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The Rockies are looking to re-sign Jeff Francis in 2013 as a stabilizing force in the rotation according to the Denver Post's Patrick Saunders. While Francis won't be more than the #4 in a contending four man rotation, with a Rockies team that's likely to be otherwise relying on young, inconsistent or unpredictable starters, going with the known entity makes some sense. Low risk decisions like this only become mistakes when management can't recognize opportunity costs, i.e., should Francis become the team's fifth or sixth best starter next season, how long will Jim Tracy pitch him every four games anyway? As long as that time lost is kept to a minimum, the Rockies should be fine bringing #26 back.
More good news for the 2013 rotation could stem from the last few 2012 starts of Jhoulys Chacin, who will return to the rotation on Tuesday after an extended injury absence. Chacin will be throwing more sliders than curves on his return, but says that his change-up, which should be his bread and butter out pitch, is as sharp as it's been in years. Jim Tracy says that the "four man rotation" will become a five man rotation with "more flexibility" for a bit, which seems to be code for the team not wanting to make a decision of who to send to the piggyback slot between young starters Chacin, Tyler Chatwood, Alex White or Drew Pomeranz just yet. The last part of the 2012 season should be seen as an extension of 2013's Spring Training, so this actually makes some sense to me.
More from the Denver Post:
Carlos Gonzalez has left the team for bereavement after the passing of his grandfather.
There's also a really nice feature on former Rockies phenom catching prospect Ben Petrick and his toil with Parkinson's disease since he left baseball.
Troy Renck writes about a pair of M. Cabrera's in his weekly column.
The Rockies have given up 9 of Giancarlo Stanton's 80 career home runs, tied for the second most of any team, and the most of any non-divisional Marlins opponent. However, Rockies fans can take heart in the fact that he's actually more a thorn in the side of the San Francisco Giants. Stanton has a 1.400 OPS against San Fran, a 1.285 OPS when facing Colorado.