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Colorado Rockies

2012 – Finished fifth in NL West

Record: 64-98

The Colorado Rockies were in the World Series in 2007. Just five years on, they finished dead last in the NL West with 64 wins, the third worst record in the National League. It has been a quiet offseason in Colorado, perhaps because this franchise is going through several seasons of trial and error to try and find the next generation of Rockies talent. However that trial and error, so far, has been quite painful.

Last season was an injury-ravaged season, full of topsy-turvy management decisions, and if anything has changed dramatically this winter for the Rockies, it has come in the dugout. Manager Jim Tracy resigned once the season was completed having seen his team set a franchise record for losses. Walt Weiss is replacing Tracy in the role despite managing at high school varsity level in his previous managerial position. Dante Bichette takes over from Carney Lansford as hitting coach and though the Rockies didn’t consume a large pool of fresh talent in the winter, there will be plenty of competition going on this spring with rotation spots, infield positions and multiple bullpen spots still up for grabs.

INGOINGS

3B Ryan Wheeler
SS Reid Brignac
RHP Wilton Lopez

OUTGOINGS

SS Tommy Field
UT Jason Giambi
P Guillermo Moscoso, Zach Putman, Josh Roenicke, Jonathan Sanchez, Carlos Torres

When I wrote my season preview for the also NL West Arizona Diamondbacks, the list of players brought in and shipped out was far superior to the one above. Then again, spring training optimism is powerful stuff and what Colorado lacks in new faces this season it makes up for in a returning lineup that is used to playing with each other and plenty of competition that will make for a busy and interesting spring for Walt Weiss and his players.

Outfielders

Colorado’s outfield is the least competitive section of the field this spring with no incomings in this spot. Dexter Fowler (143 games), Carlos Gonzalez (135) and Michael Cuddyer (101) were the regular outfielders last season while Charlie Blackman and Andrew Brown were the backups. You would expect this to be the case in 2013 but Brown has signed a minor league deal with the Mets, so there could yet be a late signing, but more likely – like a lot of positions in Colorado this year – a player will be rewarded after a solid performance in camp. Every year the issue with the Rockies is with pitching and not hitting. In the extremely hitter-friendly Coors Field, home runs are almost a daily occurrence and the outfield spots provide the majority of runs.

Gonzalez hit 22 home runs last year and drove in 85 runs, while Fowler and Cuddyer combined for 29 home runs and 111 RBIs. The Rockies will be hoping for at least a repeat of that in the coming year.

Infielders

Two of the three MLB-level trades the Rockies made this offseason were infielders (Ryan Wheeler and Reid Brignac). The former is just 24 years of age with very little major league experience while Brignac, 27, has been in the minor leagues for his entire five year career.

Despite their young age and/or lack of experience, Wheeler and Brignac will compete with the likes of infielders Chris Nelson, Jordan Pacheco, DJ LeMahieu and Jonathan Herrera. Their most likely destination on the diamond is third base and Nelson will be working hard over the next few months to fight for a starting place. Nelson played 111 games in 2012, hitting nine home runs and driving in 53 RBIs.

Another guy who isn’t guaranteed to start is second baseman Josh Rutledge, who made his big league debut midway through last season. Split with minor league statistics, Rutledge hit .274 with the Rockies, hitting 8 home runs with 37 RBIs while batting .306 at

Double-A Tulsa with 13 home runs and 35 RBIs.

Catchers

Wilin Rosario will resume his role as starting backstop, having played 117 games last year. The Dominican Republic born player batted .270 last season, hitting 28 home runs – a team high – while driving in 71 RBIs. Rosario provides good offence (albeit having a slugging percentage of just .530 last year) but who he plays ahead of is yet to be seen with Ramon Hernandez one of a few who may be in danger of losing his job before the season even begins.

Starters

The loss of 23-year-old Alex White (2-9 with a 5.51 ERA in 2012) thins the battle for the final two slots in the rotation to Juan Nicasio, Christian Friedrich, Tyler Chatwood and Drew Pomeranz. The top two starters will be Jhoulys Chacin (3-5, 4.43 ERA) and Jorge De La Rosa, who only threw in three games last year before injury problems. Both have to recover from their health struggles in 2012, along with Jeff Francis – the only major league free agent signing the team made this offseason – if Colorado are to have any hope of competing this year.

Relievers

Rafael Betancourt resumes his role as closer – he had 31 saves last year – and newly acquired Wilton Lopez will replace Matt Reynolds for the final 1-inning relief slot. Lopez, if healthy, is a bullpen upgrade and should help Walt Weiss to be less dependent on Matt Belisle and Rex Brothers who are also workable setup candidates on any given night.

2013 PREDICTION: 72-90 , fifth in NL West