Francis ready to go again in Sunday's debut - The Denver Post
As was mentioned in yesterday's Rockpile, Jeff Francis has been named the starter for Sunday's series (and season) finale vs. Washington. The club isn't sure what they'll do yet in terms of creating a roster spot, but the likely victim will either be Greg Smith or Esmil Rogers. In addition, Renck notes that the Rox will play the first game of today's double header with only 24 available players. They don't want to promote Herrera in fear of losing him when they have to open up another spot. He's out of options, so can't be sent down without being exposed to waivers. Instead, the club will be heavy on pitchers for Game 2, when Jason Hammel will be officially activated in time for his start.
Rockies playing in wild, wild wet - The Denver Post
The Rockies don't seem to be too broken hearted about having three games postponed this week. A lot of guys are trying to get through nagging injuries and cold/flu bugs. In addition, the bullpen will probably need to be as fresh as possible for games not started by Ubaldo Jimenez. So all-in-all, I'll take it, despite all of the boredom that ensues from postponements.
Yankees claim Lindsay, sign Redding | Inside the Colorado Rockies
The Evil Empire added a couple of pieces to their army as they claimed Shane Lindsay off of waivers and signed recently-released Tim Redding. Losing Lindsay is a little tough, but the Rockies have plenty of bullpen depth in the organization to help soften the blow. Redding, meanwhile, didn't blow anyone away in Triple-A and according to Etkin, wasn't a good fit for the organization.
The National League Is Wide Open | FanGraphs Baseball
Jack Moore writes about the parity in the National League and in particular, the NL West. Currently, four out of the five NL West teams have 14% or better odds to win the division, and no team has greater than 40% odds. Moore also refers to our Rockies as having the best position-player talent in the National League. I don't know if I agree with that or not, but I do know that the Rockies have just as good of a chance as anybody to turn things around on a dime.
Philadelphia Phillies manager Charlie Manuel says he should have stayed mum on binoculars - ESPN
Sounds like Charlie Manuel regrets telling the Rockies to "keep crying" in regards to Binoculargate. Yankees manager Joe Girardi and Brewers manager Ken Macha, not surprisingly, are both siding with the Phillies on the issue. I never liked the Yankees or Brewers, anyway.
Pawtucket Times - Iannetta lets his bat talk for him
Terry Nau writes about hometown guy Chris Iannetta and his demotion to Colorado Springs.