We started discussing this in a thread last evening, but the Rockies have made their moves to protect players from the Rule 5 draft coming up in December. Players added to the roster include RHP's Shane Lindsay, Ryan Mattheus and Samuel Deduno, as well as infielders Chris Nelson, Hector Gomez and Eric Young Jr. (who can also be used in the OF). The Rockies had space on their roster for all but one of these six, which necessitated outrighting catcher Edwin Bellorin to Colorado Springs to open the final spot.

I had speculated in August that Bellorin's stock had fallen when the team chose to call up Adam Melhuse instead of him to back-up Chris Iannetta after Yorvit Torrealba got injured. Yesterday's move was the confirmation that I was right. With Michael McKenry ascending the depth chart rapidly, it seems that Bellorin, Rick Guarno and Neil Wilson are having to get out of the way.

As for the six who were protected, there really weren't any surprises given strong fall performances from at least four of them (with the exceptions of Deduno and Gomez), and solid MLB level tools for all six.

Have the Rockies left any critical players exposed to the Rule 5? The team has excelled at identifying who is really of interest to teams around the league, safely letting EY2 and Lindsay go exposed last year at this time without seeing them drafted. This season, there are three players, right-hander Aneury Rodriguez, left-hander Xavier Cedeno (update, these two are ineligible, see comments), and infielder Daniel Mayora, that I could see as possibly desirable, and none of them are of the caliber or have the advanced skills of the six we did protect, so I think the Rockies will probably be safe with that trio. Right-hander Andrew Johnston might be an interesting wildcard, however. He's got some hallmarks of a typical Rule 5 pick (bullpen friendly, one MLB caliber pitch) that could entice a team, much like Steven Register did last season with the Mets. Similarly to Register, I wouldn't be surprised to see Johnston drafted, let's hope it's to another contender that can't afford to keep him all year.

Here are the final stats for those Rockies who were on rosters at the conclusion of AFL and HWL play. First the position players:

* - Second in the league
! - First in the league
# - First in the league

The pitchers:

An aesthetic question: Do you prefer the purple highlight when your pointer goes over the table or would a different color be better?

Also, either click into the post or go to wide view for the complete table (since the tables are cut off in the narrow view).

In his latest blog entry at All Things Rockies, Troy Renck suggests a possible return to Coors for Josh Fogg:

–The Rockies have yet to express interest in free agent starter Josh Fogg. He makes a lot of sense as a late winter signing given that the team always need depth and Fogg is a great clubhouse presence.

I actually like this idea. Bringing him in to offer competition for the back end of the rotation is a good idea. With Cook, Jimenez, and Francis already the beginning and middle of the rotation and Jorge De La Rosa the likely fourth starter, Greg Smith needs to know that he isn't guaranteed that fifth spot. I want him to work during Spring Training; he can't just go out and coast through his starts. There are worse depth signings than Josh Fogg. [cough]Mark Redman[/cough] But I'm not going to be sentimental about Fogg--I was never a big fan of his when he was with the Rockies.

Also, Renck offers his view on signing Orlando Hudson:

–There’s been some chatter that the Rockies will make a play for free agent second baseman Orlando Hudson. He would fit based on his energy, personality and production. But I don’t see it. Hudson is going to command a hefty contract in years and dollars, a commitment that’s hard to see the Rockies making given their strong devotion to prospects.

Is that to mean we're going to see Chris Nelson take second base when/if he makes the majors? Because right now, there is no standout second base prospect ready to make the jump to the majors. Clint Barmes and Jeff Baker are already here; Eric Young, Jr. is becoming more of a utility player; and Ian Stewart's future is not at second base. So, if years on a contract is one reason why the Rockies won't pursue Hudson, I'd expect to see Nelson make his debut for the Rockies in a season or two.

Last week, the Chicago White Sox offered $5M to break their lease and leave Tucson. The offer was accepted yesterday. The Rockies are now looking at what to do after their lease expires in 2011.

Back when SB Nation's Driveline Mechanics went live, Rox Girl mentioned that it's probably better for a player not to be written about over there since those pieces highlight problems. Well, if anyone is holding out hope that Stephen Strasburg could fall from the top of the draft to the Rockies, take a gander at this. It might temper some thoughts about him.

Three of the four positions on the Rockies' coaching staff have been filled, though they'll all be announced at the same time. The bench coach will be:

via webzoom.freewebs.com

The bullpen coach will be:

via www.baseball-reference.com

The third base coach will be:

via www.baseball-almanac.com

The hitting coach, according to the article, has two candidates remaining: Don Baylor and Greg Colbrunn. Former bullpen coach Rick Mathews recently became a special assistant to Marc Gustafson, the Rockies' player development director.

Thomas Harding has a new mailbag up at the Official Site. One of the questions Harding answers is whether the Rockies should look into trading for the Florida Marlins' Dan Uggla. Harding doesn't think too much of it, and says the Rockies believe they have enough depth at the position with Barmes, Baker, Stewart, and possibly Chris Nelson. I'd also throw in Eric Young, Jr. as another part of possible 2009 depth at the position. But until we learn of Garrett Atkins' fate, Ian Stewart is floating around the diamond. Here he's still a possible candidate to play second base in some capacity, and straight  from the mouth of Dan O'Dowd, Ian Stewart is a "very viable" candidate to take over the Matt Holliday-vacated spot in left field.

Arizona Fall League:

The Phoeneix Desert Dogs captured the National Division title back on November 13, so the six Rockies on the roster will play for a chance to win the Arizona Fall League title once the regulate season ends on November 20.

• Shane Lindsay did not take part in the decision on November 11, but he struck out seven batters and allowed three runs in four innings.
• David Patton allowed four runs on four hits in 1/3 IP on November 10.
• Chaz Roe hasn't pitched since November 6.
• Michael McKenry went 3-for-5 with a double, a homer, and three RBI on November 10. The next day, he hit his ninth homer. Then the day after, he went 3-for-5 but did not hit a homer. Atlanta prospect Tyler Flowers, 17 homers for Myrtle Beach (Carolina League) in 2008, took the lead in AFL homers after having a three homer, seven RBI game on November 12.
• Chris Nelson hit a homer on November 11, his fourth. On November 13, he went 4-for-5 with a triple, two homers, and five RBI.
• As Rox Girl posted a few days ago, Eric Young, Jr. missed this past week of AFL action.

Hawaii Winter League:

The Hawaii Winter League concluded yesterday, as the Waikiki Beach Boys took home the championship. Giants' 2008 first round pick Buster Posey smacked a three-run homer in the seventh inning during the 5-1 victory.

The Honolulu Sharks finished second (17-18) behind Waikiki in the two-team divsion.

• Austin Chambliss allowed two runs on two hits and two walks in 1/3 IP on November 11.
• Still don't know what happened to Andy Graham after his October 24 appearance.
• On November 11, Connor Graham struck out eight and walked three in four innings. He allowed no runs.
• Lars Davis had five hits in his last nine at-bats (that's over three games). On November 15, he hit his first homer, a solo shot, in HWL action.
• Darin Holcomb finished the HWL hitting .163/.291/.239.
• Mike Mitchell did nothing of in the final week of HWL play.

Jack Etkin at the Rocky Mountain News had a couple of blog entries the last two days that deserve some notice. First up is an update on Franklin Morales from Venezuela. To recap what we had seen in season two of this telenovela:

1. Franklin's mechanics went way out of whack over the winter
   
2. Franklin couldn't throw strikes
3. Franklin's velocity was down

The blog post has encouraging news on points one and two for the third season, but no word on the velo. Perhaps as encouraging, however is the fact that the Rockies are keeping tabs on Morales at all, taking a much more proactive approach to his offseason with Marty DeMerritt keeping a careful watch. If we're looking at a real upgrade to the rotation next season, spending money on a quality free agent is the best option, but since that seems to be off the table, Morales should still be our second best bet. The post makes it clear that the Rockies aren't counting on this, but would certainly welcome Morales coming into his own this season.

*****************

For EY2, his absence from the AFL this past week was due to a strained hamstring but wasn't serious. Young's defense in center field gets a better review than I've seen elsewhere, I expect he'll be able to improve more going forward. Young's potential spot on the 25 man roster in the event he makes the team out of Spring Training would be the one occupied Scott Podsednik last season, only he'd be more of an offensive substitute than a defensive one. I think going offense out of that slot is probably a wiser use of resources and should give the Rockies more bang for the limited playing time this player is typically given.

It wasn't a good last week for many of the Rockies' prospects playing fall baseball.

Arizona Fall League

• On November 5, Shane Lindsay started his second game in the AFL and took the loss. He allowed one run on four hits and two walks in three innings. He also struck out three.
• David Patton pitched in that November 5 contest and allowed two runs on four hits and a walk in one inning.
• Chaz Roe showed some better stuff in his November 6 start. He struck out seven batters in four innings and allowed no runs on one hit. He did, however, walk three.
• Michael McKenry has seven home runs, good for a three-way tie for first in the AFL.
• Chris Nelson hasn't done much to stand out over the last week.
• Eric Young, Jr. has 18 stolen bases and collected six hits in his next four games, before going hitless on November 7.

Hawaii Winter League

• On Novemer 5, Austin Chambliss pitched a scoreless 1 1/3 innings. He then allowed a run in two-thirds of an inning on November 8.
• Anyone know what happened to Andy Graham? He hasn't pitched since October 24.
  
• Connor Graham's been regressing. On November 4, he allowed seven runs on two hits and six walks in 2 2/3 innings.
• Hits have been few and far between for Lars Davis in his limited playing time. He has nine hits in 54 at-bats.
• Darin Holcomb went 3-for-4 with an RBI last night.
• Mike Mitchell has struck out at least once in his last nine games.

All right, I'll admit that the headline is just a bit misleading; however, Eric Young, Jr. did hit his second home run of the Arizona Fall League season, and it was similar to his first homer, in that it was a grand slam. He went 3-for-4 in that game with a walk and two stolen bases.

Arizona Fall League:

• Shane Lindsay made his first start this fall on October 30 and picked up his second win that day. He went four innings, allowed one run on four hits and two walks, and struck out six.
• David Patton allowed four runs on five hits in two innings on Halloween.
• Chaz Roe started the October 30 contest, and he wasn't pretty on the mound. He lasted only 1 2/3 innings, allowed five runs on five hits and four walks.
• In the two games he played since he had back-to-back-to-back games with the homers, Michael McKenry went 0-for-6 with a run scored, an RBI, and two walks.
• Chris Nelson went 3-for-4 with two RBI on October 29 and then hit a two-run homer on Halloween.

Hawaii Winter League:

• Austin Chambliss allowed four runs on five hits in one inning on October 29. His next two outings (Oct. 31/Nov. 2) saw him pitch a scoreless inning in each.
• Andy Graham hasn't pitched since October 24, but the other Graham, Connor, walked five batters in his October 28 start. He lasted only 1 2/3 innings.
  
• Mike Mitchell has a three-game hitting streak, but Darin Holcomb and Lars Davis haven't done anything of note since the last update.

The key descriptive word in Wrigley Field's nickname isn't that misleading part about the place being friendly. No, the key word would be "confines" as in:

confines (plural)

1. the borders or limits of an area
2. elements that restrain one
3. the scope or range of a subject
4. the only space that Jim Edmonds could qualify as a center fielder in.

Coors Field is the opposite of confinement. Sheep ranchers use the outfield as their winter pasture. They have to send posses out to control the roving bandits that hide in the outfield's canyons and rob Brad Hawpe of so many plays. So when MVN's Evan Brunell suggests that the Rockies move to make Edmonds and Jason Michaels a platoon for center field in the league's largest outfield space, you have to wonder if he's aware that Edmonds' defense ranks as the second worst among MLB center fielders according to Dewan's plus/minus system and we already got a preview of the brutality we'd witness were he to come here in his stint with San Diego last season, and yeah, our divisional rivals outfields are nearly as brutal. While the upgrade with Edmonds over Willy Taveras on offense is easily apparent, the difference on the defensive side of that coin would completely nullify those gains and then some. Michaels wouldn't be a terrible back-up for Dexter Fowler and without looking at any projections I could see him having a rebound season after a poor 2008, but the Edmonds suggestion just makes me chuckle.

As for Brunell's other moves, Joe Beimel would be a fine replacement for Brian Fuentes in the bullpen, better than many of our stated options (I'm looking at you, Glendon) and the Rockies would be smart to look into it as an alternative. Signing Ryan Dempster wouldn't be the worst move to fill out the rotation, but his performance history previous to what happened to be his walk year in 2008 in my mind makes him far too risky for small to mid-market teams that can't afford to make big mistakes in free agency. I'd rather pay slightly more for Oliver Perez (who while inconsistent within seasons, is consistent year to year) or better yet, Jon Garland, as the money saved in the step down to Dempster is more likely to bite.

Finally, as for Garrett Atkins to the Brewers for Rickie Weeks, I'd love for it to happen but at this point it's too far in hot stove dream land to look seriously at (Brunell has Weeks for Atkins being necessary for Milwaukee after a Hughes/Cano for Prince Fielder trade). Besides, honestly our second base "problem" isn't nearly the worry it looks like on the surface. Once we settled in on Jeff Baker as our primary second baseman and Clint Barmes at super utility as a backup, our contribution from the position relative to the league was fairly solid. While the Barmes/Baker tandem wasn't close to Chase Utley's production (really, who is?) and trailed the Cubs Fontenot/DeRosa pairing in Chicago, the Rockies would have been right in the next tier of production from 2B, and easily in a safe NL contender category. Will it remain so in 2009? Just like last season, I think the team has enough options at the position to make it likely even if our first option does a Jayson Nix. If Barmes and Baker aren't back, maybe Omar Quintanilla or Jonathan Herrera or Eric Young Jr. will be ready. There's safety in numbers here that says at least one of that crowd should be.

Offensively in 2008, the Rockies lagged primarily at three positions: center field, first base, and shortstop. Tulo was already well on his way back when the season ended and Dexter Fowler might need a little adjustment period in 2009, but he's the answer in center. Really, the long term question at first will need to be addressed, but until Todd Helton's contract is off the books, don't expect a real answer to materialize. So if I'm the Rockies GM building for 2009? I try and move Garrett Atkins for the best available talent, period, without trying to plug a specific hole. I do the same with Matt Holliday, but don't marry myself to the idea of trading him this winter if I don't like what's offered back. If I still have a hole in the bullpen or rotation after that, I try and fix it with what I have after those trades. I would look to sign a Beimel if cheap and Garland if I do trade Holliday and the contract will be merely uncomfortable/barely affordable. I'd trade Willy Taveras for anything legitimate, but wouldn't wait too long to pull the trigger. I'd definitely look to extend Chris Iannetta through his arbitration years with a team option and start at least discussing a similar contract for Ubaldo Jimenez. Other than that, I just watch what Los Angeles and Arizona do and make sure they don't get too far ahead.

Here's the final installment of our current Purple Row Prospects (PuRPs) List:

I'd have to go through all the past votes, but Fowler may be the first unanimous #1 prospect. The top 10 is balanced, with five hitters and five pitchers.