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I scream. You scream. We all scream, for....we all hate the offseason and want to see baseball already.
The Rockies have the potential to taste the postseason with their current roster, it seems. The key to reaching that potential is.....*drumroll*....the young rotation. (Shocking I know). As much as we write about Jhoulys Chacin and Drew Pomeranz - their pitches' movement, their statistics, their prospect standings, their weight - all that matters is their production level. We are rapidly approaching the time where that is the only topic we have left to talk about (finally).
Until then,...we still get the features covering those topics. Pitchers and catchers report Sunday. While we wait, more standard offseason links...
Troy Renck blogged his response to Jhoulys Chacin's response to Dan O'Dowd's comments to Renck. Yeah. Sometimes it is difficult to know how much weight to give to a particular issue, but I think we are sufficiently down the rabbit hole at this point. It will all go away if he pitches well.
Renck focuses on Drew Pomeranz, who is confident he will be in the Opening Day rotation and stick there. Confidence is a good thing. We will see soon if he has the other necessary things. I think he does.
You're in the mood for a Spring Training preview aren't you? Joey Nowak provides a solid offseason review and season preview in depth for MLB.com.
Baseball Prospectus | Future Shock: Top 101 Prospects Kevin Goldstein produced his Top 100 101 prospect list. The Rockies have a strong showing with 5 of the 101 prospects on the list: OF Tim Wheeler (97), RHP Chad Bettis (79), C Wilin Rosario (61), LHP Drew Pomeranz (34) and 3B Nolan Arenado (20). Goldstein notes that all of those players would get bumped down one spot, now that Yoenis Cespedes has signed with Oakland. With Cespedes sliding into the #20 spot, Arenado moves to 21. Does that mean Arenado would be worth just under $36million on the open market?
More Links After the Jump
Unnamed Pioneer League team plans Casper visit - Casper, Wyoming is in Rockies regional territory. It wasn't good enough for the Rockies though, as they have moved their Pioneer League team to Grand Junction, Colorado. With Mike Lansing Field now vacant, an unnamed Pioneer League team will be visiting Casper in May to debate moving their club to Wyoming for 2013. I am not sure which parameters would motivate such a move, but I hope it pulls through. In talking to several season ticket holders and host homes in Casper, the Ghosts' move leaves a large vacancy in several Casper homes. The Orioles, Red Sox and Nationals do not have any teams in the Pioneer League, so the unnamed team would be playing on a field with an unrelated name.
Dusty Saunders: Helmer's departure from Root sparks fans to action - The Denver Post Tom Helmer's contract was running out with ROOT Sports, but he was under the impression his contract would be renewed after six years of service. It was not. A rally was held by fans on Sunday at Blake Street Tavern in support of Helmer. Perhaps the big takeaway from Saunders' story: despite holdovers in Drew Goodman, George Frazier, Jeff Huson and Mark Stout, both Alanna Rizzo and Helmer will be replaced on the telecast. They just don't have much time to find their people.
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Happy Valentine's Day. Whatever your thoughts are or personal status is with this holiday, at least we all love baseball. So question for today: which current Rockie and former Rockie do you love most? Bonus points for non-superstars. Let's not be superficial.