Rockies manager Jim Tracy has latched onto this idea that doing something all the other teams in the NL West have done at least twice in the last 18 seasons might be a good thing. He seems to be under some sort of impression that by "winning the division" that the Rockies will be validated as winners and this will raise their self-esteem. Let's call this for what it is, shall we? Peer pressure. Don't give into the rest of the NL West crowd, Rockies, and do something just because everybody else is. Sure it looks like they're having a great time, spraying each other with beer and champagne, whooping it up and celebrating in the clubhouse. Yeah, their fans go out and celebrate in the streets and their wives, girlfriends or significant others put out like it was going out of style, but at what cost? Does anybody ever stop to think about the cost of these things?
Stop and think of the cost... that, uh.., okay, so I'm having a little difficulty thinking of the downside here right now, but certainly there has to be one, or else the Rockies would have done something like this by now, right?
At any rate, Tracy talked to the Denver Post's Jim Armstrong on a range of Rockies issues and topics of debate which should provide good fodder for discussion this morning, including such Purple Row classics as:
- "Who's going to bat second? Who's going to bat fifth?"
- "Chris Iannetta, starting catcher or not? Go."
- "Is Todd Helton finished, or does he have another year or so of productivity left in the tank?"
- And of course, the evergreen, "Will the Rockies win more on the road this season?"
The Rockies have signed former Astros pitcher Chris Sampson to a minor league contract according to Stephen Goff. Sampson's a solid depth addition, and along with Clayton Mortensen, he should give the Rockies (and Sky Sox) a couple of the better AAA sinkerball specialists in 2011. You never know how many innings the MLB team will need from pitchers not currently on the 40 man roster, so it's good to have the flexibility.