Thursday Rockpile: Rockies fans, to a certain extent, may be disgruntled

Jim Tracy was asked by the AP about the Rockies first half, and while there are managers out there who don't mince words to reporters, Tracy on the other hand is a Henckels Santoku when it comes to couching a phrase:

"Obviously, I think, to a certain extent ‘disappointing,'" manager Jim Tracy said when asked to sum up the first half. "And yet still fighting our rear ends off. I say that just because of some of the different balls that have had to be juggled and some of the unknowns that you encounter along the way."

To a certain extent disappointing. Five games under .500, eight and a half out of first in the division at the All-Star break in a season you expected to compete is apparently only disappointing to some undefined but limited degree. Being consistently labelled the NL's biggest underachiever for 2011 only stinks so much. Behind the scenes, I hope there's a bit more clarity that this disappointment in the Rockies 2011 season goes beyond a "certain extent" and instead into "Obviously, we've been stinking up the joint, let's fix it." It's a long road back to respectability in the standings from where the Rockies are right now.

*****

Jim Armstrong: Five questions for Rockies second half

More Armstrong: Rockies Gonzalez will sit at least one game

Dave Krieger: Could be sunshine behind clouds for Rockies

*****

Dealing With Depression On A Major League Level - Springfield, PA Patch - Former Rockies reliever Taylor Buchholz has come out about how he's dealt with depression, a diagnosis that came to light in 2010 while he was still with Colorado.

A couple of minor league related links after the bump...

Rockies agree to sign Antonio Senzatela - Baseball America - Senzatela marks the first Latin American signing we've heard about for the Rockies while other teams are making huge splashes, but Colorado typically cleans up in the fall and winter, so don't be discouraged yet.

Friedrich getting back on track " Sports " The Richmond Register

Ghosts: Story begins - The mystery about who's going to play what between Rockies talented shortstop prospects Trevor Story and Rosell Herrera at Casper is resolved, as they'll swap between short and third for the duration of the season. This pushes intriguing (well, to me) sleeper Sam Mende aside, creating another mystery, as Tri-City already has a solid left side dilemma between Taylor Featherston and Tim Smalling.