Troy Renck writes that Hall of Famer Juan Marichal was impressed with Ubaldo Jimenez the first time he saw him pitch. It seems to be a common phenomenon.
Also from Renck and the Denver Post is a bit on former Rockie and current Giant Javier Lopez, who still makes his off season home in Colorado. Lopez has been so dominant in the World Series in crucial situations that he might get some series MVP consideration.
In that link there is one important Rockies note about the Rockies creating a fallback list of pitchers to consider should Jorge De La Rosa not re-sign with Colorado. While that and the possibility of the team seeking a trade with Tampa for James Shields had previously been written or easily inferred, what's added here is the explicit note that the Rockies aren't comfortable with slotting Jhoulys Chacin second in the rotation for 2011. This is a pretty significant note on a couple of fronts. First is the tacit acknowledgement that in terms of where Rockies starters' (currently under control for 2011) potential slots are, Chacin is the only one besides Jimenez to profile well in the top of the rotation, even if he's not ready. We can read from this that the team feels Jason Hammel and Aaron Cook are middle rotation starters at best. That's probably where a lot of us would have put them as well, but it's nice to know sometimes that the team's not being run by monkeys.
Even while they make other plans, the Rockies probably shouldn't be ruled out from re-signing De La Rosa, as there's an implied value that the team places on the left hander that doesn't seem to be universally shared league-wide.
I don't know if this has been mentioned yet, but Rockies single A affiliate Modesto will be hosting the 2011 California/Carolina League All Star game, and this week the Nuts unveiled the event's primary logo, highlighting the city's "American Graffiti" fame. The logo can be seen on the Nuts homepage, and other Nuts awards, mainly the Cal League's Organization of the Year, and notes are covered by Brian Vanderbeek at the Modesto Bee.