What's in Store for 2007?

Two years ago, the question that everyone was asking about the rockies was, "how bad will this team be?". The answer was, bad enough to tie the inaugaral team in 1993 for worst record in franchise history. Last year the questions seemed to hinge around which side of mediocrity they would land. After flirting with the possibility of being a good team for the first half of the season, the rox came back to reality in the second half and finished on the south side. This season, there doesn't seem to be a consensus as to what the question is. Some say the rox will be worse than last season, some say they will be better, but most really don't honestly have a solid idea. The subtraction of Jason Jennings and the lack of acquiring an impact centerfielder have led to a degree of pessimism. (The rockies' string of losing records and lack of confidence in ownership might have something to do with that too.) Couple that with the likelihood of unproven youngsters in some key positions and there's reason for pessimism. On the other hand, there seems to be a thread of optimism out there that hasn't surfaced in quite some time. The very fact that we have unproven youngsters that have potential to be pretty good ballplayers leads to the possibility that our beloved team could actually be good this season. We're not to the point of asking, "how good will this team be?", as opposed to two seasons ago, but we might not be that far away from that question. I'm not endorsing either the pessimists or the optimists, but I do want to get a gauge on how the rockies' fanbase is feeling about the 2007 campaign. I've posted a poll on the website asking how many games the rox will win this season. Please vote. At the end of spring training I'll average the responses and publish a target for wins based on the fans' expectations. It should be interesting to monitor as the season progresses.

Spring training games for the rox begin today. Nifty 850 will be broadcasting the game, so if you're within range of the flagship or its affiliates, tune in. It will be a nice change of pace to listen to baseball, especially with snow flying in Denver today.

Only 33 days left until the Designation Committee embarks on its annual field trip!

Clint Hurdle had this quote about Alan Roach, the first, and only PA announcer for the rox, who resigned earlier this week. "I remember the day in Fantasy Camp when he ran upstairs, announced himself, and then came down and hit."

Until next time, go rockies!

If Only

Yesterday, the news came out that Time Warner had agreed to sell the Atlanta Braves to John Malone and his Liberty Media conglomerate. This potential sale has been brewing for quite some time and still must be approved by the other owners, but that is really just a formality. Unfortunately, our beloved Colorado Rockies were not available for sale, or Malone might have been inclined to make a run at them rather than the Braves. No, instead, Cheap Charlie remains steadfast in his desire to own and operate a MLB team. Imagine if Liberty Media had been able to successfully negotiate the purchase of the rox from the Monforts. This town and the rest of the rockies fanbase would have been rejuvenated, re-enthused and ready to see what real money can do to a struggling franchise. In all fairness, corporate ownership of baseball teams has witnessed mixed results over the last several years, so success would certainly not be automatic. Too often a sports team is seen as just another asset among many within a corporate structure. However, the rox couldn't be much worse off than they are currently with the M&M's at the helm. Malone has been in business a long time and has made a lot of money doing it. I suspect that much of the Monfort's wealth is a product of their father's success and a little of their own to top it off. Malone is a deal-maker; a hard-nosed, no-nonsense type who will walk away in a heartbeat if he doesn't think you're serious and wasting his time. Cheap Charlie is like a repeat contestant on "Deal or No Deal" that always ends up with $.01 in his briefcase. Malone realizes that it takes an investment in the short-term to build revenue and profits for the long-term. The Monforts don't seem to grasp that basic fundamental of business. Yes, there are stockholders and Wall Street to keep happy in a corporate environment, but even they understand the necessity of a good product to generate revenue and the investment required to bring a good product to market. The Monforts clearly understand the concept of needing a good product but fall short when realizing the need for investment. Alas, John Malone will not be riding into Coors Field on his white horse. I guess we can always hope that Stan Kroenke or Philip Anschutz decide to try and crack the nut that is Charlie Monfort.

The Designation Committee took a field trip of another sort last weekend, heading up to the hills in the Rocky Mountains to take in a little snowshoeing. Unfortunately the snow was sparse enough to warrant leaving the shoes in the truck and heading up the trail without them. Stay tuned for details of the trip at Admirable Thoughts.

Tomorrow is the first day of Spring Training!!

Until next time, go rockies!

Humidor Conspiracy?

Yesterday, as I was perusing various articles on Al Gore's favorite invention, I noticed an article about young hitters prime for a breakout season in 2007 on mlb.com. Brad Hawpe's name was mentioned, but what caught my attention was a comment regarding the rockies' abandonment of the humidor. Now, I couldn't recall hearing or reading about this anywhere during this offseason. I wouldn't put it out of the question for myself to happen to overlook this detail, but someone in the rox' blogosphere would have certainly picked up on it and reported it. If not the bloggers, then without a doubt the numerous critics of the rockies on the favorite talk shows would have brought it to light. So, my initial thought was that it was a mistake by mlb.com. Since I was overdue for a posting, I thought what perfect little tidbit for a centerpiece of an entry. Well, when I went to mlb.com this morning to copy the text out of the article and paste it right here, that sentence was no longer in the article. Strange. Odd. Perplexing. Could it be that the rockies are actually doing away with the humidor? Could it be that MLB knows this but the rockies don't want it (at least not yet) to be public knowledge and some overzealous writer made mention of it for all the world to see before it was noticed and pulled from the article? I don't know, I'm not one to devise a conspiracy theory the minute something can't be explained, but this one has me wondering. After all, the humidor was in use for months before its' existence became public knowledge.

We are only one week away from our beloved team embarking on a new campaign. Unfortunately, our recent campaigns have most resembled a Nader presidential bid. We'd be much better off if Cheap Charlie (thanks Rick) wasn't our campaign manager, but unless you know someone with hundreds of millions of dollars that they don't know what to do with, we're stuck with him.

The Designation Committee has decided to take their annual field trip earlier this year, April 2nd to be exact. That's right, the committee will be attending opening day. I will be taking the four-block pilgrimage from the HQ of the bus company to the glorious confines of CF to meet the rest of the committee. You can expect a report on the committee's first impressions of the 2007 version of the rox.

Until next time, go rockies!