At last, we are within a few days of Spring Training. A reminder to anyone living under rocks or in drab (but comfortable) caves, the Rockies will be one of many teams to begin Spring Training early next week, as the pitchers and catchers are due to report this Monday to the new facility, which the Arizona Diamondbacks will have already occupied the day before.. Most domestically based position players elect to join the team as early as possible, with everyone being due a week later on the 21st, just a few days before the first game. Hopefully we should start getting some early Spring photos coming within the first couple days of workouts. I always look forward to those.
Most of you are as tired about hearing Michael Young's name as I am, so I'll regurgitate that information first.
Troy Renck of the Denver Post blogs about the history of the Michael Young developments, and why it looks less and less likely that the Rockies will be the ones to wind up with him.
"GM Jon Daniels told The Dallas Morning News today that "nobody looks good right now" for a Young trade."
Texas must be under a lot of pressure now that Young has requested a trade and told of his dissatisfaction with the situation outright. They might have to make something look good, though according to Thomas Harding's article below, at least one source finds it unlikely Young is traded, regardless.
Thomas Harding of MLB.com offers a similar take on the Rockies' perspective in the Young talks: interested, but not budging, leaving the ball still firmly in Texas' court.
Now, onto other things.
2010 Rockies relievers Randy Flores and Manny Delcarmen found minor league deals this week; Flores with the Padres, Delcarmen with the Mariners. Both being Cactus League teams, we may see them about during the month of March. Steve Foster of Inside the Rockies has the details.
For some thoughts on Rockies rookies and a note about the upcoming debut of Purple Row Radio, check below Le Jump.
Foster also has a breakdown of the Rockies rookies (40 Man Roster and NRIs ) and what their position is going into Spring Training regarding making the team. For the most part, I agree with the analysis. Matt Reynolds is the only one who has a spot of his own going into the Spring; the others have to rely on making an impression, as well as seeing someone else lose their spot to injury or ineffectiveness.
The most likely of this set to make the team out of the Spring are Rex Brothers (in place of Franklin Morales), Michael McKenry (in place of Jose Morales), and either Cole Garner or Charlie Blackmon (in place of Jason Giambi?). Giambi doomsayers, do not fret; I list Giambi there not because I think he's a shoo-in, but because I think the team feels that the lack of late lefty power is a bigger concern than outfield depth or speed provided by other 25th man candidates. The job is still to be lost and earned in the weeks ahead.
Finally, the podcast. We're about 80% ready, and if all goes well, we'll have our first episode of the new show up on Monday, 2/21. I'm not completely certain about it yet, but that's the target; we want at least the one show up before Spring Training proper begins. We will not likely be featuring guests the first week, but that is one of many new features we will be introducing along with the new title. Further, we intend to get a weekly "Ask Us" segment in there. I will likely put up a post a couple days before we record asking for any topics or questions for us to address, so think about what you want to hear in a week.
Spring Training is here.