JetHawks 2017 Opening Day Roster Announced | MiLB.com
The Lancaster JetHawks, the Rockies new High-A affiliate in the California League, announced their Opening Day roster. Significantly, Forrest Wall will be repeating the level. As Jeff Aberle noted in his PuRP review of Wall, a meager slash line of .264/.329/.355 at his old High-A home of Modesto probably won’t cut it, especially for a bat-first prospect with shaky defense. On the bright side, there was a time that Nolan Arenado was also a bat-first prospect with shaky defense. However, I should also note that Josh Vitters had a similar reputation and if you haven’t heard of him, well, that’s the point.
5 potential surprise teams for 2017 | MLB.com
Chalk up another writer who thinks the Rockies will be a good team this year. I found it funny that a team that lost its starting first baseman, its starting left fielder and a starting pitcher are getting more hype now than they did before spring training started.
Saunders: Spring training impressions have Rockies close to contending | Denver Post
Patrick Saunders gives readers an idea of some of the observations he’s had this spring. He mentions that April will be a rough month with an understrength Rockies roster playing five games against the Dodgers, seven against the Giants and four against the Nationals. He also doesn’t think Carlos Gonzalez will sign a new, long-term deal. That could make the trade deadline tricky if the Rockies are trailing by a handful of games in the wild card chase. If that’s the circumstance and he does get traded, it may be a matter of retooling to get some value instead of a white flag waving.