The Boston Herald has an article today that mentions Colorado as a possible landing spot for recently departed Red Sox GM, Theo Epstein. What's a little interesting about the article is that in the cases of most teams, the role Epstein would play is pretty explicit, but not so with the Rockies. In the case of Washington, the Dodgers and Texas, he's mentioned as a possible President. In the case of Florida, he might be a new GM if Beinfest bolts for LA. Oakland, Toronto, and Arizona all are mentioned as possible consultancies, and the New York Mets are mentioned as a possible analyst/TV commentator position. Anyway,his role is made pretty clear for all of those teams, but in the same paragraph about Florida, the article says: "The Colorado Rockies may also be eyeing Epstein for a leadership position,"
Leadership position? I have no idea what that means, but either scoring Epstein or DePodesta for the front office for a year would be a major coup that would turn instantly turn around an offseason where the outflow of off field leadership has outpaced what's come back in.
- In other news, the Rockies continue to pursue Elmer Dessens according to the Post, as well as couple of outfielders who were pretty good during the Clinton years, uhm, maybe not so much now. That article also mentions that David Cortes was re-signed. Another article states Jason Johnson might thankfully be out of our price range, and in former Rockie news, trading Vinny Castilla netted Washington starter Brian Lawrence from the Padres. The Nats' 2005 first round draft pick Ryan Zimmerman gets his opportunity to make it big, Vinny ought to be happy to be back out West, and San Diego makes a good fit for him as Kevin Towers has finally admitted what a huge bust Sean Burroughs has been.
Meanwhile, regarding our own hot corner, in case you've missed the comments a couple of threads down, I should mention that Ian Stewart sprained his right wrist during AFL action. A mailbag over at the official site this week pegs Atkins as the starting third baseman over Stewart (as well as Jeff Baker) at third next Spring. I agree that it's way too early on Stewart in my book, but his solid performance in the Fall League leaves little doubt in my mind that he should be ready by midseason for the bigs. Baker? I know he had a bad season in 2005 and struggled through injuries, but I'm going to say right now that I wouldn't be surprised if he comes out and turns everybody's heads by showing up in Tucson with something to prove. I certainly don't think Garrett can rest easy, and the competition for this spot next Spring will be hotter than people think.
Skipping to the other side of the diamond, Ryan Shealy was chosen for Team USA. Congratulations Ryan! Serve the Rockies and our country proud!
One final, fairly important note, this article at the official site -mainly about Jim Miller- says that Marcos Carvajal made his first start for Caracas on Wednesday but I haven't found out how he did yet. Frankie Morales has been pitching very well for the Leones as well. According to this site (in Spanish, sorry not much English news available), he showed some nerves at first in his debut Winter League start, but settled down to retire fourteen in a row at one point.