Wednesday Morning Rockpile:

In Troy Renck's article I linked to below, he mentions that the BK to Oakland rumor seems dead in the water after a solid outing by Joe Kennedy yesterday on a day when not many pitchers in Arizona could duplicate that accomplishment. Renck's been on the record that he thinks the Rockies will finish last in the division again this year, and the body of today's article begins to indicate why he takes this stance. It's easy to get swayed by the big names in rotations around the division and see the Rockies as inferior. I won't argue that the five pitchers we have starting aren't inferior. I will argue that the difference isn't nearly as big as it's made out to be, as age, durability and depth are going to play big factors this season for our major rivals. Dex at Gaslamp Ball noticed how our stressing of quantity over quality at the bottom of the rotation this season actually figures to make an impact. The tank of a lineup is this team's strength, but the rotation could be the bumbling assassin that the rest of the division will take for granted until it's too late.

Dayn Perry ranks the NL West teams as follows in his pre-season PowerRankings:

7. Arizona
   
9. San Diego
   
18. Los Angeles
    
19. Colorado
    
24. San Francisco

I just want to make sure it's on record. Arizona has the talent to win the division, sure, but their inexperience on offense is going to make them prone to streaks. I could see them winding anywhere from one to five, but my call is four. He underrates LA and Colorado severely. Ned Colletti isn't the dimwit he's painted to be by some of late, and is building a finisher in the mode of the Astros or Twins rather than a frontrunner. Be very wary of the Dodgers from about mid-season on. San Diego, meanwhile might get a good start, but watch for their team to fade late in the year. Colorado will rise or fall on whether they can extract a couple of adequate seasons worth of pitching from the posse they have behind Francis and Cook. I think they'll pull it off eventually, but I'm not expecting a quick start. San Fran, meanwhile will have a contender if Barry Bonds plays at least 150 games. I think you can add a game behind the eventual NL West champion for every game below that 150 figure Barry plays.

Update [2007-3-28 10:20:50 by Rox Girl]:

Whoops, I saw this link earlier, just forgot to include it. The Rockies are apparently interested in White Sox knuckleballer Charlie Haeger. That would be an interesting pick-up, as pre-humidor knuckleballers were particularly ill-suited for Coors, but now, who knows?

Update [2007-3-28 16:39:54 by malakian]:

Jeff Salazar was claimed off waivers by the Diamondbacks.