Sunday Rockpile: Street and Stewart could be next to go, Pacheco prepares for opportunity

After offering a thought on the Boston managerial hunt, Troy Renck writes that the Rockies continue to dangle Huston Street and Ian Stewart in trade talks. An East Coast news source had mentioned during the ownership meetings earlier in the month that the Rockies were looking at position players in exchange for Street, but Renck states that the Rockies' focus is still on starting pitching. The Toronto Blue Jays and Baltimore Orioles are among a handful of teams that have expressed interest in Street, and it seems very likely at this point that the Rockies will move him at some point this winter. Stewart, on the other hand, doesn't seem to be drawing much interest to date if the hot stove rumor mill is any indication, but that may change as the off-season progresses and teams find their third base needs remain unfilled.

Renck put up a blog post about Jordan Pacheco's recent past and near future with the Rockies, while Pacheco's present sees him running up and down hills in the Albuquerque area as part of his off-season workout program. I like what I see of Pacheco on the field, and what I read about him off of it, but not what I see of him to date in box-scores and advanced statistics. Rockies fans seem to be a little too enthusiastic for the player given his production to date, and much like Jonathan Herrera a year ago, much of that may have to do with a kismet in the times that Pacheco has produced at the plate coming in important, runners-in-scoring-position situations. While nothing's set in stone, Ty Wigginton's departure does clear a path for a right-handed reserve for first and third for the Rockies, Pacheco will need to use this opportunity to show that his pretty swing can win out over his less than stellar minor league track record. 

In the slow stretches of the off season, Google news searches for Rockpile posts sometimes reveal interesting results that I wouldn't necessarily get to or point out during the regular season. One such case would be this little historical tidbit from the Casa Grande Dispatch, which has a 2006 quote from a developer about how the Rockies "played" the community thirteen years before when the team apparently decided not to move their Spring Training facilities there.