"A player can be a scout's dream and a manager's nightmare. But this is their game. This is what they play. The game is important to them ..." - Jack Gillis, Rockies professional scout, via Thomas George of the Denver Post
Jack Gillis will now be recognized for his great career by getting a call to the Professional Baseball Scouts Hall Of Fame and will be honored at a ceremony in Fort Myers on March 14th. Gillis has been a pro scout for the Rockies since the 2002/2003 off-season after a one year stint in Toronto (he was former Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi's college coach at one point) and has been in professional baseball for close to 30 years as a scout or minor league manager. his Baseball Cube page lists Sterling Hitchcock as one of the players he brought into the Yankees organization in the 1980's, and he has also worked with Tampa Bay.
Currently, he's one of Dan O'Dowd's "most trusted scouts" and should be given a lot of credit for helping the team find hidden value in the pro ranks, including the Jason Hammel trade, over the last few years. As the link to the Denver Post article in the quote above also indicates, he's been very instrumental in the Rockies Latin American scouting as well. Congratulations to Gillis for a much deserved recognition.
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Whether it's his wish or not, Rockies prospect Russell Wilson might be getting forced out of football if his college coach's statements about quarterback being a "365 day a year job" have merit. North Carolina State is moving forward without Wilson this Spring, and coach Tom O'Brien seems intent on putting Michael Glennon in as the Wolfpack's new QB. Wilson probably doesn't need the added distraction during Spring Training, but I hope he gets the message that the Rockies are his team now.
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New Tulsa Drillers coach Duane Espy visited his new digs and spoke to the American Chronicle about some of the prospects that he anticipates might be in Tulsa. If anything is unexpected or surprising, it would be potential returns for Christian Friedrich and Hector Gomez, albeit Friedrich going back to Tulsa probably could have been anticipated given the full Colorado Springs rotation, and let's be honest, nothing's really surprising about Gomez anymore, good or bad.
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It seems from the heavy Purple Row contingent in the comments at True Blue LA's Rockies off-season review that everybody here has had a chance to read another divisional rival's take on our winter, but if not, check it out.