This in my opinion would be a mistake. Seth Smith, while short on the tools that Stewart brings to the table, has hit at every level he has been to. This trend hasn't stopped when he has been in the Majors either. In 116 AB, he has hit .284/.366/.466/.832 and while 116 AB's is nothing to get hot and bothered with, he has at least shown some what of a conistancy, and he has the minor league numbers to give plenty of projection into what he can do in the future. I wouldn't be surpised if he hits 20+ homeruns next year while having an OBP closing in on .900

This isn't to say that I'm not high on Stewart because I am. When taking into account defence I would go on a limb and say right now will be just as good, if not better then Atkins next year. Atkins has a projected OPS in the .830's next year, and I think that he might have a hard time getting there, where as I wouldn't be shocked if Stewart added .40 points to his projected SLG perecentage. To prove it, I have put my money where my mouth is. In a sim league I am in, I have traded Atkins for pitching prospect Wade Davis. While I don't think the Rockies could get a Wade Davis for Atkins in real life, I think that once Helton proves he is healthy, Aktins should be out the door. Stewart and Smith are going to be good players going forward. Both have nothing to prove at the minor league levels. Please Colorado, lets give them a shot, and I guarantee by June the fans will forget all about who was in left field during the 2008 campain.