Sunday Rockpile: Just checking in on offseason happenings

Sarah Ford has an excellent debut at Rockies Zingers that suggests 2015 resolutions. She covers all aspects of the Rockies, from performance to management to the fans. The list of resolutions begins with the dedication to fewer TOOTBLANS and ends with the fans having fun. From my perspective, TOOTBLANS are one of the few aspects of ineptitude that I find fun even if the nincompoop in question is wearing purple pinstripes.

Peter Gammons thinks that Larry Walker is a Hall of Famer, but he doesn’t think that he’ll get the call to Cooperstown solely because he played so much at Coors Field. Gammons also considers the possible paths that the Rockies’ other two Hall of Fame caliber players, Todd Helton and Troy Tulowitzki, might take.

In the area of unsexy news, Jeff Todd of mlbtraderumors.com provides brief profiles for available back of the rotation starters, including Kevin Correia, Aaron Harang, Roberto Hernandez (né Roberto Hernandez and formerly known as Fausto Carmona), Kyle Kendrick, Ryan Vogelsong, and Chris Young. The Rockies have been tied to Correia and Kendrick. This post includes a poll that asks the reader who she or he thinks is likely to be the best bet for 2015. For what it’s worth, the majority voted for either Vogelsong or Harang.

Thomas Harding opens up his tweetbag and expands upon questions he’s received in more than 140 characters. Most notably, Harding indicates that the Rockies have "checked in" with free agent pitchers Max Scherzer and James Shields.

A variation on "checking in":

Yankees: "Hey, want to trade us Tulo for less value and eat some salary?" Rockies: "Nope." Yankees: "OK, just checking in."

— Hayden W Kane (@hwkane) December 22, 2014

Speaking of Hayden, prior to Harding’s necessary but ultimately unrevealing report, he thoroughly considered the advantages and disadvantages of signing James Shields over at Rox Pile.

Let’s finish with a poll. The information you need for it is below.

Career stats:

Max Scherzer: 30 years old; 3.58 ERA; 3.39 FIP; 86 ERA-; 38.8 GB%; 41.6 FB%; 18.1% K-BB

James Shields: 33 years old: 3.72 ERA; 3.77 FIP; 91 ERA-; 44.7 GB%; 34.1 FB%; 14.8% K-BB