Colorado Rockies drop 10th straight, Tulo eyes possible exit

The Rockies continued their hapless ways yesterday, losing to the Angels 5-2. It's been a cringe-worthy month for the Rox, and the inevitable trade speculation regarding the Rockies' best are heating up.

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Kendrick bounces back, but Rockies do not — MLB

Losing stinks, but if you're not going to take away any positives from losses as a Rockies fan, you're probably in for a long, miserable season. At the very least, it was nice to see Kyle Kendrick get his stuff together. He tosses seven innings of two-run ball, whiffed five, and didn't walk a single batter for the second time. Kendrick is the only Rockies' starting pitcher to finish a start without having issued a walk.

Troy Tulowitzki eyes Rockies exit — these 4 contenders make sense — New York Post

Tulo is reportedly slated to meet with long-time agent Paul Cohen tomorrow morning to discuss the possibility of a trade. The New York post lists the Mariners, Pirates, Mets, and Padres as possible destinations. Not that I think it'll happen, but if Tulo went to a team in the division, how awful would that be? At least the article doesn't talk about the Yankees as a likely trade-partner. It does, however, compare Tulo to Hanley Ramirez. Stop, please.

Troy Tulowitzki trade rumors will start heating up — ESPN

The Rockies are bad again; Dave Cameron over at FanGraphs says their Playoff Odds system gives the Rockies just 0.2% chance of winning the division and a 2.3% chance of capturing a wild-card berth. The Rockies are currently 27th in production from shortstop according to WAR, and ESPN notes that Tulo hasn't played so well this season. He's got a line of .298/.306/.481 and has just two walks to 24 strikeouts. That's tough. He's either being too aggressive at the plate, suffering from a lack of pitch recognition, or some combination of the two; Tulo's chase percentage on pitches out of the zone has increased to 34.5% from 25.8%. As opposed to last season when Tulo hit .235 with two strikes, he's hitting just .118 this year. Finally, his defensive ratings are a bit down from where he normally is.

Tulo speculation will always surround the Rockies as long as he remains a premier player and the Rockies remain a perennial loser. I have no clue if anything will happen, but I'm usually of the opinion that where there's smoke there's fire. I obviously wouldn't blame him for wanting out, but if he does ask to leave, let's hope the Rockies can get a good haul in return.

5 big-time stars dealing with slow starts — MLB

Corey Kluber, Clayton Kershaw, Victor Martinez, and Chase Utley are having relatively poor season thus far. The Rockies' representative on the list is Carlos Gonzalez. It honestly looks like CarGo just totally forgot to hit. He's got a line of a paltry .188/.248/.302 and has drawn eight walks while striking out 25 times. He's another Rockies' player that's been mentioned in trade speculation, but if the Rockies were to deal him, they'd be doing so at the nadir of his value.