SB Nation User Blog: wolf213

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.

Retooling for the 09 Season

wolf213 — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 05:15:43 -0000

With this season pretty much done, I think its about time to get a sneak peak into what the offseason might entitle and what this team might look like next year.

Here are some big questions going into the offseason.

1) What is the deal with Helton? Is he healthy? If he is healthy, can he be productive, or has he turned into Sean Casey?

2) Will one of Atkins or Holliday be traded? How about both? Any Long term Contracts for one?

3) Is Fowler ready?

4) What about the Rotation? Can Cook repeat? Can Jiminez build upon this year? Will Francis Rebound? Can one or more of Morales, Hirsh, Reynolds, Hynick be productive?

5) Do we resign Fuentes? If not can Corpas be effective as a closer again? Was Weathers a waste of a number one pick?

6) Second base?

Here is what I am thinking in respect to these questions.

1) Helton is probably 3 years away from Retirement, and I think their is a small chance that he retires this offseason. Small being less then 3% If he comes back and is healthy, I still think he is capable of being a .800 OPS hitter with a good walk rate and moderate power numbers.... a line like .280/.410/.430 is not out of the question I don't think. While thats terrible for a guy who makes 16 million a year, he can still be quite useful if used correctly. He's not a middle of the order type hitter anymore, but he can be useful in the number 2 hole or even the number 6 hole.

2) Atkins is a goner given the development of Ian Stewart and the fact that Helton is probably going to be back. I do think the team will make a run at resigning Holliday however and I can see something getting done. However I am not holding my breath.

3) No, Fowler is close but I don't think he's ready yet. I would like to see if Smith can handle CF full time, and I would also like to see Spilly get some playing time as well. By mid-season if Smith is holding his own, he can then become trade bait and bring in something useful, while Fowler slides in CF... just an idea.

4) I have long liked Cook and thought he was very under rated before this season. I think he is going to be effective next year, and a top three of Cook, Francis and Jiminez looks fairly solid. De La Rosa is ok as a 4, but I have my doubts that one of Hirsh, Morales, or Reynolds is ready. This is were the Monforts need to open up their pocket books a bit and get something better then Wells, Towers, et all.

5) Corpas will be fine, I think he was getting killed by BABIP earlier in the year and he should be fine. Take your draft picks and run.

6) Your guess is as good as mine. Baker and Barmes are nice little utility guys, but are not full time players. I think Ellis might cost to much... but I have a plan.

Here is what I would do if I was the GM.

The Angels have a guy who I thought was very unappreciated and could easily be thrown in along with a pitching prospect in return for Atkins. Something along the lines of

Atkins

for

M. Izturis
and
Walden or O'Sullivan

If we have to we can throw in a Barmes type.

Allow Spilly and Smith the Platoon in CF while Fowler spends time in AAA. (I am assuming the projections for Fowler aren't wonderful yet but feel free to correct me)

Trade Willy T, Baker, and Barmes for whoever wants them.

Sign the following Free Agents to something reasonable.

Russell Branyan - Could cover if Stewart slumps and could spell Helton when he needs rest... Branyan has always been a favorite of mine and could be a huge threat off the bench.

Rocco Baldelli - If he comes cheap (which given health concernse he very well could) he could be a nice buy low sell high type of player.

or

Cory Patterson - Again if he come cheap he becomes a nice little 4th outfielder with some pop in his bat and a good late inning defensive sub.

One of:

Oliver Perez, Bartolo Colon, Derek Lowe, Ryan Dempster, Freddy Garcia, Jon Garland

There are guys on this list I would rather have then others, but this is where we need to spend some money and get a solid number 4 type starter. If we stop wasting money on the likes of Vizciano and Wells, we might be closer to affording one of these guys then one would think. Anyways, this is how I envision the opening day roster after my tweaks.

1. Spilly/Smith CF
2. Helton 1b
3. Holliday LF
4. Hawpe RF
5. Stewart 3b
6. Tulo SS
7. Ianetta C
8. Izturis 2b
9. Pitcher

Branyan CIF
Herrera UT
Omar UT
Baldelli or Patterson OF
Smith/Spilly OF
Yorvit C

1. Cook
2. Francis
3. Ubaldo
4. One of the pitchers listed above
5. De La Rosa

CL: Corpas
SU: Bucholtz
SU: Vizciano
MR: Register
MR: Weathers
LR: Morrillo

So how many wins does that team project to? I think something like this isn't far out of the realm of possibility either. I would love to hear others thoughts and opinions on this as well.

Injuries

wolf213 — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 04:50:10 -0000

I think everyone has taken noticed that there have been quite a bit more injuries to our Rockies then in past years this season. Lets take a closer look at some of these injuries:

Clint Barmes - Knee Sprain
Brad Hawpe - Hamstring Sprain
Matt Holliday - Hamstring Strain
Troy Tulowitzki - Quad Tear
Jeff Francis - Shoulder Imflamation
Todd Helton - Back Strain
and now Ryan Spillboughs.

It seems that we are having an unusually high number of injuries as of late, and most of them being sprains or strains one would think that our Training staff could be doing more in terms of stretching and workouts to help prevent some of these injuries. I know in sports injuries are common, however this year seems to be hitting us more so then not... can we ask the Training staff just what the hell they are doing (or not doing) to cause all of these injuries?

Manny Corpas

wolf213 — Sun, 04 May 2008 04:21:08 -0000

I thought I would take sometime too look at some players who have been struggling, and see if I can find a reason to why they are having such a hard time. I will start with Corpas.

Last year Corpas was amazing for us down the strech and finish the season with a 2.08 ERA, 19 saves, 58 Strikeouts to 20 BB's. He was easily on his way to becoming one of the leagues top young relief pitchers. However going into this year he has imploded, blowing 4 saves, and eventually loosing his closer role to Fuentes, while not look like the same pitcher on the mound that we saw last year.

Lets take a closer look shall we. Here are Corpas's BB/9, K/9, WHIP, and Batting Average for Balls in play for 2007:

2.31/6.69/1.06/.260

In 2008 his line looks like this:

6.32/3.45/1.98/.320

As you can see his Walk rates have more then doubled, while his strike out rates has declined. Also he has been rather unlucky with ball in play going from .260 to .320. A .320 BABIP is a little higher then his career normal of .290 so that should normalize in time. The greater concern has been his walks and strikeout rates. It seems to me that he is scared to attack the hitters this year, and is pitching around them more. This is supported by the fact that he is only throwing strikes 55% of the time as opposed to last year when he was throwing strikes 64% of the time.

My guess is that he's been a bit shaken up this year, as batters have been a bit more luck against him. I think that once he starts to attack hitters like he did last year he will be fine, right now though he needs to clear his head though. If there is any good news its that his Linedrive, flyball and groundball percentages are within 2% of what they were last year.

I think it might be interesting if we had him start a game or two, give him a few innings to work on his command a little bit and have him re-trust his stuff. Maybe then we can get our old Manny Corpas back.

Some Thoughts

wolf213 — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 05:03:11 -0000

Well, what a ride it has been...

getting swept hurts, however, looking back in April, no one expected us to be here, or even in the playoffs. Most of the National News had us pegged for a 4th place finish, so keeping that in perspective, this season has been magical. One of the things I have missed as a fan was being able to go to a game, and have the stadium packed to the brim, like it was in the early days. I wasn't able to go to any playoff games (had tickets but the sweeps happened..) but it was amazing to hear the old Go Rockies chant over the TV. Coors is a magical place when is packed, and this year we got the magic back.

I'm wondering what this team would've done if we hadn't had the 8 day layoff. In a game thats about timing, 8 days I think killed us. I don't want it to be an excuse, but I do want to say that the Rockies didn't show up until it was too late, and I think the 8 games had something do with that, especially with the swings of Hawpe, Tulo and Atkins. Thats not to take anything away from the Red Sox, they are the better team, and they played the better baseball.

As for this offseason, this is the most important offseason in the history of the franchise. Monforts say they are going to get the payroll over 70 million, so what should they be looking at?

First I want Holliday signed long term. I don't care what it takes, he is the face of the franchise, and you cannot let him walk. Depending on how Stewart's transition to 2b goes, I think you resign Atkins as well. If Stewart proves he can't handle 2b, then you need to sign Matsui also. There is no one ready on the farm to take over, and their is no better Free Agent option either. At catcher, you have to give Ianetta a shot, and I don't think Yorvit will be worth the money he commands. Bring in a backup and let it be know to Hurlde that Ianetta is the starter from day one. CF came up lame this post season. Taveras isn't the answer, and I would like to see Spilly and Smith get some playing time next year.

Fuentes... I think he has to go. At this point he's nothing but a LOOGY, and he will be over priced at that. He blew too many games in the offseason, and he couldn't hold it close when we needed him to. He's not the same pitcher he was, and honestly he was nothing more then above average to begin with.

So with that 70 million, I think we need to spend on getting Holliday, Atkins and Cook signed long term, then we need to get some good RP. I don't care if your paying 3-5 million for a middle reliever. Get Herges and Hawkins back, call up Morrilo, and get one or two more people for the back of pen. I havn't looked at options yet, but this is a must. I don't think you need to keep Fogg. He's pitched above his head in the stretch, but he's basically close to replacement level. Next years rotation needs to look like this:

Francis
Cook
Jimenez
FA
Hirsh

Keep Morales on the farm to start off with, and lets get some guy on a 2 year deal. Maybe Jennings could have a nice home coming, again I havn't looked at to many names, but that could be a starting point.

Lineup:

Kaz
Tulo
Holliday
Helton
Atkins
Hawpe
Spilly/Smith
Ianetta

or if Stewart is ready at 2b

Spilly/Smith
Tulo
Holliday
Helton
Atkins
Hawpe
Stewart
Ianetta.

Either one looks very good.

Today might sting a bit, but we will be back. We have a championship to defend, and I think our guys in purple should do well.

One a parting note. The season before the Broncos won the Super Bowl, they lost in their first round of the playoffs. That offseason they changed their uniforms, and Logo, and low and behold, they won back to back. The key to winning next year is in the Uniforms they wear. Its time to change, when we are on a national stage, we shouldn't be caught dead in the black embarrassment that they wear now.

I'm thinking something like a Forest green and Purple to match the seats at Coors would look really well. Get it done Dan

Everyone Said

wolf213 — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 00:28:40 -0000

Everyone said that we were done...

That in the middle of september, the Rockies were done... they were wrong.

Everyone said... that the rockies had no chance against Peavy and the padres in the tiebreaker game... they were wrong.

Everyone said... that the Phillies lineup would destroy the Rockies Pitching, and many predicted the Phillies in 4.... they were wrong.

Everyone said... that Webb was going to be to much for the Rockies, and that D-Backs would win the series.... they were wrong.

Now Everyone is saying that the Rockies don't stand a chance against the Red Sox....

so who wants to be wrong again?