When Troy Tulowitzki signed his mammoth extension a couple of off-seasons ago, the Rockies almost certainly figured on at least one season that would be more or less 'lost" to injury. This likelihood was simply the law of averages and if by some miracle Tulo did remain healthy for the entire contract, the Rockies would be enjoying a considerable amount of gravy over the meat and potatoes of the contract they signed their shortstop too.

The matter of timing the lost value year to injury during a season when the franchise is looking far from competitive anyway, is a silver lining to an otherwise troubling grey sky overhead. There's no rush now for Tulowitzki to press in his recovery, much like there's no longer any rush to push Nolan Arenado or Drew Pomeranz onto the roster until they too are ready to be stars, no longer any rush to get Jorge De La Rosa back to his full capability to shore up the rotation. The Rockies by virtue of being so terrible have given themselves the luxury of a development season. As a fan, I'd much rather have what Washington, Cincinnati, or Los Angeles have right now, but given that the Rockies do find themselves in the situation they're in, it would behoove them as a franchise to use this time wisely.

That said, Pomeranz doesn't seem like he'll need much more time at all, if his latest outing is any indication.

The Rockies are growing increasingly painful to watch, first it was Miguel Cabrera's mound dribbler heard round the world, and now it's Todd Helton's tap-dance around first. Two Rockies relievers that may be on the trade block had games go in opposite directions. Jeremy Guthrie had a solid effort that might merit him more attention, while Rafael Betancourt's outing wasn't good, even without the Helton error.

Even as Guthrie rumors continue to swirl North of the U.S. border (well, swirl like a toxic cloud nobody wants their team to touch,) the trade that brought him here continues to merit attention for how good it's been for the Orioles.

As the Rockies foray into the four-man rotation draws scrutiny, Tracy Ringolsby rebuts some of the criticism.