Colorado Rockies: Trevor Story is the standard for NL shortstops | Rox Pile
Around this time of year, it can be easy to get swept up in trade talks and free agent rumblings. But let’s not forget to look back at an excellent season that provided its fair share of exciting moments. Colorado Rockies’ shortstop Trevor Story provided a lot of those moments in 2018, as Rox Pile’s Luke Mullins reminds us. We get a look at how the 26-year-old dominated on offense, defense and on the basepaths (nearly producing a 30-30 season) en route to becoming arguably the best shortstop in the National League. Here’s to another chapter in 2019!
BSN Rockies Podcast: The virtue of going “all in” | BSN Denver
In the latest episode of the BSN Rockies podcast, Drew Creasman discusses whether or not it would be tactful for the Rockies to go “all in” this offseason, given the options available. Plus, what would the lineup look like if the Rockies brought in an offensively gifted catcher like JT Realmuto or Wilson Ramos?
Reactions from Mike Hazen on the Paul Goldschmidt trade | AZ Snake Pit
The Diamondbacks made a franchise-altering move on Tuesday, dealing first baseman Paul Goldschmidt to the Cardinals for two top 100 prospects (catcher Carson Kelly and starting pitcher Luke Weaver), a low-level minor league utility man (Andrew Young) and a Competitive Balance Round B pick (after the second round of the June Draft). Jack Sommers of AZ Snake Pit breaks down comments general manager Mike Hazen had about the trade, including the rationale and the package coming to Phoenix.
Stark: What would happen if baseball killed the shift? Support for the idea is building inside the game | The Athletic ($)
Jayson Stark of The Athletic believes that it’s time for Major League Baseball to show that, like the NFL and NBA, it’s not averse to making changes. After talking to coaches and executives around the game, Stark is sure that “The Shift Epidemic” is compounding “The Launch Angle” epidemic and thus the shift must be banned.
It’s odd to me that people consider “launch angle” to be an epidemic, but I guess some people find ground ball singles more interesting than home runs and I’ll just have to accept that. It’s also interesting to me that a sports team, a concept that is intended to use all of its assets to be competitive, would choose to make the game easier for the opposition (which is what batting the shift would do). But I digress…