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It's late November, but I have to admit that I felt a small twinge of excitement when I saw Colorado's 2015 spring training schedule, which was released yesterday:
#Rockies Spring Training is right around the corner! Take a look at the schedule we have planned for you: pic.twitter.com/5vMyaA12U6
— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) November 25, 2014
Not to get all Game of Thrones on you, but a long winter is coming, in which there will be no baseball. Seeing these scheduled games brings to me a dream of spring, a reminder that, only 98 days from now, there will be actual Rockies baseball to write and argue about in this very community.
I've been a bad Rockies fan: I haven't made the trip down to Arizona to watch the Rockies in Spring Training since 2008, when they still played their home games in Tucson in an aging ballpark. Sometime soon, perhaps this season, I'll need to make my way down to see the jewel of a facility that is Salt River Fields at Talking Stick.
Rockies unveil 2015 Spring Training schedule | rockies.com
If you are planning on making the trip down to SRFATS for 2015, make sure and read this post by Brian McTaggart to get all the details on pricing and times to go. If I were to target a date this far out, I'd look at the long weekend from Friday March 20th to Monday March 23rd if all you want to do is see the Rockies and hang around SRFATS. If you are someone who is going to make the trip - let us know! We'd love to hear about best practices for Spring Training trips and see the pictures you had from the experience.
Downtime gave Lyles chance to develop pitch | rockies.com
Speaking of spring training ... Thomas Harding writes the first spring training-type piece of the season. That is, a current Rockies player (in this case Jordan Lyles) talks about the new pitch he developed in his time off. In this case, during the injury-palooza that was this summer for Colorado pitchers.
It's a split-fingered change, the same pitch that Jorge De La Rosa has used to such great effect over the last few years with the Rockies. The results weren't there in 2014 with the pitch, but Lyles believes that with the offseason and Spring Training to work on it, the pitch could become an effective weapon in his arsenal.
Rockies Interested In Kevin Correia, For Some Reason
Hayden Kane writes about rumors that the Colorado Rockies have expressed interested in veteran starting pitcher Kevin Correia. According to Kane (and me), this is something that they should reconsider immediately. Bonus points for the Jennifer Lawrence gif.
Rockies reportedly unwilling to trade Troy Tulowitzki - Purple Row
The Rockies are unwilling to trade their 5+ win shortstop this (or perhaps any) offseason.
The Mailbox Money Men Power Rankings – The Hardball Times
Miles Wray at the Hardball Times looks at the top 50 players who will earn a bunch of money from MLB teams for sitting on their butts or playing for another team in the near future. Former Rockies Brett Anderson and Todd Helton make an appearance, but all pale in comparison to Bobby Bonilla, who will be collecting checks from the Mets until he is 72 years old.
Picking the perfect Hall of Fame ballot strategy - SBNation.com
Finally, Grant Brisbee puts together a number of Hall of Fame ballots, customized for your Hall of Fame philosophy. I'll have much more to say about this as the HOF announcement draws nearer, but the back-up of talent here is simply absurd. There is no excuse at all for writers who put down fewer than 6 or 7 players this year. If I were allowed, I'd vote in as many as 15-17 this year.