Sunday Rockpile: Don't you just love it when a plan comes together? Rockies acquire Marco Scutaro

the talent’s there with the pitchers, it’s just a matter of whether the skills and command will be developed enough, and if not, if the offense has enough punch to carry the load anyway. If the Rockies were only facing playoff worthy pitching through the season, it would be a tough call, but there will be enough contests with the bottom feeders that I just don’t see how this lineup if healthy can’t be in the thick of things. Come September or October we better hope the pitching has developed or we won’t get very far if we do make the playoffs, but for just a general “Good enough to compete?” question, I think the answer’s yes.

They all have that upside. And the NL west is winnable by every team every year. There are no Yankees or Red Sox who have a stranglehold on the division indefinitely.

We really just need Pomeranz to be like 2011 Nicasio for a full season, and improvements from Chacin, Hammel, Nicasio, and a slight drop from JDLR. The other starter just needs to be league average. This scenario is a West-winning scenario, though it is unlikely.

As for me I would much rather field a team with a solid every-day lineup with a rotation of young pitchers with upside than a pieced together lineup of AAAA guys and a rotation of older “name” starters that are trying to squeeze one more year of productivity out of their rotator cuffs and ulnar nerves. Unless we were going to do what it took to get someone like Gio Gonzalez I am thrilled with what they have done this offseason.

This should be a fun year with talent still coming up in the next couple of years.

It’s a good week to be a Rockies fan.

people show up with these noisy instruments

“I thought you said it was Vuvuzela Day!”

I momentarily considered telling him that he should root for the Rockies.

that your #2 hitter is more valuable than your leadoff hitter.

he should improve his stealing and strikeouts (which he did in the 2nd half), but he had a career high OBP last year. I’m comfortable with him leading off

several commenters are confused what the rockies are doing, paying a shortstop $6mil to be Tulo’s backup instead of applying it to a position of need. /facepalm

This is what I’ve been praying (not Tebowing) for. A balanced batting order with both contact and a reasonable thump that’s not a bunch of one trick ponies. It remains to be seen if this unit will gel; however this seems a lot more like the right track.

Barring injury and total lack of developement among all the young arms and prospects; this looks and feels more like what the Twins were supposed to be before they lost their track. I say this not because we added Cuddyer; but we caused a team transformation to acquieing players like Cuddyer’s become.

I also think you guys are discount the presence of Moyer too much. If Giambi is our hitting sage; Moyer is or pitching sage. If Dac needs a counterpoint; it’s changing speeds and making use of the whole zone. Lacheman said it when he left the org, and Moyer presence an Mosocso’s Prove to me the Monforts want to see a different path than what we’ve been seeing the last seven or so years. They’ve tasted the last recicpe and decided they didn’t like it.

Mostly because I want a good defensive replacement on the bench. Nelson and EY are not that.

Due to age. The rest should be everyday guys.

I have yet to see any comment that suggests the team is a lock to win the division, just that it helps place them back in the contention conversation. That’s a big difference. Granted, if he were a Giant, we here would down play it a bit (that’s normal), but I think we have enough perspective to note he’d be a big upgrade from Crawford. Any comment I’ve seen about the rotation is just merely hopeful.

we’re allowed to be stoked over any improvement at 2B.

I made a similar type of comment yesterday.

But I get the excitement over this deal. I think people are more responding to the idea that we addressed the black hole in our lineup moreso than we acquired Marco Scutaro, who is a fine player but is still only Marco Scutaro and never to be confused with, say, Robinson Cano.

Compared to the past decade of 2B around here, Scutaro is Robinson Cano.

it is a big deal considering our woes at 2b.

he’s gotten a pretty bad rap for sucking in his first major league season in the worst ballpark to pitch in. Him, Pomeranz, Arenado, and healthy Nicasio/JDLR are leaving us pretty good for 2013, if not 2012…

both could have been fair, although we wouldn’t have taken the whole contract at that point either

Basically, they are referring to the kind of moment we here at PR had upon hearing of this trade.

and said “this is where we are at now. Time to clap”

That Scutaro, Outman, and Moscoso for Smith and Mortenson is the better deal than Smith and Wheeler/Blackmon for just Prado.

That said, sometimes I do find myself favoring upside type deals. And to that I that end I think Prado offers the greatest upside of all the players mentioned and I would have favored making a less favorable type deal to have acquired him. Not sure I would have done Smith and Wheeler for Prado over the current deals but I definitely would have done Smith and Blackmon and another lesser type piece. Maybe this wasn’t an option and the Rockies would have had to pay more, making this a moot point, and then I am back to saying not worth it.

Anyways, I do like these deals and I am not knocking them by any means. And I do think you are right that these deals did offer the best value between cost and return.

but Welcome to PR

But it’s a minor league deal so it does look like he played his cards wrong (assuming the Rockies offered him a guaranteed deal).

very sad ending for him and his family

Blake will still be backed up by Chris Nelson, with Arenado waiting in the wings and Scutaro will be backed up by Herrera/Nelson with Rutledge/Field sitting at AA/AAA. Even Cuddyer has Blackmon backing him up and Tim Wheeler and Kent Matthes waiting for their shot.

A year ago very few people expected Blackmon and Nicasio to be in the majors this year. There’s always young guys who make major strides in their development and shoulder their way into the majors. The older players are just insurance until it happens so we don’t have to rely on Jonny Herrera and EY2 as starters like last year.