Troy Tulowitzki strikes out with vigor in his first return to the plate since suffering a broken wrist in June

In order to understand the Colorado Rockies you need to have been there in 2007 when Todd Helton and Troy Tulowitzki willed their team to the playoffs.

To really get the depth of suffering in Colorado baseballand you will have waded through an abysmal 2008.  You would remember watching, helpless, as every dependable player from that magical ’07 run declined, even the ones that went to other teams (Fogg, Taveras & Matsui.)

You will have stared blankly at a post-All Star Break club that has sucked in every conceivable way that a baseball team can suck, rolled snake-eyes in every conceivable situation that requires luck, and lost eight straight games, alternately in gut-wrenching blowout fashion and then with fist-pounding inadequacy in close contests.

And the only reason you believe that there is a ghost of a chance that the Rockies can make up 9 games in their remaining 55 is that you saw them charge back in two of the last three seasons after everybody, including you, had written them off as well done… cooked.

But you will have also watched this Colorado team repeatedly threatened with its postseason life in the last week respond by committing a litany of mistakes; from formerly dependable starters to typically shutdown fielders to otherwise intelligent management.

And you will believe again, as I do, that the Rockies’ season is finished before its time.

Oddly, though, it would seem that this team thrives on its own dysfunctional countenance.

The Rockies are deeply, characteristically humanistic in their approach to baseball.  Even by comparison to similarly streaky teams.

What I mean here is that the Rockies feel like they’re on an epic losing streak right now, and it shows in every movement, every anxious swing.  Each driving hit straight into a defender’s glove seems scripted by the very demeanor of the club, and the only way out is an equal, opposite and, yea, inevitable resurgence in the opposite direction.

The Colorado Rockies are a team of players whose most defining attribute is their inherently natural approach to the game.  Brad Hawpe, Carlos Gonzalez, Ubaldo Jimenez and Troy Tulowitzki, the Rockies’ youth core, are very simply a band of gifted naturals.

Hawpe has one of the most beautiful swings ever created by the baseball gods, but struggles mightily to control its intricacies.

Gonzalez is so intensely gifted at finding ways to drive a baseball thrown anywhere near the strike zone that he dooms himself to low-percentage, awkward swings in high-pressure situations.

Jimenez didn’t start playing baseball until his teens, and his otherworldly physical talents still seem underdeveloped at times.  His incapability to cope with a mechanical glitch, in fact his tendency to exaggerate the motion that is blowing his pitches off-course, is sophomoric by comparison to his level of experience in the major leagues.

And poor Troy Tulowitzki had gotten it all figured out after two years of struggle when a brush-back pitch broke his wrist in mid-June.

Before that injury, Tulo had finally found a way to harness his obvious natural skills, to take advantage of his de-facto confidence, and to do so while still allowing the game to come to him.  In his two games back, Troy has been wound so tight trying to make plays that he has committed a fielding error and a major base-running gaffe, and frustratingly driven the ball hard straight at opposing fielders.  (He has also struck out dramatically– see picture above.)

But where they Rockies have a tendency to perpetuate their own bad fortunes, they are also capable of waking into a flurry of ferocious winning at any time.

Those ’07 & ’09 teams needed catalysts in the form of an emotional game-winning home run by Helton for the former and an intensely personal managerial change for the latter.

The Rockies’ front office has very publicly pursued not just good, natural baseball players, but also good, natural human beings.  We’re talking good people here, with strong morals and well-developed character.  The result has been a team that moves as one through the season, sometimes slipping into a self-perpetuated depression, and sometimes rising to unbelievable heights of excellence.

The Colorado Rockies are a family unit with well-defined roles, desire and passion throughout.  Their collectivism is their greatest strength and most damning weakness.

So even if I have to believe, statistically… rationally, that the Rockies are done in 2010, there is still a chance for resurrection.  And even if the ’10 Rocks don’t make it rain, the ’11 Rocks look mighty potent given a healthy pitching staff.

Even as we give up on the boys in purple pinstripes, they are yet a dynamic ball club full of potential for greatness.  Even if the season fades to an untimely black, it is still good to be a baseball fan in Colorado.

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Reality is starting to settle in and it’s not pretty.

The bottom line is the 2010 Colorado Rockies are just not good enough.

This is a deflated, injury-riddled shell of the last year’s bunch, minus any semblance of timely hitting and solid defensive play.

Already sitting 6 games back of the surprising San Diego Padres, the Rockies will go to San Diego with the daunting task of winning games in a ballpark where they infrequently hit the ball and seldom win. The prospect of losing all three games (despite Ubaldo Jimenez’ scheduled start on Monday night) is very real.  The fate for such costly failure would be the Rockies finding themselves on late Wednesday night sitting an almost insurmountable 9 games back of the division with three superior baseball clubs to leapfrog to fulfill lofty pre-season expectations.

The NL Wild Card, the Rockies’ competitive salvation in 2007 and 2009, will not be so easily claimed with late-season heroics this year. Not with the Braves, Mets, Phillies, Marlins, Cardinals, Reds, Dodgers, Padres and Giants all executing far more effectively and far more consistently than the Rockies. For those of you keeping score at home that is 10 teams fighting it out for 4 playoff spots, and one of them will almost certainly trade for pitchers Cliff Lee or Roy Oswalt in the next 10-14 days.

With a mere 87 games remaining, the Rockies need to act and they need to act now.

The list of shortcomings on this suddenly flawed and underachieving team is long, but dramatic improvements could be made by doing the following…

1. Send Franklin Morales to the minors. The talented but errant left-hander is now a documented liability; blowing saves, blowing holds, and failing to keep a losing game close. This is no longer 2007 and this is no longer a developmental ballclub. Morales should work out his woes in AAA and have his fate decided in the off-season or in Spring Training next year. He should not be recalled in September for any reason, under any circumstances. The experiment, thus far, has failed.
2. Trade. Somebody. Anybody. Trade either for Florida’s Dan Uggla or Baltimore’s Ty Wiggington, either of which would instantly become the club’s homeruns leader, if not also the team’s RBI leader. Trade for Prince Fielder; gamble some of the team’s young stock of pitching on this Scott Boras represented mercenary. No one will blame the Rockies for having no part in Boras’ well-known desire to make Fielder one of the highest paid players in all of baseball. But to waste the Colorado Rockies best starting pitching staff in franchise history on a mediocre offense would be utterly shameful, if not deeply ironic.
3. Sit Todd Helton. I’m not going to waste words describing what this man has meant to the franchise or Rockies history. But to argue that the lineup wouldn’t be better served from a power standpoint is now statistically ludicrous. It would just as preposterous to contend that, defensively, the Rockies would be better served with Hawpe, Iannetta, Mora or even Smith at first base. But a .250 singles hitter who has no chance to lace a double or smack a 3-run homer is costing the team games. Period.
4. Hope. Hope that Jorge De La Rosa can return from the DL and be what he was before his torn tendon: one of the best pitchers in baseball. Hope that Tulo comes back and finally provides the offensive leadership that led some to call him the favorite for the NL MVP in the preseason.

And, most importantly, hope that in a mere three days it’s not too late for the 2010 Colorado Rockies.

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In this 2010 MLB season, one is at a loss when trying to analyze and explain the Colorado Rockies.

Sitting at 20-21 and 4 games back in the highly competitive NL West (the Padres, Dodgers and Giants all are within 1.5 games of one another), the Rockies can find some small consolation in knowing the bulk of their home games and divisional schedule remain. But the season is a quarter of the way through and time is running out for this team to find its identity.

Listing and repeating the numerous paradoxical offensive and pitching statistics at this point would be redundant.

Behind an offense that has shown a propensity for front-running, games have become fairly simple affair.

If the starting pitching is solid and the Rockies can find an early lead, they win. If the starters struggle or the defense shaky, the Rockies offense is incapable of coming from behind from even the smallest margins, if they are even allowed the opportunity by the bullpen to attempt a comeback.

Saberticians are of no use in trying to diagnose the woes of this ballclub, for the solution lays not within lineup juggling, bullpen matchups or stats about who has a higher 2-out basehit percentage, but with the fundamental premise of playing as team.

Night after night, the Rockies players look singular… un-unified and even robotic at times.

Though the game of baseball is based on individual matchups, the juggling of the lineup has clearly led to a lack of understanding of player’s roles within the offense. Carlos Gonzales, the team’s best offensive player at this point, has hit leadoff, 3^rd and 5^th, sometimes all within a week. The lack of hitting consistency can clearly be traced to the middle of the order where Todd Helton and Troy Tulowitzki share a troubling stat… the two have only combined for 3 home runs.

The pitching has been there, at times and even on days when staff ace Ubaldo Jimenez isn’t pitching.

Yet, injuries, weather delays leading to doubleheaders, and roster juggling have led to a strange brew in the rotation and bullpen and the lack of a defined closer is becoming glaringly apparent. The defensive play in the field can almost at this point be classified as a detriment. One of the top fielding teams in baseball the last couple years; this year’s Rockies seem to lack the sizzle of a slick fielding team. Balls are miffed, muffed and bouncing into the outfield and the team’s fielding leader, Tulo, appears to be pressing.

All of the aforementioned issues are particularly magnified on the road.

Watching the games in the late innings, one can almost feel the Rockies grit their teeth in anticipation of the error in the field or mistake over the plate that will break a tie or balloon a one-run lead into several.

Yet, despite all of the above, there is hope. Hope in the form of the possibility of a return to 2007 form by the now healthy Jeff Francis.

In the form of the best pitcher in baseball, U-Ball, who is having a year that is reminding people of Bob Gibson in 1968. In the form of Taylor Buchholz, Huston Street and Jorge De La Rosa, all of whom are projected to return from the disabled list in the next 3 weeks to finally add stability and potency to the bullpen and rotation.

And hope in the form that this team, a team that has played so well down the stretch in recent years, will understand that all their hopes and high aspirations cannot be realized unless they start to play as a team, unified as Colorado Rockies.

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So here we are at the end of April and the Rockies have a chance to be +.500 in April for the first time since 2005.  I’d say that’s an accomplishment considering how bad the Rockies consistently are early in the season.  If they play the way they did last year with this year’s April performance, they will end up with 96 wins.

Just to reinforce how impressed I am, at this point I had them at 2 games under when I ran the numbers at the beginning of the season.

Today features Aaron Cook vs. Barry Zito.

Zito is pitching great with a 3-0 record and a 1.32 ERA.  He’s never done that through April not even in his glory days in Oakland.  You have to expect that he can’t keep up this pace.  On the other hand, Aaron Cook finally put it together last game.  Historically, Cook is streaky.  Win 5, lose 3, win 5, lose 3, and end up 15-9 at the end of the season.  He lost his first three and won his last one, so I’d say the Rockies chances look good to have Cookie roll and Zito humbled.

Rockies Line Up tweak: Carlos Gonzales to the 3, Todd Helton to the 5.  That’s a lot of speed at the top now going Eric Young Jr., Dexter Fowler, Gonzales 1, 2, 3.  Helton hasn’t shown he still has the power to hit 5, though.  Is Tracy thinking Todd will be singling people in?  He’d need a lot of singles, but then again he’s more than capable.  Also, Melvin Mora is playing 3^rd base tonight.  Probably to get another righty into the lineup.

Top 1^st Rockies 1-0

Young’s patience at the plate earned a bag, then his legs, a sacrifice by Fowler (which was a bad call –   Dex was safe), and a single by CarGo get the Rockies the first run of the game.  Beyond that there are two stolen bases already by the Rockies on the slow moving Zito. Note:  Bengie Molina had perfect throws on both steals.

Zito is having a little trouble finding the strike zone to star but his stuff is so tricky to figure out if it’s a strike or not who knows if that’s a problem.

Bot 1^st Rockies 1-0

Cookie gets the outs but not very efficient; 19 pitches and a walk to Edgar Renteria.  But more troubling is that 2 outs were fly outs to outfielders.   Cookie pounds the strike zone with a heavy sinker.  He should be getting ground balls every batter.  Can’t judge him on it yet, it’s just troubling.

Top 2^nd Rockies 1-0

Barry Zito seems to have settled in.  He’s doing what he’s known for; making batters miss hit the base ball and fly out.  Cookie better be on his game tonight.

Bot 2^nd Rockies 1-0

I suppose if Aaron Cook settles in too we may see a lot of quick fly out followed by a lot a quick ground outs.  Another walk in the inning canceled out by a double play.  And the Juan Uribe hit a fly out (where have I seen that before?).

Top 3^rd Rockies 1-0

The Circle Change Up is one of the hardest pitches to master in baseball, once you do it is one of the hardest pitches to read as a batter.  You need a strong, strong arm but you get a lot of backwards Ks.  Two so far in the game for Zito.

Bot 3^rd Rockies 1-0

Perfect card but an awful lot of fly outs for Cook.  I don’t know if San Fran has made a point of swinging low to try to hit his sinker or what; but a sea level, if they’re skying it, something is wrong with the sinker.  Of course, maybe San Fran’s lineup really is that bad.

Top 4^th Rockies 1-0

Well the Rockies get another base runner due to yet another “I’m terrified of Todd Helton so I’m going to pitch it three feet of the plate ‘unintentionally” walk, but the rest of the lineup can’t solve Zito.   The Lefty is working inside on righties an awful lot.  No fear in that man right now.

Bot 4^th Rockies 1-0

A two out duck fart single to right center get the first hit out the game followed abruptly by the second, a second pitch grounder through the second base hole by Aubrey Huff.   Then a 4 pitch walk to Mark DeRosa loads the bases.  And the Juan Uribe of all people finds the second base hole with a ground ball for two runs.  Apart from the walk it was all bad luck and all of it with two outs.

Also in the inning was a snap throw to second that Miguel Olivo almost put into center field.  Clint Barmes made a falling sideways and backward catch to save to free base.

Top 5^th Giants 2-1

The Rockies follow it up with a pair of singles by Mora and Barmes followed by a sac bunt by Cook, and a past by Molina lets the tying run in.  Mora got lucky with a ground ball that found the third base hole but Barmes was a very good piece of hitting.

Last year the most frequent thing I would yell at my TV was “Keep Your Shoulder Up, Barmes!”.  Clint has the worst tendency to drop his shoulder for a power hit when the pitch is something he should just make contact with.  He’s doing a much better job this year of hitting for contact.

Bot 5^th Tied 2-2

Leaving the ball up in the zone finally cost Cook.  Another walk, a well fought off high inside pitch for a single by John Bowker, and a lucky little infield single by Pablo Sadoval set up the Huff double over EYJ’s head.   But then Cook looked much better…after all the run came in

Why does Cook pitch with confidence only after he’s let runs in?  I mean I like the idea of a solid pitcher getting angry and laying into a team, but he should do that after a hit or a bad call not after a run.

Top 6^th Giants 5-2

Barry Zito is showing no signs of having a problem pitching with the lead.  Pair of ground outs, one for a double play; 11 pitches to get it done even with the walk to Helton.

Bot 6^th Giants 5-2

Aaron Cook seems to have put it back together.  After a leadoff double by Nate Schierholtz, Cookie got Zito to bunt poorly and held Schierholtz on second.  And then got two ground out by the top of the order.

Top 7^th Giants 5-2

So after I compliment Cook his day is over.  Probably doesn’t matter.  Even if he had pitched well the rest of the way the Rockies offence is showing no signs of life.  One more inning with zero baserunners.

Bot 7^th Giants 5-2

Manny Corpas comes in the deal with the 7^th and maybe 8^th.  I think he may have found himself again.  He’s throwing the ball with confidence over the inside of the plate and testing batters with high fastballs.  One walk with two outs but no threats.

Top 8^th Giants 5-2

Dexter Fowler laid into a bad pitch and earned a double but the batters following him didn’t do as well.  CarGo tried to outsmart them with a bunt and it backfired.  And then a pretty good 8 pitch at bat by Tulo goes down in flames with a foul out.  The Rockies just can’t put two hits together tonight.

Bot 8^th Giants 5-2

Randy Flores came in to pitch the 8^th.  It may have been his best pitching performance of the year.  12 pitches, and three quick outs.  But the Rockies must find some offense against a pretty good San Fran closer.  Probably a good performance in vain.

Top 9^th Giants 5-2

Sergio Romo pitching.

I a decent 5 pitch at bat Todd finds his pitch and misses it.  He grounds out to 2^nd Base Mark DeRosa.  One Out.

Miguel Olivo akes a try at a pitch on the outer half and pop it up behind the plate.  Two Out.

Melvin Mora takes about the same outer half pitch to right center for a double.  Two Out, runner on second.

The Rockies Bring in Seth Smith to hit for Clint Barmes and the Giants counter with Jeremy Affeldt.  Beware the Curve Ball.

On a 3-1 pitch after 3 straight balls, Sethh Smith can’t get a hold of an a low in side fastball.  Ground out to First Base.  Game Over.

Giants 5-2

Both the Giants and the Rockies did ok, not great.  The Giants got the hits with people on base while the Rockies couldn’t find the ball with people on base.  Cook had one unlucky inning and one bad inning, and that was enough for the loss.  Enough for Zito to work with.

Congrats to Barry Zito.  He is pitching like he never has before (literally).  He’s never been 4-0 in April.  Once he settled in, his stuff was unhittable tonight.   Sometimes his Circle Change would trick someone into not swinging and accepting a strike out, but mostly his Curveball would seduce a swing on an impossible pitch.   8 innings, 5 Ks (3 Backwards), in total.

The Rockies offense needs to figure out a way to generate consistent pressure, because consecutive innings with no base-runners followed by 3 hits for an extra 1-2 runs isn’t working.  I’d recommend patience at the plate, but they look fairly patient in most at-bats.  Rocks need to barrel up the ball.  Of Course, it’s now May 1 and the Rockies are a mere game under .500…  perhaps I should be patient.

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The Colorado Rockies scored 12 runs Tuesday night in a convincing showcase of their powerful hitting lineup.  Less than a day later it was the Arizona Diamondbacks powering past the Rockies in a marathon 10-Inning finale to the 3-game series.

Kelly Johnson led off the 10^th with a solo home run off Franklin Morales to give the Diamondbacks their first lead since Colorado took over in the bottom of the 3^rd.  Morales battled to keep it a one-run game going into the bottom of the extra inning.  Seth Smith, Dexter Fowler & Todd Helton all made good contact in the bottom of the final frame, but Smith & Fowler couldn’t get line-drives to drop and Helton couldn’t beat pitcher Juan Gutierrez to the base on an infield drive to 1^st.

The Diamondbacks won the first game in this series 5-3, a contest in which the Rockies squandered plenty of offensive opportunities.  The series balancing on today’s afternoon slugfest, Arizona opened up with a 6-run salvo in the 1^st Inning to chase troubled Colorado starter Greg Smith.  The Rockies responded with 1 run in the 2^nd, 6 in the 3^rd, and 4 in the 4^th before the offense dried up.

Colorado is amongst the worst in the league at producing runs in the second half of games.  Read more about the Rockies’ feast-or-famine offense.

The 11-6 lead would not hold.

Matt Belisle pitched three great innings while the Rockies pulled ahead, but gave up 3 scores in the 5^th as the short-reliever tired.  Arizona drove in 2 in the 8^th to tie the game at 11 apiece, giving Johnson his chance to hit a misplaced 2-2 fastball over the Coors Field fence.

The Rockies will now take their 11-11 record on the road for a California road swing through San Francisco, San Diego & Los Angeles.

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  Nearing the end of April, the Colorado Rockies are 20 g...

Nearing the end of April, the Colorado Rockies are 20 games into the season.

Yet, after 180 innings of baseball, the team and its direction remain an enigma.  Although currently at 10-10 in the standings (1.5 games behind division-leading San Diego), the Rockies are already feeling the sting of missed opportunities.

The Rox find themselves searching for answers.

We know Colorado is no stranger to slow-starting Rockies teams:

2007: 10-16

2008: 11-17

2009: 8-12

This year is different, however, and the 2010 model judges itself on the quality of the players on the field rather than the optimistic hopes that come each spring.  Thus far, the Rockies have fallen short.

Hitting:

So far this season, the Rockies have done both good things and bad things at the plate.

The “baseball card” statistics show a team that is hitting.  The club average is .265 and the Rox have scored 96 runs, good for middle of the pack in the National League.  Colorado has 305 total bases, 2^nd best in the NL.

Inherent power is evident in the lineup; Colorado has hit 24 homeruns (3^rd in the NL) and 71 extra-base-hits (5^th in the NL, but only 5 XBH’s behind the Brewers).

Lurking underneath, though, are some disturbing numbers.

The Rox have struck-out a frightening 161 times, only 1 K behind league-leader Arizona.  They have hit into 21 double plays (2^nd in the NL).  The clutch-hitting is woefully absent; Colorado has only scored 18 runs after the 7^th inning (last in the NL), and rank 14^th out of 16 teams in hitting with 2 outs and runners in scoring position.

Individually, the story is pretty much the same: stellar performances and sputtering starts.

Ian Stewart has clearly grown into himself, limiting strikes-outs and improving his pitch selection while losing none of his fearsome power.  Miguel Olivo has displaced Chris Iannetta by hitting over .300.  Brad Hawpe continues his tradition of fast starts, and Carlos Gonzalez is blossoming into a star.

The underside of this lineup is the lack of a defined spot for Clint Barmes, who remains sub-.200.  Dexter Fowler is only now emerging from an early-season slump, and has stolen just two bases.  Seth Smith started off terribly, but more recently last year’s Mr. Clutch is coming around thanks to more playing time.  (Due to minor injuries to Hawpe and CarGo.)  Jason Giambi remains a potent weapon off the bench and continues to have solid at-bats as a pinch-hitter. But as a starter, his bat goes quiet and he is an enormous liability defensively.

The offensive cornerstones of the Rockies lineup remain Troy Tulowitzki & Todd Helton.

Tulo seems to be adjusting lately, and his power will come around as a result.  Todd Helton remains an on-base machine with a respectable .274 average and a .357 on-base-percentage.  However, it’s clear his power is waning.  With only 3 extra-base-hits so far and no homeruns, one has to wonder how long it will be before manager Jim Tracy begins to consider Ian Stewart for the 3^rd spot in the lineup.

The Rockies clearly have the pieces to put together one of the more formidable lineups in the NL, if not all of Major League Baseball. The question is: can the pieces find a way to fit together before it’s too late?

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The Colorado Rockies have extended Todd Helton’s contract through 2013, tagging two more years onto a 9-year deal signed in March 2001 that already carried through next season.  Helton will receive $9.9 million over the 2012 & 2013 seasons.

In a stand-up move by Todd, his 2011 salary of $19 million will be partially deferred.

Helton will be paid $13.1 million from his 2011 dues over ten years starting in 2014.  This probably means that Todd plans on retiring after the 2013 season, and you can bet that a World Series victory between now and then will seal the deal.

What has become increasingly clear as the details of this arrangement are revealed is that both Helton and the organization want Todd to retire with the Colorado Rockies.  Rockies general manager Dan O’Dowd confirmed as much on Thursday.

“We reached out for Todd in the wintertime, and had quiet discussions,” said O’Dowd. “He understood what we were trying to do and wanted to retire as a Rockie.”

The Rockies’ slow payments of Helton’s large 2011 salary over the course of ten years (2014-2024) will allow Colorado to focus on retaining in-house talent next season.  That large $13.1 million burden will likely leave enough wiggle room to grab additional free agent talent in the offseason.  Helton’s ties to the organization effectively make him a cornerstone of the organization well after his eventual retirement.  Todd has always been a franchise player with unquestionable character, and he would certainly wish it no other way.

Helton his .325 last year after an injury-limited 2008 season.  The Rockies signed Todd’s backup Jason Giambi to a one-year deal, which will ensure that Helton has ample rest going into the stretch run of the season.  Giambi is an acceptable defensive replacement, and an outright terrifying offensive stand-in.

The Helton signing came a day after Opening Day starter from 2009, Aaron Cook, handed over the top spot in the Rockies’ rotation to flamethrowing righty Ubaldo Jimenez.  Cook insisted on standing next to the podium when the Rockies announced his demotion, based not on a drop-off in Aaron’s but on the rising power of Jimenez.  Cook knew the score.

Both Cook’s insistence on showing support for the teammate that superseded him, and Helton’s willingness to shuffle & stretch his contract exemplify just how much character there is within this Colorado organization.

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Rockies closer Huston Street

The owners of the Colorado Rockies have spent the last decade avoiding big-time contracts.  It’s a strategy that has, arguably, produced the best stretch in Rockies history.

For all of the rumblings within the fan base over the last nine-plus years, at least the Rockies’ national media time has not been occupied by chortling sportscasters bemused by another failed, high-priced pitcher coming to Colorado to die a slow career death.  The 2007 run to the World Series was followed by a disappointing 2008, but the 2009 Rockies that were knocked off by the Phillies may have actually been the most well-rounded baseball club that Colorado has ever produced.

With the signings this week of closer Huston Street and reliever Rafael Betancourt, Colorado is a step closer to becoming a consistent playoff contender.  You read that right; the Monforts are paying for pitching again.  Both players received multi-year contracts.  That’s another departure from the norm for the Rockies’ front office.

Street is locked up through 2011.  The primary loot garnered from the Matt Holiday trade that sent the soon-to-be-pricey slugger to Oakland, Huston will receive $22.5 million for the trouble of playing bullpen sweeper.  Betancourt will pocket $7.55 million over the course of his two-year deal.

Last week the Rockies were shelling out $3.25 million to lock up a utility outfielder for two seasons.  Ryan “Spilly” Spillborghs has officially become more than a fan favorite with a penchant for stellar defense.  Now he’s a well-paid fan favorite with a penchant for stellar defense.

The Rockies backed up that signing with a one-year deal to retain outrageously talented left-handed starter Jorge de la Rosa.  His $6.5 million deal is probably the biggest re-signing of the off-season.  At times last year, Jorge was the Rockies’ best pitcher.  And barring a late-season injury in Hell-A, de la Rosa would have been a series-changer versus the left-heavy Phillies.

Now we see the normally tight wallets of the Monfort brothers opening up for key closer Street and trade-deadline acquisition Betancourt.

In a league that puts the onus on small markets to invent ways to make money, the Rockies have carved out a place for themselves.  It all starts with farmed pitching that feeds off of a heavy Central & South American recruiting network.  But the Rockies have also brought up a litany of talented North American hitters since the front office stopped spending money after the 2001 season.

In fact, every likely Rockies starting fielder for next season came up through Colorado’s farm system, with the noteworthy exception of Carlos Gonzalez.  (Dexter Fowler, Brad Hawpe, Seth Smith, Troy Tulowitzki, Clint Barmes, Todd Helton & Chris Iannetta.  Not to mention Spilly, EYJ & Stewie.)

Thing is, Cargo is only in Colorado through the trading of the Rockies’ most trade-worthy, farm-produced commodity since Todd Helton.  The same savvy deal that shipped overly expensive defensive liability Holiday to the Athletics and brought Street to the Rockies also netted the struggling but talented Gonzalez.

Cargo opened up a can of whoopass in the late stages of the 2009 season.  Now the Monforts have opened up a can of cash to fund their rising Rockies.

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Todd Helton at first base.

Editor’s Note: This is the first in our season of Roundtable Discussions about the Rockies this offseason. Our plan is to have a discussion about every position on the team, with the series wrapping up just in time for Spring Training. Today’s discussion centers around the face of the franchise, Todd Helton at 1B, and the discussion is between ProSportsColorado.com writers Jason Ackerman, Ian Cerveny, and long-lost contributor Dan Olson.

Jason:
This is probably one of the easiest positions to analyze on the team, along with shortstop. The job is Todd’s as long as he continues to produce, and in 2009, produce he did, batting .325 with 86 RBIs and 15 homeruns. In addition, he posted a .998 fielding percentage and played in 153 games, and added 2 pinch hit appearances. Not bad for a guy that spent most of the previous season out of commission, and was widely regarded as finished. Nothing could be further from the truth– the way Todd looked in 2009, he could very easily finish out the remaining 2 years on his contract. If that is indeed the case, look for Todd to continue Joe Sakic-style– one year deals until he’s finally convinced it’s over. But that’s looking way ahead.

Ian:
No argument on the starter; Todd Helton is The Man at 1B, and he had a nice renaissance at the plate in ’09.  But I don’t think he can be expected to play 150 games in 2010 and be effective late in the season and in the playoffs.  If the Rocks stay competitive in the first half of the season, we should see Todd getting more than a few games off.

Dan:
First Base is the one position where all the problems seem to be long term problems. Unless Todd gets injured in which case we are in deep trouble. I don’t think Todd will reproduce what he did last year, but I don’t see him falling too far off either. And you’re right, he’s the first baseman as long as he’s here and producing. He’ll make $19.1M this year unless we exercise his $4.6M buyout and I can’t imagine we would, and next year it’s actually cheaper to pay his contact then buy him out, so Todd will see his $141M contact mature. Good for him, it couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.

Ian:

The toughest part of Todd’s job to duplicate will be his defense.  As important as he was in challenging opposing pitchers (gotta love those high-pitch-count at-bats) and coming through with the occasional clutch hit, the fact is that the Rockies do not possess a stellar defensive first basement to take over for Todd when he retires or succumbs to injury (knock, knock.)  Giambi is serviceable, Atkins is serviceable, Ian Stewart could fill in, but Helton has anchored some incredible defensive infields in the last few years (the best in the history of baseball in 2007.)  Finding a consistent bat to fill in Todd’s spot in the rotation is going to be an easier task than filling the hole in the infield.  And this team’s pitching staff has been built to generate ground balls for our fantastic infielders to feast on.

Jason

The real intrigue for me in the 2010 season at first base is not Todd – you can expect Todd to play, and even with a reduced workload he’ll still see at least 125 games, maybe more. The intrigue for me is in the backup. We’ll deal with Atkins in a couple weeks at 3B, and I don’t see him as a viable backup here, he’s simply too expensive. My only question is whether the Rockies will play true to recent form and dig up one of the young guys from the system to hang out at first base. At one point in time, the heir apparent appeared to be Joe Koshansky, but he was waived prior to the 2009 season and is now in the Brewers organization (backing up Fielder? how is that better for him, unless Fielder leaves for more money someplace else?).

Ian:

There were rumors prior to last season that Atkins was the long-term solution at 1B once Todd left.  He’s seen a few years in the majors, has a quick glove & a strong arm, and has shown that he can produce at the plate.  Whether Garret’s dismal 2009 season will prevent him from being a helper at 1B will be determined by his value in the trade market (which declined with his batting average over the course of last season,) and by his attitude coming into spring training. I thought Atkins looked like his old self in the last few weeks of the ’09 season, and I would love to see him return to form in ’10.  Ian Stewart is an above-average power-hitting third baseman with room to improve, and may well be the starter at 3B next season if Atkins can’t step up.

Dan:

Garrett Atkins is done in Denver. He’ll never clear arbitration having made $7M last year to not load up on RBI’s. And if he goes to arbitration we’ll never tender a qualifying offer. And since he’ll hit the open market, some team will think he just had an off year and offer $7M+ to have him not load up on RBI’s in their ballpark. I hear the Mets might be done with Delgado.

Jason:

Will Giambi come back? He sure seemed to love playing here, and the spark he provided off the bench was undeniable. Maybe he can teach these young hitters a thing or two.

Ian:

Giambi may be tough to sign, as I guarantee he won’t be getting Oakland money here in Colorado.  The ideal solution is a productive Atkins filling in for Todd at 1B whenever possible, and Stewart coming into his own at 3B in the process.

Dan:

Jason Giambi would be a worthwhile risk in my opinion. Fan fave, and probably fairly cheap for his talents, if it’s made clear he’s playing a backup role. With his resume, skill set, and duties as Todd’s backup, I’d offer $3M and let myself get talked up to $5, maybe go as high as $7 if someone else gets me into a bidding war. Throw in a $50,000 bonus for 500 PA and I you get a pretty decent left-handed bat off the bench who could take 50ish starts for the old man.

Utility Infielders could fill the gap too. Clint Barmes and Eric Young, JR. would be just fine with 50 starts each if Todd go down or Jason goes somewhere else. Clint is arbitration eligable and I would definetly pay the $3M-$3.5 to keep him. EYJ is still in the rookie pay scale, which mean every business man’s dream comes true, cheap labor.

Ian:

To be honest, I am far more interested in seeing anybody develop at 1B (unless Prince Fielder is secretly being shipped to Denver in a very sturdy crate at the end of the 2010 season) than seeing Jason Giambi play any defense… at all.  Giambi is a great role player, a huge clutch bat, and by all accounts a very scary man from the POV of an opposing pitching staff.  But the future of the Rockies’ defense lies in working on Todd’s replacement now.  If Dan Ortmeier makes a good showing at spring training, and Garret Atkins fails to show up at all, I say do what it takes to get Ortmeier into some games.  He had a great 62 games in San Francisco in 2007, so the talent is there.  Maybe a little spritz of Coors Field Magic will turn him productive again.

Dan:

Minor league I see two bad options, Matt Repec (0.296, 11 HR, 62 RBIs) and Jeffrey Cunningham (0.249, 9 HR, 52 RBIs), both with Modesto. Repec is obviously the better stat-wise but he’s a little long in the tooth at 26 to make his first major league start. Cunningham is the right age at 23 but he might not have the stuff with only 52 RBIs. In the majors, first basemen must get RBIs, especially as a backup. Bear in mind that both these two play for AA Modesto Nuts. If you can’t hit .300 in AA, your probably not ready for the majors.

Another possible solution at 1st: Apparently washed up 1st basemen who we can extend no risk spring training invitations to. The list this year is long:

Rich Aurilla

Russell Branyan

Tony Clark

Carlos Delgado

Ross Gload (My personal favorite for Todd’s backup spot)

Jim Thome (Shut-up, it could happen and not be stupid)

Javier Valentin

Dmitri Young

No less than 4 of the aboved mentioned will be out of baseball next year, and surely one or two will contribute to their presective signing team. I say we give 2-3 spring training invites and see if we get lucky. The rest of the free agent market for first basemen will undoubtedly be too expensive to ride the pine for 120 games, so I won’t even go into it.

Jason:

If you ask me – first base is a done deal. Todd will get the bulk of the starts, with Giambi behind him (assuming he doesn’t get a DH job in the AL), unless one of the kids impresses at spring training this year. And if Todd gets hurt, look for a guy like Ortmeier (.295, 73 RBI) to step up and fill the roster spot.

Well, that’s our extremely long-winded wrapup of the first base position – our first Rockies Roundtable of the off-season – next week we’ll tackle the enigma that is Clint Barmes at second base.

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The Rockies wrap up the 2009 NL Wild Card

Out of the doghouse and into the dogpile, Chris Iannetta made a thunderous contribution on Tuesday night, starting the Rockies on what would be a three-game sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers.

The game should have been over in nine innings.  Usually unflappable Colorado closer Huston Street gave up a three-run home run in the top of the 9^th to give Milwaukee hope of a comeback win.  Chris Iannetta, pinch hitting in the bottom of the 11^th, took one back for the Rockies.

Iannetta has been in Jim Tracy’s doghouse since his bat went cold in late August, and Yorvit Torrealba has been a stud both at and behind the plate in his absence.  But pinch-hitting with six undecided games left in the regular season, Chris would take a full-count fastball over the right field fence for the win.

Iannetta did not so much cross the plate as leap into the pile of Rockies surrounding it.  His walk-off heroics may not return him to a predominant starting job as catcher, but these Rockies don’t play for ego.  These Rockies, just as with the 2007 version, play for each other member of their clubhouse.

And so it came to be that Wednesday night brought a more familiar hero to the plate.  Todd Helton came to the plate in what looked to be a back-and-forth slugfest.  His two-run home run to right field turned a tie game into an eventual blowout for the streaking Rockies.

But this game was less about Helton’s home run and more about consistent production throughout the lineup.  Carlos Gonzalez and Troy Tulowitzki also connected for two-run shots that took the wind out of each attempt by the Brewers to stay in the game.

Catcher Yorvit Torrealba responded to Iannetta’s game-winning heroics by logging three hits and an RBI, and scored a run himself on a wild pitch that tied the game at two apiece in the second.  As a team, the Rockies would register six extra-base hits in the game.

Which brings us to Thursday night, and the 90-win Rockies looking for one more to sew up the National League Wild Card with a win or an Atlanta loss.  , the Rockies would not disappoint.

Garrett Atkins knocked in a third of the Rockies nine runs, playing Hero on the two-year anniversary of The Tiebreaker that capped Colorado’s amazing 2007 run to the playoffs.  This after a disappointing season where Garrett went from starting third baseman to bench jockey thanks to the strong offensive and defensive play of Ian Stewart.  With Atkins’ timely reemergence, the Rockies look to be the deepest team heading into the playoffs.

Consider that the Rockies backup 1^st baseman is the deadly Jason Giambi.  Like Giambi, the speedy Eric Young Jr. is a pinch-hitting threat, and also backs up Clint Barmes at 2^nd.  Carlos Gonzalez and Dexter Fowler split time in Center Field, but Cargo can also play Left when Seth “Doombringer” Smith doesn’t get the start.  (Smith is probably the most dangerous pinch-hitter in the league when he doesn’t start the game.)  Throw in utility outfielder and occasional Rockies Hero Ryan Spillborghs, and there is no outfield more crowded with talent than Colorado’s.  The aforementioned time-share at catcher offers two quality players that can match up with any pitcher on the team.

And the return of Aaron Cook to ace form (4-hitting the Brewers in eight solid innings yesterday) means that the Rockies have five reliable starters going into the playoffs.  In fact, All-Star pitcher Jason Marquis may find himself at the bottom of that rotation fighting Jason Hammel for the honor of starting a playoff game.

Having locked up the Wild Card spot once coveted by a half-dozen realistic competitors, the Rocks will try to keep on rolling.  With three games left, all in LA, and trailing the Dodgers by two games, Colorado has a chance to win their first ever NL West Pennant.

The Rockies once again control their own destiny.  The rest of the league ought to be shaking in their cleats.

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