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The average age of the Colorado Rockies pitching staff just took a significant increase. The Rockies signed 49-year old Jamie Moyer to a minor league deal with an invitation to spring training. That means that in just over 4 weeks, a man will take the field at Talking Stick who has nickels under the cushions of his couch that have been there longer than Rockies young pitching phenom Drew Pomeranz has been alive.

The Rockies have been overhauling their entire roster, a process that started with the pitching staff and the trade that sent ace Ubaldo Jimenez to Cleveland in exchange for pitchers Alex White and Drew Pomeranz. With the departure of Jimenez and longtime Rockie Aaron Cook, the rotation is anything but certain. Jhoulys Chacin figures to be in the rotation, and probably at the top, with the rest of the spots up for competition among Kevin Slowey, Pomeranz, White, Hammel, Josh Outman, Guillermo Moscoso, and now Moyer, with the hope of a full-strength return by hard-throwing Juan Nicasio.

So why Moyer? I think the real question is why not Moyer? Aside from Hammel and Slowey, these are all very young, inexperienced pitchers. Moyer, while no longer a top of the rotation guy, was once the number one starter for the Seattle Mariners, where I got to watch him in the prime of his career. He followed that up with a few solid seasons in Philadelphia before going down last season for Tommy John surgery. So while a 49 year old coming off of Tommy John surgery doesn’t sound terribly appealing, a de facto pitching coach with 26 years of major league experience sounds like just what this staff might need.

If you’re looking for Moyer to go out and post 200 innings and 15 wins, he’s probably not your guy. But there’s a role for him to fill, and that role is a vital one in such a young clubhouse.

Besides, he makes Todd Helton look like a spring chicken, and there’s no telling how much that will revitalize Todd for his 16th season.

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Unlike the unceremonious dumping of Ian Stewart to Chicago, this move has as much to do with roster building and economics. Smith hadn’t been quite the underperformer that Stewart was, nor the unpredictable hitter that Iannetta was. He figured to be penciled in as the fourth outfielder, his starting spot taken by the acquisition of Michael Cuddyer last month. With several guys available to jump into the fourth outfielder spot, the Rockies clearly wanted to unload Smith’s contract more than Smith himself ($2.4M, which avoided arbitration).

While this deal will not approach the Holliday to Oakland deal in terms of return, the Rockies got what they were after – unloaded a replaceable expense in exchange for pitching. At this point, it seems the Rockies are looking for any arm they can get. Both Moscoso and Outman were likely candidates for Oakland’s starting rotation, but that rotation was already weakened by the injuries, especially to Dallas Braden. At least one of these guys, probably Moscoso, will push Hammel for a rotation spot, and should be at the very least a good placeholder for Jorge de la Rosa, who will still be rehabbing from Tommy John surgery throughout the spring.

In the end, it’s probably a good deal for the Rockies, though Seth Smith is another one of the high character guys that just couldn’t make the case for a permanent roster spot. Time will tell if this all-out rebuild of the pitching staff, and the resulting shakeup that extends up and down the entire lineup, is successful. One thing is certain – just like every year, with San Francisco and Arizona sitting atop the division, and Los Angeles not far behind, solid pitching will be imperative for the Rockies to make a run at the NL West – slugging won’t win a title.

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The Colorado Rockies have proven this if nothing else: they like to build from within. So you know when they finally let go a hometown prospect, they’ve given up on the development and are looking for a change. Year in, year out, Chris Iannetta is the proclaimed “catcher in waiting”. O’Dowd and the Rockies have finally tired of waiting. We’ve watched Iannetta lose his job to Yorvit Torrealba, then to Miguel Olivo. Then as the Rockies faded into obscurity at the end of the 2011 season, minor league phenom Wilin Rosario stepped in and proved that for all intents and purposes, the Iannetta experiment is over in Denver, made official by the trade yesterday that sent Iannetta to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim of Orange County of California in exchange for Tyler Chatwood, a young hard throwing lefty that projects to compete for the back end of the rotation.

It’s not like the Rockies didn’t try with Chris. After Torrealba did the bulk of the catching leading up to the World Series run in 2007, and was willing to stay, the Rockies made the choice that the potential in Iannetta was greater than the exhibited skill of anyone else on the roster, and told Chris the job was his to lose. This happened in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011. Five straight years, with a hefty contract in the middle of it all, and while he showed flashes of brilliance, he never solidified himself as THE catcher in Colorado. Even Dan O’Dowd and the Rockies management, with their almost blinding loyalty to homegrown talent, had to concede the move that needed to be made. Of all the Kid Rocks that graced the field in LoDo, now Holliday is gone, Hawpe is gone, Jimenez is gone, and Iannetta is gone. And for all the criticism, each of these moves could turn out for the best. Holliday brought us Gonzales, Jimenez brought us White and Pomeranz (effect remaining to be seen), and now Iannetta brings us Chatwood, and opens a spot to bring in a new veteran catcher to hold down the fort while Rosario gets ready for the big show.

Chatwood is a young, hard-throwing lefty. While he doesn’t remind anyone of Pomeranz, he can hit 95 on his fastball, and as long as Apodaca doesn’t screw him up, has lots of years left on his arm. He’ll struggle with control, and as such will either compete for the 5th spot in the rotation, or find himself throwing setup relief, perhaps to fill the 8th inning spot left by Betancourt’s move to closer. We won’t even get into the whole Huston Street thing today.

All in all — probably a good move for the Rockies. We hate to see the good guys go. We all loved Atkins, and Hawpe, and Iannetta. Colorado is the home of the true character guys in baseball… but even the character guys have to produce, and the Rockies are slipping ever further from the glory of 2007 into the mediocrity of their past, and management would do well to continue to make moves to avoid such an ungraceful fall. Speaking of moves, any takers for Ian Stewart? Eh, didn’t think so.

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Ubaldo Jimenez was traded to Cleveland Saturday, just minutes after starting in San Diego.

Early analysis shows two distinct sides to this trade: the emotional, and the factual. On the emotional side, fans of both teams are not exactly jumping out of their seats to applaud management for pulling off one of the bigger trades of this MLB season. Rockies fans are understandably upset that an organization that has spent its entire existence struggling on the mount, finally developed an all star, top of the rotation pitcher– a legitimate ace– and at the first sign of struggle trade him away. Indians fans don’t see the Ubaldo we know in Colorado,  but only see the Ubaldo that changed his off-season preparation, struggled with injury, and has barely crawled to a 6-9 record this season, leaving them to lament the gutting of their farm system for a pitcher with very pedestrian numbers.

For the Indians, the fact is they got a guy who takes the mound with the ability to strike out anyone he faces, and do so with authority. They got a guy who has thrown the only no-hitter on Rockies history. They got a guy that will work hard. They got a guy who is still in the top 10 pitchers in baseball in terms of average velocity. And they got a guy who is a top quality person – a positive presence in the clubhouse that will serve to make everyone better. Now you don’t trade your farm system for a good guy… but Ubaldo is a good guy with skills. The Indians got a new ace.

The Rockies, being the sellers in this deal, have a lot more to be concerned about. Of course they won’t admit it out loud, but this trade amounts to throwing up the white flag on 2011, and looking towards a new look rotation in 2012. The unfortunate thing is that while Ubaldo had his struggles, the pitching staff has paid the price for a wildly underachieving team. It’s not Ubaldo’s fault that Cargo and Tulo took 2 months to get their feet wet. It’s not Ubaldo’s fault that Ian Stewart couldn’t hit a canteloupe off a tee. It’s not Ubaldo’s fault that the revolving door at second base started with the failed Jose Lopez experiment and has landed with an aging veteran picked up from Oakland. It’s not Ubaldo’s fault. But in team sports, individuals pay the price for team failures, from managers on down, and so it is in this case.

Drew Pomeranz and Alex White are the centerpieces of this trade. While Ubaldo will make his first start in the next week, we’ll have to wait until September to get a good look at these guys. All indications and reports are that Pomeranz is the main piece of this trade, as he throws serious heat and projects to be a top of the rotation pitcher. Alex White has already booked some major league time, and will certainly be pitching here in Colorado before season’s end. To hear the Indian fans tell it, they gutted the system of their most prized prospects to take a gamble on Ubaldo. It seems like both sides took a gamble, and it will take a while to figure out which gamble paid off. This trade has all the makings of the rare situation where both teams come out smelling like a rose.

Either way, Rockies fans bid a fond farewell to Ubaldo. When Matt Holliday was traded, there was plenty of animosity due to the contract situation. In this case, we will remember Ubaldo has the most exciting pitcher to watch in Colorado history – Ubaldo Day was an event, every time he took the mound. He gave us the first no-no the Rockies have ever seen, and his smile lights up every room, every interview, every stadium. He’s the guy you want to see succeed. And so it is in Cleveland – we hope to see him succeed.

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Dan Olson, Ian Cerveny, Jason Dennee and a multiple personality disorder discuss the Colorado Rockies’ April run.  This PSC Rockies podcast was recorded on location at the Familia Camarena Tequila Loft above the Coors Field bullpens during a wintry late-April 2011 game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Colorado Rockies.

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The MLB-best Colorado Rockies have shot out to a 10-2 record over the first two weeks of the 2011 Season.  Find out why they’re so damn good, how long the ride will last, and why the Rockies are favorites to win the NL West.  Jason Dennee, Dan Olson and Ian Cerveny talk Rocks in this edition of the Pro Sports Colorado podcast.

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The Colorado Rockies’ 2011 Season did not start as planned.

An 11-Inning loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Opening Day at Coors Field capped an awkward game in which ace starter Ubaldo Jimenez struggled with a cracked cuticle.  (Ubaldo missed his next start and will likely skip another.)  Jimenez did not earn the loss in that 7-6 slugfest, and no Rockies starter has yet recorded an L this season.

That’s because the Rockies only have one other loss – a 3-4 drop in 14 Innings at Pittsburgh.  Colorado is undefeated in standard 9-Inning games so far this year.

A sweep of a 2-game set at home against the Dodgers followed a 1-1 split of a weather-shortened 2-game series with the D-Backs.  The Rocks then pounded out wins in three of four against the Pirates, a cellar-dweller in 2010 that gave Colorado fits last season.

Those six wins in eight tries have been good enough for a .750 winning percentage and an early NL West division lead over the 5-4 Dodgers.  Seattle import Jose Lopez has led the Rockies with 7 RBI’s on 7 hits, just a hair better than Tulo’s 6 RBI’s on 6 hits.

Nobody is surprised to see Colorado outscoring opponents.  Following an offseason that saw the Rockies sign twin sluggers Carlos Gonzalez and Troy Tulowitzki to long-term contract extensions, fans expected to see a team that could score at will.  They have that so far in the National League’s fourth-best offense (5.1 runs scored per game.)

What is surprising, though, is the Rockies’ MLB-best defense.  Colorado has allowed just 3.4 runs per game, tying 4-4 San Diego for the league-best mark.  That outstandingly low runs allowed per contest comes despite the Rocks playing six extra innings of baseball and fully half of its games at hitter-friendly Coors Field.

Stats are fickle this early in a long baseball season.  However, with a crackling start from the plate and a stingy pitching staff that has performed well without its best hurler, the Colorado Rockies have the look of a division winner with just 154 games to go.

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More often than not, early and late season baseball in Colorado faces weather issues. The 2o11 campaign is no different. While weather issues are certainly not unique to Colorado, it’s not many places you can watch an evening game at 84 degrees, while the next day’s afternoon game gets scrubbed due to snow. The rubber match of the season opening 3-game set with the Diamondbacks suffered just such a fate, leaving the series deadlocked at one game a piece until a makeup is scheduled.

In the season opener, Ubaldo Jimenez fell short of expectations by allowing 6 runs in 6 innings. Later, Jimenez revealed a cut cuticle that kept him from being able to grip the ball properly, resulting in his inability to get the velocity on his fastball or the break on his curveball. And let’s face it – a Jimenez without his overpowering fastball is no Jimenez you want on the mound. Never was this more clear than when he served up a softball to Justin Upton, which Upton promptly deposited in the left centerfield bleachers for three runs. The Rockies took advantage of Arizona’s sloppy defense to tie the game and send it to extra innings, but a Lidstrom wild pitch scored what turned out to be the winning run in the top of the 11th.

Saturday, the Rockies bounced back with a solid defensive effort. The night was shaping up to be the Jorge de la Rosa show, who not only held the D-backs scoreless, but added an RBI single before leaving the game in the 5th inning with a blister. De la Rosa’s injury is not expected to cause him to miss his next start. Huston Street allowed a run in the 9th before finally shutting down the Arizona bats and earning the save in the 3-1 victory.

Observations

While it’s hard to identify any major trends with 160 games left to play, a few things stand out as the Rockies enter this highly anticipated season.

• Ubaldo needs to sit until his cuticle issue is resolved. Ubaldo is a Cy Young contender – for a cuticle to put his season in jeopardy is inexcusable. As Ubaldo goes, so will go the Rockies, and if that means he needs to sit back and heal, then fine. This same issue plagued him in the spring, and it came right back. It’s not like it’s a surprise that the air is dry in Colorado. Both he and De la Rosa need to take appropriate measures to make sure they are healthy.
• It’s early, but Iannetta looks to be taking his job seriously. His plate blocking play on Friday was a highlight-reel play – he stood his ground as Upton clobbered him with all the force of a fullback hitting the defensive line.
• Lopez looks as if he’ll play just well enough to keep Herrera on the bench – which is unfortunate, because Herrera could be the future at 2B, but instead we’ll stick with the veteran who will show flashes of brilliance, but ultimately be barely above average. Herrera’s potential far outweighs that of Lopez, especially on the basepaths.
• Hopefully, we’re not in for another year of 32-pitch 9th innings by Huston Street – no one in the ballpark was confident that he could keep the D-Backs down… and he made a game of it. Street is going to have to regain his ability to close the door decisively if the Rockies are going to contend for the division.

The Rockies resume Tuesday as they host the Dodgers for an abbreviated 2 game set. Chacin gets the start, with a stiff test facing Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw. Thursday, the Rocks hit the road to face former manager Clint Hurdle and the Pittsburgh Pirates for four games.

Upcoming Schedule:

Tuesday 4/5 vs Dodgers (6:40pm –  Kershaw vs. Chacin)
Wednesday 4/6 vs Dodgers (1:10pm – Billingsley vs Hammel )

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The Colorado Rockies are solid at two of three outfield positions, but there is still much drama to be had.  The 2011 Season will be spent monitoring not who is manning the sprawling lawn at Coors Field, but rather how well these young outfielders develop beyond their 2010 performances at the plate.

Carlos Gonzalez is obviously the centerpiece of this speedy young Rockies outfield.  Gonzalez logged time at all three outfield positions in 2010, notching 8 outfield assists in the process.  (Just three assists short of NL leader Jeff Francoeur.)  CarGo deserved a Gold Glove for his magnificent defensive work in one of the most challenging fielding parks in baseball.

Instead, Gonzalez got a 7-year $80 million extension from the Colorado Rockies, predominantly for his earth-shaking hitting and basepad speed.  Gonzalez more than doubled his plate appearances from 2010, and the result was a .336 average and 117 RBI.  CarGo led the Rockies in BA, HR’s, RBI, R’s and OPS.

Gaudy batting statistics aside, the Rockies will be looking for Carlos to work on patience at the plate.  Gonzalez was at his best behind in the count and utilizing his ample natural talents to overpower (and terrify) opposing pitchers by swinging away.  However, if the Rockies are to make a playoff run against the NL’s best hurlers, Carlos is going to need to force pitchers to give him good looks by being more selective early in counts.

Dexter Fowler draws a striking contrast to CarGo at the plate, often finding his way to first without offering at a pitch.  Dex has a long, slow swing that requires patience, and the drastic gap between his batting average (a pedestrian .260) and on-base percentage (a relatively high .351) exemplify that.  Compare that OBP to CarGo’s .376 and Fowler was reaching base almost as often while swinging the bat significantly less.  Still, Dex will need to improve on nearly identical 2010-2011 numbers to live up to expectations.

Where Fowler is not at all lacking is his stellar outfield play.  Dexter is precisely the kind of quick, athletic, long center fielder that Coors Field demands.  Dex plays every ball hit his way at full-speed, and he sacrificed his body on a couple of occasions last season to make thrilling catches.  Fowler is every inch a starting center fielder and we hope that he can continue to get on base from early in the batting order (to be moved along by twin demons CarGo and Tulo.)

Ryan Spilborghs has platooned in right field each of the last five seasons.  He split time with Brad Hawpe until the Hawper was sent packing to Tampa Bay, then swapped starts with Seth Smith through the end of 2010.  Spilly is a great utility outfielder, relatively dependable in the pinch, and has a heartthrob following amongst female fans.

Spilborghs will be earning the second half of a 2-year $3.2 million contract in 2011, and his batting production was solid in 2010 at .279, well up from his disappointing .241 in 2009.

Still, Ryan has long been expected to blossom into the everyday power right fielder that the Rockies need, and he has so far failed to do so.  Between long slumps, poor hitting with men on base, and a decline in power stats from his first three seasons, Spilborghs is so far no more than a very serviceable second option in right field who happens to start when Colorado cannot field a better player.

This will be a very telling year for Spilly, and his future with the Rockies may hinge on his ability to grow beyond his current limitations.

Seth Smith rocked Coors Field in 2009 with his clutch power-hitting in the pinch.  Less impressive but still acceptable pinch-hitting numbers in 2010 made him a starter for brief stretches, but his disappointing decline from a .293 average in ’09 to .246 in ’10 relegated Seth again to backup status.

Smith is an impressive left-handed bat off the bench, and a serviceable late-innings fielder.  Perhaps he needs to return to that role in 2011.  It served the team well in 2009, and Seth simply failed to excel as a part-time starter in 2010.  He is an important and inexpensive piece of the Rockies’ suddenly expensive roster.

Charlie Blackmon will be worth a look in spring training, and was announced this week as a non-roster invitee to the Rockies’ camp.  After being drafted twice as a pitcher, Blackmon decided his future was as a position player and ended up a second round selection for the Rockies.  Charlie has made a steady rise through Colorado’s system, playing well at AA-Tulsa in 2010.

If anybody is going to challenge Spilborghs and Smith in right field, it will be Blackmon who has the speed and arm-strength to play center field.  Because of his defensive range and arm Charlie may even be an eventual replacement for Dexter Fowler if the young Rockies center fielder fails to grow in 2011.  As a defensive addition, Blackmon is ready to play at the MLB level now.

His patience in the minors and in the 2010 Arizona Fall League was noteworthy, but work remains to be done on his strike zone awareness.  Hitting better than .300 at several levels of the Rockies’ system (and in the AFL), Blackmon is worth keeping an eye on.  He will need to surpass fellow prospect Cole Garner, a switch-hitting outfielder added to the Rockies’ 40-man Roster in December, if he hopes to play in the big leagues this year.

Read Colorado Rockies Spring Roster Preview – Catcher and 3B

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Even though the Broncos season ended effectively before the Rockies had even let the ink dry on the 2010 season, we can’t help but immerse ourlselves in the drama that is the current Denver Broncos for a while. While the crisp chill of Colorado winter still hangs in the air, the looming approach of the Super Bowl (am I allowed to say that, or will I get sued?) can mean only one thing – spring training is right around the corner. The Rockies had some definite ups and downs in the 2010 campaign, with a couple brief pushes towards a playoff spot in August and September, but the inconsistency that plagued them in the second half was too much for even a monstrous September for Tulowitzki to overcome. As Tulo came back from injury and put up numbers that rivaled Babe Ruth himself, the rest of the team (with a few exceptions) couldn’t find the groove that eluded them all year and left the Rockies just short of October baseball. Here’s hoping the odd-year season brings another run at October. This year figures to have some pretty stiff challenges within the division, starting with the World Series champion San Francisco Giants. How do the Rockies of 2011 look to stack up? There have been a few departures (Barmes, Francis, Mora, Olivo), and a few additions (Wigginton, Lindstrom). None of the transactions have shaken the boat – it’s the new contracts to current players that have made noise in the baseball world. First Tulowitzki signs a long-term deal, and right on his heels Scott Boras client Carlos Gonzales inks and extension to stick around for the long haul. Here’s the first part in a series looking at how the Rocks 2011 roster is shaping up.

Catcher

We’ll start with an easy one. It’s clear what Rockies management is communicating with this move. They let Olivo go, declined to resign Torrealba, who had departed to the Padres after a good run with the Rockies through 2009. A year ago this month, the Rockies signed Chris Iannetta, the perennial “future talent”, to an extension through 2012, with a club option for 2013. Iannetta will make $2.5M this year, and $3.5M next. Make no mistake – this is his last chance. Iannetta has been given  the catching job, and it’s his to lose. Of course, the last couple years, he’s done just that. But the refusal of Rockies management to sign a veteran catcher is a clear signal to Iannetta that this is his time to become the solid starting catcher, otherwise the franchise is ready to move on. Youngsters Jordan Pacheco and Mike McKenry figure to be the backups.

Third Base

Another position where the Rockies are heading into the season with a high-potential young player who needs to make a play for his job is third base. Ian Stewart figures to be the penciled in starter, although his contract status is still uncertain. Stewart, who made just under $500,000 last season, is asking for $2.6M, according to the Denver Post. The team has offered $2.15M to the arbitration-eligible Stewart, and will likely find a middle ground on a one-year deal. Clearly, the Rockies aren’t all that excited about increasing Stewart’s salary by over 4 times, based on the inconsistency that plagued Stewart at the plate last season. However, he’ll show flashes of brilliance that, like Iannetta, make you want to see him succeed because you know he could be an anchor if you could just get some more solid production out of him. Stewart is your classic power-hitter though, complete with the astronomical strikeout rates. Unlike the Iannetta situation, the Rockies have a more developed contingency plan here. While of course they hope for the resurgence of Stewart, they did sign infielder Ty Wigginton for $8M over two years, who will be much more useful on the first base side, could fill in at third where needed. With the departure of Mora, if Stewart falters it will fall to Wigginton. The Rockies also made another move to shore up that corner by signing former All-Star Joe Crede to a minor league deal today. That signing just smacks of ‘contingency plan’ – something the Rockies may well need at third base if the last two years are any indication.

Up next – a look at the rest of the infield. And for the record – pitchers and catchers report to the Rockies brand spanking new spring training facility on February 14th – let the countdown begin!

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