padres at rockies

[indianadrew]

hopefully this will be a winning weekend of baseball. we really need to win this series, because they leave for newyork after the game on sunday.

go rockies

[Roxpert]

So why, exactly, did Hurdle play Hawpe yesterday vs. a lefty to rest Helton, but sits Hawpe today vs. a righty? And it's not like Jeff Baker is red hot anymore and has to be inserted into the lineup. The team is getting cooler and Cooler.

[DieHardRoxFan]

What a God awful display of baseball from this elite franchise.

[RMF]

This is not a professional baseball team. Matt I'm going to get paid Holliday is clearly our best player. And it doesn't appear to be particularly close.

What a horrible, horrible display. Good thing everyone just signed those 2 year extension. And just a comment on our farm system. Yeah we've got great pitching depth. But where are the high ceilinged positional players?

The Cooler and O'dowd must go.

[BigRapidsJackass]

I actually went to this one, came early to watch BP, sat in the Rockpile.

I left when it was 7-1.

Really, really pathetic baseball in all phases of the game.

Monfort, if it wasn't for your ridiculous extensions of Hurdle and O'Dowd, the calls for their firings would be deafening.

Could it be that Charlie actually saw this kind of start coming and tried to insulate Hurdle and O'Dowd?

[DieHardRoxFan]

I'm sure they'll play better once they are buried and out of it.

[RMF]

If Helton hasn't increased his value and we can't get him out the door this season it won't ever happen.

[RMF]

This is one of the worst games I've seen from the Rockies in a long time. Not only was Fogg awful but the entire rest of the team looks terrible. We just don't have enough professional players. This team sorely needed professional veteran positional players. Instead we came up with a ton of has been's and never was's. Fantastic!

Now we've burned a completely worthless year of Tulowitzki, He'd be learning the same kinds of things in AAA. Hurdle has already given up on Iannetta. Taveras is easily my least favorite Rockie.

Matt Holliday is looking damned likable these days. Where's the pop Rockies? This team is weak. This team is not going to sniff contention this season.

It's going to be the Rockies and Giants in a battle Royal for 5th place. Same ole thing.

[indianadrew]

did they retract tulo's errror?

[RMF]

Tulo's entire season has been an error. An error in judgement. Ship him down I-25. He's got to make contact in order to be able to use that power.

Tulo's Khalil Greene with less range and a better haircut. It's still a bad haircut mind.

[Roxpert]

Our offense is silent this year partially due to our talent, but I think baseballs have been altered this season (except the ones used when A-Rod hits). The composite ERA in MLB is 3.98, and hitters are hitting .250/.324/.393. Runs scored are down something like 16% league-wide so far this year.

If this new offensive environment holds up this year, the Rox may barely reach 120 homeruns this year. Unbelievable.

[BigRapidsJackass]

Look, at this point it should be starting to sink in: guys like Finley, Hawkins, Mabry, Torrealba, Tavares, Lopez, Fogg, and Kim were all on this roster in the desperate hope that veteran players would help this club get off to a good start (just like last year), rekindle fan interest, and maybe keep things close until some of the youngsters (Tulo, Iannetta, even Ubaldo Jimenez) start to shine.

It ain't happening. The Rockies will be 7-10 after tonight, with 2 more against the Padres followed by a road trip starting at Shea. 8-14 after that trip is the most likely scenario. 9-13 the second most likely.

So what do you do? You play the guys who have nothing left to learn at AAA. That means Iannetta and Spilborghs. Tulo could possibly benefit from more time at AAA, but so could Barmes, so it doesn't really matter who plays SS. That means you let Buchholz start and see whether he can turn the corner and become an effective #3 man. That means you let Corpas and Ramirez get the key relief work since Affeldt and Hawkins won't be around in '08. That means you start thinking trade as soon as the opportunity arises for guys who don't fit into your future plans: Lopez if he can prove he's healthy, Kim and Fogg if they can prove they have any value whatsoever. I think Fuentes is a superb trade candidate come June. I doubt he'd be re-signed next year, so get some value for him now. And that means you get Ubaldo ready to make a June -- not August -- debut. And you hope that by September you're looking at the so-called rotation of the future right here at Coors: Cook, Francis, Hirsh, Jimenez, Reynolds.

EDIT: By the way, Yorvit is fine trade bait now, too. He's off to a fine offensive start, and his arm seem o.k. for now. Last year Doug Mirabelli brought Meredith and Bard to the Padres. Yorvit could bring a very nice AAA player as soon as someone's catcher goes down ... and they always do.

The future is most definitely not now. This club could get lucky and pull back to .500 and hang around there. So what. One thing we know is this: the Padres, D'backs, and Dodgers are probably 3 of the 5 best clubs in the NL. This club cannot compete with them this year.

So stop trying. You know what? A youth movement may not only get you ready for '08; I think it will probably make you better right now.

Because what they're doing now isn't accomplishing anything.

[RMF]

Let me guess the new balls were developed and tested at Colorado last season. They've been released league wide to stop Barry from getting the record. Is that how it goes?

I think it's been cold and nasty and less guys are using drugs. And they doctored Barry's balls.

Just wait untill later in the season when charges are filed against Barry. That should crank up the heat. If he still breaks the record then I say give it to him.

However, I'd like to see a separate group of records kept. Anyone who has ever failed a drug test for any reason goes into the second category. Barry's record would be in the second failed drug test category. He tested positive for Amphetamines and that makes him a cheater.

[Heltonfan]

Runs scored are down something like 16% league-wide so far this year.

11%, and that's not nearly as extreme as it was a week ago. We've seen enough of a correction that I doubt the ball has been altered. And the early April weather this year really was unlike anything we've seen in a long time.

Tulo could possibly benefit from more time at AAA, but so could Barmes, so it doesn't really matter who plays SS.

Sure it does. I don't care when Barmes hits free agency; I do care when Tulo does. If we send Tulo down, we get to keep him through 2013. I don't know about you, but I'd much rather have his 2013 season than his 2007.

[BigRapidsJackass]

Affeldt + Hawkins = 9 run deficit mop-up guys = $4.7 million bucks = coulda had Dave Roberts instead of Willy Tavares.

EDIT: HF, you're right. I'd see no harm in pulling the plug on Tulo now, and hoping to bring him back in September. If Kaz Mat makes it back, I'd like to see the Carroll at SS/Kaz at 2B combo most of the time. Kaz Mat is another guy who could have trade value if he has a nice first half.