And coming off a year where he had some major back issues of his own that limited him to less than 150 AB’s. And while those 150 AB’s were great, I’m seeing shades of Clint Barmes’ venison injury in this in that they apparently have the Dodgers overvaluing what he’s actually going to give them next year.

Spilborghs will fill one outfield slot just fine. Why I don’t think we should trade Holliday is because I don’t see Spilly filling two. And while Seth Smith might rise to a starting caliber, it’s safer for the team to keep Holliday until at least July to see if he does. Will that limit our return for Matt? Yeah, but it will also not open a gigantic hole in the lineup for next season that we don’t have to open. If Los Angeles signs Manny plus a Sabathia or Sheets, unloads Pierre or Jones and draws in Orlando Hudson to play second, then the Rockies should absolutely trade Matt, but right now I see the positives of keeping him outweigh all but the most ridiculous offers.

It will be easier to fill that prospect need

Hawpe has a nice, arm in RF, but I wouldn’t call it a cannon right now. It was, but not sure it hasn’t dropped off a little. He takes terrible routes to balls. And he’s not getting in younger, and his range which was never great seems to be starting to drop . He’s a better 1b candidate than Atkins because he is left handed, AND because he is more athletic.

At a certain point, the Rockies really need to trade these major league players into more prospects if they are to follow the build with-in model. Atkins is the odd man out. With Stewart at 3rd, and Atkins lack of athleticism in the field either at 3rd or 1st, he has the most value in a trade. Is Atkins a good hitter? Yes! that’s why he has value, and should bring back some players. Atkins was a terrible defensive 3rd baseman, that became fair. Playing 1st so far this year, he’s back to terrible. Given his age, I don’t see him becoming even fair at first. In fact the more I’ve seen him in the field, the more I think he’s a DH in the making.

Oh, and I don’t think Joe Koshanski is an quality option either at first. He’s old to be a “prospect” and he’s got too long and slow of a swing for the major’s

those prevented by his arm, but admittedly it’s not like Spilborghs has been that much better in right field this season. Given his skillset, Spilly should be better in right going forward though, and gets much better reads typically off the bat than Brad does. The few plays per season where a cannon in right field is necessary just probably aren’t worth emphasizing over the many plays where a gazelle would be preferred.

Fowler’s MLB transition issues shouldn’t hurt us much if Tulo comes back. The terrible T’s (Tulo, Taveras and our early over reliance on Torrealba) were what made Jayson Nix’s struggles that much harder to bear. If Tulo and Baker or Barmes (or a better outside option?) can provide at least average offensive production, the Rockies will be able to weather a difficult transition by Dex. If not, that much more pressure’s going to be put on him, and at that point you’ve just got to send him to the Springs.

by insurance, moreso than huge pitching contracts I imagine, as there’s less risk typically with position players, but I bet it’s sort of like a mattress warranty in that the further you get from the date of purchase, the smaller the portion of the contract that’s insurable.

As much as it hurts to admit it, the Rockies will always be at best the NL version of the Minnesota Twins for the foseeable future. Developing quality talent to star talent and seeing them leave for greener pastures. Constantly having to backfill through shrewd moves and a productive farm system to stay competitive.

Several teams have tried this “model” of building a team. Baseball has a huge issue with money disparity there are 2 classes, a haves and a have-not class. The Rockies seem to be in the Have-not class. There is little to no money for anything. The Rockie have stepped up to around the league average payroll this last year of around $75 million, which isn’t much per player considering there are 25 players, plus, those with major league contracts in the minors. It means there just isn’t room for a 21 million per year for 7 year deal (cough Holliday cough),

But lets look at the teams that use the “cheap-O” model. The Indians, The Twins, The Royals, The Rays, the A’s in the American, In the National League: The Rockies, the D-Backs, the Padres, the Reds, the Pirates, the Brewers, the Phillies, the Nationals, the Marlins, plus new converts the Cardinals, the Braves, and the Orioles.

But lets look at the teams that are consistently over the last 5 years, Division Winners (03,04,05,06.07)
AL East; New York Yankees 4 times
AL West: Los Angeles Angels 3 times Oakland 2 times
AL Central: Minnesota 3 times
NL E Atlanta (while still having a payroll of over $100million) 3 times
NL Central: St. Louis 3 times, but the Chicago Cubs 2 times
the NL west, had the best parity, 4 different division winners, and 2 wild card teams
Speaking of the Wild Card: Boston, 3 time winner

Does that mean money is the answer? Well, not if you are the New York Mets, Detroit Tigers, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Fransisco Giants, the Seattle Mariners or the Texas Rangers. And of this list, the Tigers want to get below 100 mil, the Mariners would like to get below 100 mil and I know the Rangers have cut payroll considerably over the last few years and are near the league average, (maybe below.)

Besides the the Twins, no small payroll team has been a consistent division winner. Oakland did it twice, and St. Louis could be considered one of the few middle class teams usually with a payroll around $90 give or take did it 3 times. The window for the “have-nots” is small. They have to get a lot of quality young players in a short period of time, and then turn them before they hit free agency years, at the same time replacing them with equal quality players. It’s very hard to do. To make it work there has to be a dedication of the organization to draft and sign the best players. And then once in, they have to be developed by the best coaches. And since the window is so small, that development has to occur at the major league level as well as the minors. I’ve not seen this full dedication to the plan from the Rockies.

Now the best model for success: the Braves (before being sold) and the Red Sox. Develop a bunch of players, re-sign a few key players, let a few walk. If you have a hole, either trade for with some prospects, are just sign a free agent to plug the hole. Use both money, AND the minors to their fullest.

Brains plus money is a scary combo. Personally I look at the Rockies organization, and see too little of either.