may be one of the problems, resulting in Tulo trying too hard to make things happen too quickly, which is how I think he got into his funk this year.

I wish they’d stop with the Tulo chant, to be quite honest with you. It annoys me anyway, and probably just hypes up the pitcher he’s facing to want to get him out even more.

Right now I’m going to chalk up the whole Tulo season to the dreaded “sophomore Slump”, and I think Tulo will not only persevere, but also come out stronger for the experience. I admit however, that is not a foregone conclusion. While I generally liked the extension, you could have certainly made the argument then that there is no need to hand out long term extensions to rookies as policy. This seemed like an acceptable exception at the time, and I’m not going to second guess management there…... Too much. The other thing I try to remind myself, is that Tulo actually started out last year looking pretty over-matched. The maturity issue is new this year, but if there was one guy on the team that I think could work through that, it’s Tulo.
As for Ianetta….. I say give him the bulk of the playing time the rest of the year and see what happens. His defense bothers me a little bit, but otherwise I think he’s going to be an average to above average catcher for quite some time. Barring injuries of course, which is a reality for anyone behind the plate. I just don’t know that he’s the superstar-in-training that Tulo seems/seemed to be last year though, so any contract extension would have to be less pressing in my book.

by Hurdle on TBS’s All-Star selection show tofay. Did anyone else see it?

Clint was asked about the Tulo injury, and he said he met privately with Tulo, didn’t go into any detail on that conversation, but said that as far as he was concerned, Tulo “let his team down” by behaving that way. I thought Clint’s tone was pretty angry, and got the feeling there may be some hard feelings between him and Tulo right now.

Hurdle has blasted players to the press in the past, but I’m sort of surprised he would do it to Tulo in front of a national television audience today. I feel bad for Tulo now.

Tulo is a young kid and his maturity has not caught up to his game maturity, and I’ll even cut Hurdle slack because he should know his players well enough to know what he needs to do to further his development. The enviable position the Rockies have is that Ianetta, Barmes and Quintanilla all deserve playing time and decent contracts. They are really good, so how do you satisfy that? Then you add Baker and you have a jam of monumental proportions. If this is really a regrouping year then I say do some radical trading now, let these guys get the playing time they deseve, and invest in the Rockies future by getting pitching, the only position they don’t have an abundance.

Lots of questions about the Tulo signing now after this season’s disappointment, but not too many had my back in January when almost all the press and reaction otherwise was as positive as could be. It was blasphemy.

Everybody - the team especially - was in a state of wonderland. They could do nothing wrong, or so they thought, but just about everything done this off-season has gone wrong. Including something that was so universally applauded for such a great kid.

The Rockies preached PATIENCE for years going down bumpy roads, but once it became smooth sailing that map went out the window. Two months later, they go handing out huge checks that aren’t quite earned yet beyond what anybody else in the game had done to that point. Seven months later, it almost feels like we’re getting ready to pull the plug on this group of players everyone was so excited about as trade winds swirl. What happened to patience?

There were warning signs about Tulo’s offense last year. To me anyway as I argued a good chunk of the winter. Certainly it could be argued that the talent is there to erase those questions down future roads, but that’s a a high price for speculation that hadn’t been proven yet. Certainly hasn’t been answered yet, and a strong bat has to be part of the record-breaking financial package because defense alone doesn’t cost that much.

As much as I swam against the tide when the signing happened, I also think the predictable media reaction now is overblown. Tulo’s their guy now. They didn’t have to do it just yet but now that they have crowned him with such importance within the organization, fans of the team have to hope that he bounces back strongly from this disappointing season and that these experiences and lessons learned drive him toward even higher accomplishments in the future. It certainly can, as he hopefully has a very bright future still ahead.

I don’t mind the emotional outburst as much as some. His fire and attitude initially was a much needed addition to the team and helped change the clubhouse culture. That’s great on a winner, but as he’s seeing it needs to be controlled—especially as a team leader to keep the team going through the hard times that everyone faces.

If Tulo was having a common sophomore slump as a minimum contract youngster, it isn’t that big of a deal and just part of the process for many on their way to stardom. Put $31 million on it for a team that pinches every penny, and that’s a pressure that didn’t need to be applied yet. It also creates the almost inevitable other shoe falling, where you are first glorified in print and then a target for criticism afterwards as icons are built up and brought down. Everything gets magnified.

Iannetta’s seemingly the young star for this team now in the lineup, but he disappointed in early returns himself and needed some additional patience with another chance. I wasn’t a huge fan of the patience plan over the many long years of franchise and fanbase obliteration, but that’s the path chosen and it eventually got them down that long road to success. The organization needs to remember what got them here and not react so strongly to either extreme situations as that usually gets them into trouble.