So I'm having some issues this morning deciding what to write about, not because I lack options (well, sort of, the direct options for the Rockies are seemingly limited to discussing Ryan Spilborghs' batting music and how important Chris Iannetta is to the team in 2010) but because I'm just not sure where I want to go with this. So, here's what's on my Google Chrome Tabs this morning:
- FanGraphs 2009 pitching leaders. I think I opened this because of a Beyond the Boxscore article that may or may not be an open tab right now.
- Minorleagueball.com - John Sickels' prospect site features two Rockies related stories on the front page currently, a Smackdown between Franklin Morales and Scott Elbert, and a prospect retrospective of Ubaldo Jimenez.
- The Hardball Times - Colorado Rockies and San Diego Padres top ten prospects. I really think a lot of us are going to be sorry we don't have Chris Nelson in our top ten Rockies prospects list anymore this season, and Matt Hagen doesn't have Hector Gomez in his list, either. If he's knocking Gomez for being a flop risk despite his upside, the same could be true (perhaps more true) of Wilin Rosario, who does make the list. It's sort of puzzling to me.
- Beyond the Boxscore: Playoff Probabilities Simulation, PECOTA Edition. Nope, this wasn't the BtB article I was thinking about which had me at FanGraphs, but I'm easily hooked into these articles because I want the computers to like the Rockies as much as I do. I actually was originally looking at this Rotations by CHONE piece, and ended up meandering over.
- Fire Jim Bowden - This Nats blog was actually linked via FanPost at BtB, so I just opened the tab from there. The specific post is a fundraiser for a beat reporter that's been laid off due to the shifting media environment to cover the Nats' Spring Training in Florida. While Troy Renck and Thomas Harding are solid for getting news from the MLB club, maybe we need to pony up to pay for Jack Etkin or somebody to head down there get us some better Rockies prospect coverage.
- Yahoo! Tim Brown: Smart moves nearly complete Phillies -
No one in the NL - not the Cardinals, Dodgers, Rockies or Braves - did enough to chase down the Phillies.
88, 85, 89, 92, 93. Those are the win totals for the Phillies over the last five seasons.
- 2005: 30.0/29.7
- 2006: 29.3/30.5
- 2007: 28.8/30.6,
- 2008: 30.1/30.6,
- 2009: 31.3/31.2.
Those are the average ages of the Phillies batters/pitchers over those five seasons. The Phillies are a pretty good team, but they are also at or near their peak already, and there's a "Best if used by" date to baseball talent that Philadelphia's approaching with a good portion of their core.
67, 76, 90, 74, 92.
For comparison, these are the same numbers of the Rockies.
- 2005: 27.2/27.3
- 2006: 27.8/28.8
- 2007: 27.9/28.1
- 2008: 27.5/28.5
- 2009: 27.8/28.5
So, despite Tim Brown's needling that more should have been done, the Rockies stance should be continued patience in 2010 as far as being the best in the NL is concerned. The team still hasn't approached its peak and is still maturing. This should be a lot easier to sell now that they're actually competitive and playoff worthy anyway.
- Baseball Reference 2009 National League Team Standings and Statistics - opened to get the figures for the above.
- AZ Snakepit: The Josh Byrnes Interview, Part Two. It's been linked in the comments the last couple of Rockpiles, but probably needs some main post love. Byrnes likes the Rockies in 2010 to.
Alright, and then there were the aforelinked (this seriously needs to be a new word) DP pages and a tab for Gap.com that's probably considerably less relevant for you guys than it is for me. At any rate, there we go. Rockpile complete.