Predicting the 25 Man Opening Day Roster

C: Wilin Rosario
1B: Todd Helton
2B: Mark Ellis
SS: Troy Tulowitzki
3B: Jordan Pacheco
OF: Carlos Gonzalez
CF: Dexter Fowler
OF: Michael Cuddyer
BE: Jason Giambi
BE: Charlie Blackmon
BE: Jonathan Herrera
BE: Chris Nelson
BE: Eric Young Jr
 
Opening Day SP: Jhoulys Chacin
P: Ricky Nolasco
P: Jason Hammel
P: Drew Pomeranz
P: Kevin Millwood
P: Edgmer Escalona
P: Matt Reynolds
P: Esmil Rogers
P: Matt Belisle
P: Matt Lindstrom
P: Rex Brothers
CL: Rafael Betancourt

 C: Wilin Rosario
 1B: Todd Helton
 2B: Ben Zobrist
 SS: Troy Tulowitzki
 3B: Evan Longoria
 
 RF: Michael Taylor
 CF: Charlie Blackmon
 LF: Michael Cuddyer

 BE: Jason Giambi
 BE: Jonathan Herrera
 BE: Jordan Pacheco
 BE: Seth Smith
 BE: Ryan Spilborghs
  
 Opening Day SP: David Price
 P: Jhoulys Chacin
 P: Drew Pomeranz
 P: Kevin Millwood
 P: Jason Hammel

 P: Edgmer Escalona
 P: Matt Reynolds
 P: Houston Street
 P: Matt Belisle
 P: Matt Lindstrom
 P: Rex Brothers
 CL: Rafael Betancourt

DOD sends CarGo, Dex and Nolan Arenado to the Rays for Evan Longoria, Ben Zobrist and David Price. Then sends CDI to Oakland for Michael Taylor. They let Ellis go, who is a type B FA, and pick up extra draft pick. They then over pay for Cuddyer and pray he can play in Coors.

The team is now full of gamers. Guys who will go all out to win every game everyday. The rotation get better as the summer rolls in with the returns of JDLR and Nicasio.

C: Chris Iannetta
1B: Todd Helton
2B: Chris Nelson
3B: David Wright
SS: Troy Tulowitzki
LF: Angel Pagan
CF: Dexter Fowler
RF: Carlos Gonzalez

BN: Jason Giambi
BN: Jordan Pacheco
BN: Charlie Blackmon
BN: Johnny Herrera
BN: Eric Young, Jr.

SP: Jhoulys Chacin
SP: Mark Buehrle
SP: Drew Pomeranz
SP: Alex White

SP/RP: Jason Hammel
SP/RP: Kevin Millwood

RP: Matt Belisle
RP: Esmil Rogers
RP: Matt Lindstrom
RP: Matt Reynolds
RP: Rex Brothers
RP: Rafael Betancourt

We trade for Rosario, Smith, Stewart, and Friedrich to the Mets for Wright and Pagan. Wigginton and Street are traded, either together or independently, for prospects and salary relief, the money from which is chiefly used on the surprise signing of Mark Buehrle.

C: Chris Iannetta
1B: Todd Helton
2B: Ryan Theriot
SS: Troy Tulowitzki
3B: Ian Stewart/Jordan Pacheco
 
RF: Carlos Gonzalez
CF: Dexter Fowler
LF: Seth Smith/Matt Diaz

BE: Jason Giambi
BE: Jordan Pacheco
BE: Chris Nelson
BE: Wilin Rosario
BE: Matt Diaz
  
Opening Day SP: Jhoulys Chacin
 SP: Drew Pomeranz
 SP: Jake Westbrook
 SP: Alex White
 
SP/RP: Jason Hammel
SP/RP: Kevin Millwood

RP: Matt Reynolds
RP: Matt Belisle
RP: Esmil Rodgers
RP: Matt Lindstrom
RP: Rex Brothers
CL: Rafael Betancourt

O’Dowd sends Street and Herrera to St. Louis for Westbrook and Theriot. This lands us inexpensive pitching and a cheap alternative to Mark Ellis. Wigginton is sent to the Braves for Diaz for some outfield depth. Both trades provide some salary dump for the 2013 free agent class and fill some holes. A platoon of Stewart and Pacheco at third provides some stability while Diaz fills in for Seth Smith against lefties.

Come the summer De la Rosa and hopefully Nicasio will revitalize a suddenly venomous rotation of young guns to complement a potent offense to make 2012 a solid year for the Rockies.

Lineup:
CF Dexter Fowler S
2B Mark Ellis R
LF Carlos Gonzalez L
SS Troy Tulowitzki R
1B Todd Helton L
RF Michael Cuddyer R
3B Ian Stewart L
C Chris Iannetta R
Bench:
C Wilin Rosario R
1B Jason Giambi L
IF Chris Nelson R
2B/OF Eric Young Jr S
OF Daniel Nava S
Rotation:
SP Jhoulys Chacin R
SP Edwin Jackson R
SP Drew Pomeranz L
SP Alex White R
SP Jason Hammel R
Bullpen:
SP/RP Esmil Rogers R
RP Michael Bowden R
RP Matt Belisle R
RP Matt Reynolds L
RP Matt Lindstrom R
RP Rex Brothers L
CP Rafael Betancourt R

Explanation: Without a better solution at second base, the Rockies and Ellis compromise with a 1 year, 3.5 million deal with a 4 million mutual option and a 250 K buyout of the option. The Rockies, in a 3 way deal, trade Ty Wigginton to the Mariners for Chone Figgins in a straight up salary swap, then flip him to the Marlins, eating 2 million. Afterwards, they trade Seth Smith and Huston Street to the Red Sox for Lars Anderson, Daniel Nava, Michael Bowden and 5 million dollars. The money saved from Smith, Wigginton and Street allows us to sign Cuddyer. We replace Spilborghs with Nava, and we give Bowden Street’s spot as everyone in the bullpen moves up a spot. Unfortunately, we cannot find a new third baseman so we stick with Stewart for the season with Nelson, who is out of options, as insurance. Cuddyer is signed for 3 years, 27-30 million, and we give Jackson a 4 yr deal worth somewhere between 45-50 million.

As with the lineups, Nelson subs for Stewart and Ellis, while Cuddyer occasionally plays 3B to give Nava and EY2 starts in the outfield. Rosario and Iannetta split the catching job, while Giambi spells for Helton. The organization decides to allow Wheeler and Blackmon to get regular starts in AAA, and Nelson and EY2 make the roster over Pacheco due to option years.Anderson is kept in AAA in case Helton is out for a period of time, as the organization decides to start giving him a possible look as a Helton replacement, though the organization expects Cuddyer to replace him. De la Rosa bumps one of Hammel, White or Pomeranz out of the rotation; whoever isn’t performing up to par. If each are performing well, then one of Bowden or Rogers gets bumped out of the roster. If every single pitching staff member deserves to keep their job, then White or Pomeranz get the 2010 Chacin treatment. The organization plans on Nicasio not returning until Sept 2012 and will only pitch him in the bullpen if he is way ahead of schedule.

The Rockies keep Wiggy’s salary, and the Mariners keep Figgins salary. Effectively, the Mariners eat Figgins deal to have Wiggy as a placeholder until they find someone better to start at 3rd. When the Rockies flip Figgins to the Marlins, they eat 2 million of Wiggintion’s former salary, gaining 2 million in flexibility.

Line-up:
2B – Emilo Bonifacio
CF – Dexter Foxler
LF – Carlos Gonzalez
SS – Troy Tulowitzki
3B – Kevin Youkilis
1B – Todd Helton
C – Chris Iannetta
RF – Charlie Blackmon
Bench:
C – Jordan Pacheco
1B – Jason Giambi
MI – Tommy Field
3B/CI – Alberto Callaspo
OF – Andrew Brown
Rotation:
SP – Mark Buerhle
SP – Jhoulys Chacin
SP – Anibal Sanchez
SP – Drew Pomeranz
SP – Jeff Francis
Bullpen:
CL – Rafael Betancourt
RP – Rex Brothers
RP – Matt Lindstrom
RP – Matt Belisle
RP – Matt Reynolds
RP – Casey Weathers
RP/LR – Clayton Mortensen

Boston sends – Kevin Youkilis
Rockies give up – Huston Street, Seth Smith, Jason Hammel, Tim Wheeler and Joe Gardner. They take major league complimentary pieces to shore up Bullpen, OF and rotation. We take advantage of a huge year by Wheeler and a well thought of pitcher in Gardner for a hugely underrated player in Kevin Youkilis playing 3B and a fair amount of 1B.

Florida sends – Anibal Sanchez and Emilio Bonifacio
Rockies give up – Chris Nelson, Edgmer Escalona, Wilin Rosario, Christain Freidrich and Edwar Cabrera. Marlins like to have young and cheap options and there will have to be a decent prospect haul for Sanchez who has been a good pitcher for a couple of years now. We give up Nelson who still has decent potential but might not find a place on our team next year, Escalona a useful reliever with some good innings under his belt, Rosario a top catching prospect, Freidrich still a mid level pitching prospect and cash in on Cabrera’s value with this years performance.

Angels send – Alberto Callaspo
Rockies give up – Ian Stewart and Corey Dickerson. Stewart needs a change of scenery and maybe California is it.

Rockies sign Buerhle 2years/30M with a club option for a 3rd.
Rockies sign Francis 1year/2M with incentives

Jorge de la Rosa comes in for Pomeranz (to minors) or Francis (to long relief) depending on performance, Nicasio will probably need more evaluation to see if he is ready.

Weathers has a strong AFL and camp to make back end of the pen.

If the Phillies obtain Aramis Ramirez to play third, then Placido Polanco would be available to fill our hole at third. We should make the trade for him. He has one year left on his contract at $6.5 million.

This is how the Rockies lineup would look opening day. We would be trading or releasing; Ian Stewart, Ty Wiggington, Eric Young Jr. (sad to say), Seth Smith and Jonathan Herrera.

1st – Todd Helton
2nd – Mark Ellis
SS – Troy Tulowitzki
3rd – Placido Polanco
C – Chris Iannetta
Left – Carlos Gonzales
Center – Dexter Fowler
Right – Charlie Blakmon
BE – Jordan Pacheco
BE – Ryan Spilborghs
BE – Jason Giambi
BE – Chris Nelson
BE – Andrew Brown

Opening – Jhoulys Chacin
Starting – Paul Maholm
Starting – Alex White
Starting – Juan Nicasio
Starting – Jeff Francis
Relief – Matt Belisle
Relief – Matt Reynolds
Relief – Matt Lindstrom
Relief – Esmil Rogers
Relief – Edgmer Escalona
Relief – Rex Brothers
Closer – Rafael Betancort

DL
Jorge De La Rosa
Casey Weathers

The Rockies should add to their starting pitching to address the youth and inexperience of the in house starters. There is also the injury to De La Rosa, his return will be roughly July, and he will not be 100% until 2013.

The problem is that we can not afford any of the top pitchers either through free agency or in a trade. On the plus side, we have a lot of young, though inexperienced, arms.

Paul Maholm has been a solid starter for Pittsburgh. He is thirty. Last year he started 26 games, went 162 innings and delivered a 3.66 ERA. Not quite Mark Buehrle, but a lot cheaper.

We should also add Jeff Francis. in 2011 he started 31 games for KC, with a 4.82 ERA. He delivered 183 innings. The risk with Francis, given his history, is that he breaks down next year. A risk worth taking. If he can stay health until De La Rosa comes back it will have been worth it. If another pitcher breaks down next year, he can also step in there. He was a great team guy on his first tour here.

Huston Street is traded directly or indirectly for Placido Polanco. We trade or release; Aaron Cook, Kevin Millwood and JC Romero.

We have a number of young arms in the farm system that probably will not be ready at the start of this year. This includes Drew Pomeranz, Christian Friedrich, Tyler Matzek, Peter Tago, Chad Bettis and Clayton Mortensen to name just a few.

This could be a competitive lineup. There is not as much depth as one would like. The budget would be reasonable and we would not have stripped the minors of talent. We would have pitching talent to trade during the year if an injury arose.

Hitting – average, Fielding – excellent, Starting pitching – inexperienced but talented, Relief pitching – strong.

In 2013 Wilin Rosario ( C ), Hector Gomez (2nd) arrive, as will Nolan Arenado (3rd) in 2013 or 2014. The young pitching matures and out of eight to ten young arms the Rockies find five solid starters. A couple of other youngsters make their case as well.

C: Ianetta
1B: Helton
2B: Ellis
SS: Tulowitzki
3B: Stewart
LF: Gonzalez
CF: Fowler
RF: Smith

BE: Rosario
BE: Blackmon
BE: Field
BE: Giambi
BE: Pacheco

SP: Chacin
SP: Pomeranz
SP: White
SP: Hammel
SP: Niemann

RP: Escalona
RP: Reynolds
RP: Brothers
RP: Lindstrom
RP: Belisle
RP: Rogers
RP: Betancourt

Somehow I just have the feeling that the rockies are not going to try to make a big splash in free agency. As 2012 is not a year we are really going to contend in without prospect success, I get the sense they give guys like Blackmon, Field, and Pacheco a chance over guys that don’t really have potential in (Insert FA OF here), Herrera, and Wiggington. This is a lineup that can compete until the help (aka. JDLR, Nicasio, Rutledge, Bettis, Arenado) gets here midseason. And no players that block the way for more talented up and comers. I did add Niemann not sure the package it would take to get him but Wheeler and a low level guy might do it. I also traded Street in this scenario. I have no idea the return, but I just want someone (Brothers gets the shot at CL) else a chance. EY2, Herrera, Nelson, Wiggy, Spilly, Cook, and Millwood,, as well as Romero

…….Will either be sent for a stint in the springs or will not be invited back