By this time next week, we'll be hearing all about spring workouts and which of the myriad rotation candidates are in the best shape of their lives, etc. Normally, this is one of my least favorite times of the baseball calendar, because at this point there is little to be decided in spring and yet much is written about things that will have no bearing on the upcoming season. After all, in recent years the Rockies have gone into Spring Training with the roster pretty much set outside of a couple of reserves.

This year though, 60% of the Opening Day rotation, 3 bullpen slots, and 4 out of the 5 bench position slots are wide open. Plus, we'll get to see how top prospects like Nolan Arenado, Chad Bettis, and Tim Wheeler fare in big league camp. In other words, this spring I might actually be paying serious attention to the typical fluff pieces in the early going. After all, there are so many viable rotation candidates and the Rockies only have a few weeks to properly evaluate the talent. At the same time, fans will be evaluating the many new faces on the Rockies, identifying their own favorites for the rotation and spotting the future stars in camp.

Here are the 5 players that I'll be paying the most attention to during Spring Training:

1. Nolan Arenado

I think that this will be true for nearly every Rockies fan with a passing knowledge of the farm system. Up until now, the 20 year-old Arenado has spent his time out of the public eye down in single A. But after his fantastic 2011 season, in which he led all of the minor leagues in RBIs then won the AFL MVP award, Arenado has been made a consensus top 25 prospect in baseball. There's been talk of him getting a real shot at the Opening Day job at 3B despite his never playing above High A, so it will be very interesting to see how true that talk is.

David Schoenfield of ESPN's Sweetspot wrote about the poor state of 3B in MLB last year--and third happens to be Colorado's weakest position at the moment, so a breakout by Arenado would truly be a welcome sight.

2. Juan Nicasio

Quite frankly, Nicasio is neck and neck (too soon?) with Arenado for the best story in camp -- and he runs away with the most inspirational story. Just six months ago, there were questions about whether Nicasio would ever walk again, much less pitch at the major league level, but Nicasio's rapid progress has been miraculous. In fact, it's the most Disney story to happen to the Rockies since 2007, if not ever. La Violencia is favored to make the starting rotation, and I know a lot of fans that will be rooting for him to do so.

3. Drew Pomeranz

Of Colorado's back-end rotation candidates this year, none has a higher ceiling than Pomeranz. The 23 year-old southpaw was moderately impressive in his rookie cameo, showing that he was polished enough to pitch in the Show. Pomeranz is the most visible reminder to Colorado fans that Ubaldo Jimenez is no longer with the team, so fairly or not, he's got to shoulder the burden of replacing a star pitcher who might be the most beloved in team history. It's a tough task, and I'm not sure that Pomeranz will be up to it. I certainly hope that he is.

Off-topic.

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I scream. You scream. We all scream, for....we all hate the offseason and want to see baseball already.

The Rockies have the potential to taste the postseason with their current roster, it seems. The key to reaching that potential is.....*drumroll*....the young rotation. (Shocking I know). As much as we write about Jhoulys Chacin and Drew Pomeranz - their pitches' movement, their statistics, their prospect standings, their weight - all that matters is their production level. We are rapidly approaching the time where that is the only topic we have left to talk about (finally).

Until then,...we still get the features covering those topics. Pitchers and catchers report Sunday. While we wait, more standard offseason links...

Troy Renck blogged his response to Jhoulys Chacin's response to Dan O'Dowd's comments to Renck. Yeah. Sometimes it is difficult to know how much weight to give to a particular issue, but I think we are sufficiently down the rabbit hole at this point. It will all go away if he pitches well.

Renck focuses on Drew Pomeranz, who is confident he will be in the Opening Day rotation and stick there. Confidence is a good thing. We will see soon if he has the other necessary things. I think he does.

You're in the mood for a Spring Training preview aren't you? Joey Nowak provides a solid offseason review and season preview in depth for MLB.com.

Baseball Prospectus | Future Shock: Top 101 Prospects Kevin Goldstein produced his Top 100 101 prospect list. The Rockies have a strong showing with 5 of the 101 prospects on the list: OF Tim Wheeler (97), RHP Chad Bettis (79), C Wilin Rosario (61), LHP Drew Pomeranz (34) and 3B Nolan Arenado (20). Goldstein notes that all of those players would get bumped down one spot, now that Yoenis Cespedes has signed with Oakland. With Cespedes sliding into the #20 spot, Arenado moves to 21. Does that mean Arenado would be worth just under $36million on the open market?

More Links After the Jump

Off-Topic

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Welcome to the first 2012 edition of Purple Row Radio! Be especially sure to welcome Paul Agnello, aka "Resolution", to the podcast as our official third co-host.

On this edition, Andrew, Paul and I discuss the following topics and more:
- Andrew has a lot to say about Juan Pierre.
- Catching up on the 2011/12 offseason.
- The Jeremy Guthrie trade.
- What is to come for pitchers like Esmil Rogers and Josh Roenicke, who are on the bubble, plus how the Rockies may try to stash rotations candidates in the bullpen instead of the minors.
- The recent accusations towards Jhoulys Chacin, and similar stories from the past.

You can subscribe to the podcast by going to this feed. Our iTunes feed appears to still be completely malfunctioning, and later on, we'll try to fix that up.

You can download the file directly from the link below. If you would like to listen in your browser, click onto the other end of the jump for an embedded player.

Purple Row Radio - February 13, 2012

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Team chemistry is one of the most underrated, yet important aspects of a team sport. Although it is also much less relevant than home runs and strikeouts, it can impact your team on a deeper scale. Unfortunately, you cannot practice team chemistry, you cannot build team chemistry (literally anyway), and sacrificing the quality of your team for a group of best friends will get you fired. A manager is left with the daunting responsibility of fielding a winning team and maintaining/creating good team chemistry.

Although good team chemistry can be a great thing, and underrated, it is oftentimes overrated. Good team chemistry can make a good team better, but good team chemistry cannot make a bad team good (Unless your manager is Gordon Bombay). Bad team chemistry can make a bad team worse, and a even make a good team bad. As a player in the Colorado Rockies organization, I was a part of both good and bad team chemistry.

As a fan, you get to see everyone on their best behavior. Most players aren't going to argue and settle their differences in the dugout or on the field (if you do want to see that though, tune in to the Miami Marlins this season), but it certainly happens in the clubhouse and behind closed doors. When you put a group of guys from all different walks of life, in a small room or bus, without air conditioning, with small seats, tempers will flare, and words will be exchanged. It's the ugly head that only makes an appearance when the proverbial cup "runneth over".

Now, while I didn't spend much time at the big league level (or any, for that matter), I was still able to see how team chemistry is different at that level. The Colorado Rockies have/had a strong core when it comes to team chemistry. It was a very inviting and laid back atmosphere that spring training (2010), but at the same time you were expected to get your work done, and do it the right way.

Manager Jim Tracy was the confident and focused leader. He made it known what he expected from his players and made sure that everyone took the necessary steps to make it happen. Ubaldo Jimenez led by example. Jason Giambi and Todd Helton had fun, yet worked harder than most everyone else. Troy Tulowitzki has that godlike aura around him; he could make stubbing his toe look pretty cool. Matt Belisle, Matt Daley, Huston Street and Jason Hammel were always readily available to give some guidance or advice to a rookie. Seemingly great team chemistry, saddening end results for the Rockies faithful.

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The meme off the 2011 offseason was "Acquire All The Young Arms", given that the Rockies traded half of the 2011 team away for seemingly their weight in cost-controlled pitching. As a result, the Rockies are going to have many young pitchers and Jamie Moyer competing for 5 rotation spots. Also bullpen spots. Also, to be the next callup from Colorado Springs.

It's always a little amusing to think about players fighting for the spots deeper in the depth charts, but the reality is that these guys have a good chance of seeing major league action this season.

Despite adding a likely 200IP in Jeremy Guthrie, the Rockies will still have question marks on where their innings are going to come from. Jorge De La Rosa won't be overworked, especially coming off of Tommy John Surgery, and as such is going to miss over 2 months' worth of starts. Jhoulys Chacin, fitness level aside, will have to overcome his 2nd half bout of wildness in 2011 if he wants to consume a top-of-the-rotation starter's worth of innings. For Chacin, it will really revolve around attacking hitters, a quality that made him stand out as a 16-year old trying out for the Rockies. Not purely in terms of walk numbers either, but also strikes thrown in general. Fewer deep counts will mean more pitches to throw to batters in the 7th.

Past those three, we've heard talk that the Rockies are going to have to be creative in managing Alex White and Drew Pomeranz' inning loads. This probably means just skipping starts, because we want them available later in the season if they're doing well and the Rockies are in a playoff hunt. Juan Nicasio seems to be a lock for the Rotation, but there's no guarantee that we'll be looking at the same level of performance from 2011.

Patrick Saunders suggests that the top 5 in the Rockies rotation look to be:

Jeremy Guthrie

Jhoulys Chacin

Drew Pomeranz

Juan Nicasio

Guillermo Moscoso

Alex White, Esmil Rogers, Tyler Chatwood, Jamie Moyer, and Josh Outman are also going to be competing for that "6th man" spot and the next available depth spot for the rotation. This is one of the best parts of having Colorado Springs just 90 minutes South of Denver, being able to call up depth on a near-whim. Should the Rockies get home to Denver and Drew Pomeranz is slated to start after making 5 straight starts, I wouldn't be surprised to see the Rockies give Tyler Chatwood or Josh Outman a call and Pomeranz the evening off.

Off Topic

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This article also appears in the Venezuelan newspaper Meridiano. - RRC

When you talk to Jhoulys Chacin, his voice is calm and shows no signs of fueling the recent controversy over his weight, and his offseason training in Venezuela.

The pitcher has been recently in the news because of recent statements made by Rockies GM Dan O'Dowd and reported by The Denver Post. O'Dowd was upset and claimed Chacin arrived to the United States overweight.

"I came to Arizona this past Monday. I have not stopped training during the winter, both in my country and here. I have always done the best job I could all throughout these past few months," Chacin said. "I don't know where these comments came from, I believe they're the result of what other people have told him, instead of his own personal evaluation".

Chacin comes to Arizona with all spotlights set on him: 53 Major League starts over three seasons made him one of the top hurlers for Colorado. In 2011, Chacin had a 11-14 record with a 3.62 ERA, after experiencing a rollercoaster of a season: his pitching was top notch at the season's start, then flopped after becoming the rotation's ace due to the trade which sent Ubaldo Jimenez to the Cleveland Indians.

O'Dowd claimed Chacin reported to Arizona weighing 218 pounds. The pitcher has different data.
"I reported to Spring Training last year at 228 pounds. I am currently at 226. That's two less pounds than last year," Chacin said.

"Actually, I finished last season at 230 pounds. So I am four pounds lighter than in September. I am looking forward to meeting O'Dowd personally and I am confident that he will have a different conclusion after a first-hand evaluation. He will realize he made conclusions based on incorrect claims made by other people," the pitcher said.

One of the issues is on the table due to O'Dowd's recent claims is the fact Chacin traveled to his native Venezuela throughout the winter instead of staying in the United States. The player does not consider it a decisive factor.

"There's a myth in the baseball world which states Latin players do not work at their hardest during the winter. We return to our home countries and people think all we do is party. That couldn't be further from the truth. Yes, we do take some time off and relax like everyone does. But we are aware of our duties; we are professionals and stay active. We keep ourselves in training and respect the recommendations our organizations make so we can improve ourselves. I have not done anything different to what I did last year," Chacin said.

After finishing the 2010 season, Chacin decided to adopt the same conditioning and nutrition plans set for his former teammate Jimenez. The Rockies decided to focus on his agility and athletics, instead of bulking an already large build.
This year, the Maracaibo native also has focused on one of the things he needs to address: a fastball that has not been as consistent as needed.

"One of the things I have worked on strongly is a better fastball. I have over a month working specifically on that, I believe this is important so I can have more innings pitched under my belt," Chacin said.

"I believe we will put this issue to rest after I get to meet personally with management. Spring Training is just around the corner. I don't believe this will be a major issue. I know I have done my best work possible; and I'm aware of my responsibilities and the tasks I have ahead of me".