Tyler Colvin's breakout has suddenly propelled him ahead of Kyle Parker as the Rockies' organization most noteworthy former Clemson Tiger. Carney Lansford calls the Colvin plus D.J. LeMahieu for Ian Stewart and Casey Weathers trade a steal for the Rockies, and so far that would easily be the front office's best offseason move. Colvin's spending his All Star break at his home in South Carolina doing some fishing according to another local report.
Colvin's emergence and Todd Helton's return from injury have combined to make an interesting playing time decision for Jim Tracy, who now has to figure out how to juggle two relatively lagging but high priced veterans in Helton and Michael Cuddyer with the young and more valuable Colvin. While it should be a relatively easy decision, Colvin should get the most at bats of the three, the politics of money and seniority in the sport could well lead Tracy to make a poor judgment call. His history as a manager, both in Colorado and elsewhere, suggests that we should expect the decision that favors the establishment.
Meanwhile, in Minnesota, reporters smirk at Colorado's lack of desire to trade Cuddyer due to his intangibles and despite his poor first half, while baiting us with Josh Willingham. The Cuddyer contract would be one reason that Colorado ranks relatively poorly in Forbes' list of cost/win efficiency in baseball. A larger reason would be that his performance combined with the rest of the Rockies have produced few wins to begin with.
As an aside on that, something tells me that Bud Selig would never say of the Rockies, "To see that they're No. 27 in the standings is inexcusable." It's okay to call out citizens for not buying into MLB's entertainment industry when it's a high quality product being sold, but not to call out a team and express support for fans when they continue to fiscally prop up a poor quality product on the field. This is just a reminder to never believe that Major League Baseball really cares as much for your experience as a fan as it does for what's in your wallet.
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Carlos Gonzalez is settling into left field, with Dexter Fowler looking more like a long term piece in center than Troy Renck saw him as a couple of months ago. If Colvin shows over the second half that he'll be somewhat consistent, it would seem that there will be at least a couple of seasons for Parker and/or other outfielders to continue to develop before the Rockies need to worry about their offensive production from the veldt.
Troy Tulowitzki made Stephania Bell's first half all injured team.
Two Rockies fans hoping to find tickets were among those spotted in the parking lot at Kauffman Stadium last night by a Kansas City reporter collecting stories about the diverse collection of fans attending the All-Star Game.
Ubaldo Jimenez has apparently turned a corner and Esmil Rogers is helping out with the Indians bullpen according to Terry Pluto.