Troy Renck says that the Rockies near miss pursuit of Jamey Carroll shows them to be more dogged and aggressive in their pursuit of player help than they were a year ago. As Renck notes, if this aggression winds up with the Rockies obtaining Martin Prado rather than Carroll, I can say that any of us will complain that much. If the team also adds Grady Sizemore, I think we'll also be pleased, or if as the next note down on the ramifications of Juan NIcasion's recovery indicates, we add a true "impact starter" rather than just an innings eater. All that said, the proof will be in the pudding as to whether this club's affliction of trying hard but achieving little when it comes to outside player procurement turns around. To be frank, a near miss on Jamey Carroll is still a miss, and therefore the results thus far are not to promising on this front.
Meanwhile, in news of the sub-mediocre players that the club was able to obtain last season, Ty Wigginton imbibed on snake blood while in Taiwan. We can only hope that the medicinal effects of the treatment as described by teammate Logan Morrison described carry back with Wiggy to the states:
"I'm definitely going to hit home runs on this trip now," he said. "I'm going to have powers like Spider-Man, but more snake-like powers."
Morrison has to be one of the most entertaining players in the MLB right now, and with a fairly large assortment of clubhouse comedians to choose from today, that's saying something.
The Salt River Rafters clinched their AFL East division with a win yesterday, they have another four regular season games to play starting tomorrow, but then get one more for the championship against a very dominant Surprise Saguaros team next Saturday.
Larry Walker shares this date in history with Ben Franklin coining the phrase "there's nothing certain but death and taxes," and Mary Phelps patenting the first brasierre, but it's the 14th anniversary of him winning the Rockies first, and thus far only, MVP award.
The Rockies, to the best of my knowledge, have yet to sign a European amateur to a professional contract, but I know that they've scouted there, and have apparently invited Parma RHP Lorenzo Gradali to their Dominican academy for what's described in Italian press as a "two week internship." Gradali does have a couple of pictures on Flickr, so you could put a face and arm to the name.
Rey Ordonez Jr. says that his favorite player in the MLB is Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki. The son of the former Mets Gold Glove winner is developing into a fine player in his own right, and figures to be drafted fairly high in 2012. I guess I bring this up because I wouldn't mind if the Rockies added him to their mix. Sure we have a lot of SS's already, but it never hurts to dig up more.