Always seeking pitching, the Colorado Rockies continue to consider trade possibilities

Christmas is just a week away and the New Year is but two; where did all the time go? And actually, a separate question that I've been considering in my head: how long into 2016 is it acceptable to wish someone a "Happy New Year"? If I saw a guy in an elevator on January 10, is it too late to say "Happy New Year" to him? January 15? What's the cut-off date?

Debate and discuss below, along with these links and notes on the Colorado Rockies from the past 24 hours:

Pitching-hungry Rockies continue to talk trades — MLB.com

Thomas Harding breaks down the same Rockies-Rays rumors we touched on yesterday afternoon. In the broadest sense — forget the specific players involved — it seems weird to me that the Rockies would even actually consider trading prospects for veterans at this point. I know the farm is deep, and at least some of these prospects may only lose value if/when the reach the big leagues and inevitably fail. But with th club still being at least a couple years away from real contention, trading away the finally-good farm system right now seems a little premature.

Add in the specific players and it makes even less sense, at least in this instance with the Tampa Bay Rays. If it's not Chris Archer — and the Rays apparently have no interest in moving him — I'd really rather not give up David Dahl or Raimel Tapia for Jake Odorizzi or Drew Smyly. No offense to those two, but if we're going to use Dahl or Tapia as trade pieces, let's see if we can't wait a year and parlay them into a package for something even better.

The Rays are trade dark horses, for sure — but considering some of their current outfield options (Steven Souza, Brandon Guyer, Desmond Jennings), you'd have to imagine Charlie Blackmon and Corey Dickerson are at least fairly attractive options for them, and wiser pieces for the Rockies to move right now than prospects. Nevertheless, as Harding notes in his post, a few other teams might ultimately make better sense to land Blackmon, Dickerson, or Carlos Gonzalez.

Ranking the Rockies affiliate caps — Rockies Zingers

Now this is good bloggin'. Over at Zingers, Adam Peterson ranks all the Rockies' minor league caps, and I think pretty much nails it. I would've bumped up #2, #3, #4, and #5 one slot respectively, and put his #1 overall (the Topes' road hat) down in about the fifth spot, but other than that — and Grand Junction deserves a slightly higher ranking in my mind — he's got a pretty good handle on the baby Rox.

One thing Peterson finds through his rankings that I find myself vigorously nodding in agreement over: the Boise Hawks have a weird logo and branding situation. It's not necessarily ugly — I like the green and I don't mind some of their uniform schemes — but they definitely could use a re-do with their hats. Things like talons and other non-traditional logos/letterhead are always hit-or-miss; the Hawks miss fairly consistently. (Sorry, Boise.)

Rockies year in review: Drew Stubbs — Rox Pile

I haven't thought about Drew Stubbs in quite a while; Rox Pile's James Keating gives you an excuse to think about Drew Stubbs again! By the way, Stubbs is a free agent, of course. Last I saw, he might fit in a poor man's platoon for a club like the Atlanta Braves. Sorry, Drew. At least we'll always have 2014.