Colorado Rockies Organization Discussion

Umm, John, did I miss the Cubs? Or is their system so bad you’re going to ignore it? :)

Terrible year, but with some positive stuff in the last half. B- grade perhaps?

There is more talent and depth in the Rockies’ system than ever before. Is it all high-end? No. Will all players fully develop? Of course not. However, with the volume of talent, the odds go way up that the club will find workable pieces or trade chips.

There is power, there is hitting for average, there is pitching promise and all this is at the higher and lower ends of the minors.

The Rockies’ system, in my study, at least gets a solid B rating, with the potential for it to get better.

Everyone knows about Nolan Arenado and many have heard of Chad Bettis, who I think is being undervalued, but there is a lot more than just those two. Most evaluators have been trumpeting Wilin Rosario as one of the better prospects in baseball and for his immense power potential I don’t see him as being better than Arenado, Bettis or Josh Rutledge right now and there are others who have the potential to be better.

This system is why GM Dan O’Dowd is not being more aggressive (with budgetary concerns being second) in giving up big money to free agents (Michael Cuddyer not withstanding) and making high-impact trades. He’s patient and trusting in his player development.

Colorado Rockies’ Prospects Report
and
Rockies’ Analyst

freakin picture.. and I’m excited to see what Arenado does this year. I agree on the breakout.

Everyone seems sure about Arenado, but what I want to see is another solid year out of Tim Wheeler. He had not really done much until AA where he put up ridiculous numbers, so it’d be nice to see him repeat that in AAA. Although Col Springs isn’t the best place to evaluate talent.

..to say this is their best ever is a stretch. In 2007, they had arguably the best system in the game.

I’m not a Pomeranz fan, and the fact a bottom third organization like Cleveland was so willing to trade him for a quick fix is questionable.

The acquisitions of Kevin Slowey and Tyler Chatwood pretty much seals Pomeranz’ fate of making the team out of spring training, which isn’t a bad thing.

Arenado is legit, the reports of him being a question mark are not valid, at least from what I saw in the AFL. His footwork is fine, which is the starting point from any position, especially third base.

Offensively, his bat is legit, unlike some other top, overhyped prospects. He had 55 XBH playing in a pitcher’s league and a virtual 1-1 BB/K rate, which is almost unheard of, especially in a 20 year old.

The Rockies unnecessarily rushed Ian Stewart and basically cost themselves a good player, so my guess is they will proceed with caution on Arenado, despite his AFL showing.

The fact Casey Blake only got a year on his deal proves that.

I can see the Rockies trading Blake at the deadline and Arenado starting after August first.

Wilin Rosario is in the same boat as Arenado, although as a catcher he has a better seat.

He doesn’t have the same bat, but with only a temporary free agent signing ahead of him, I can see Hernandez being moved with Rosario being the full timer during the second half.

I like Chad Bettis, not sure if he projects as a starter or closer, but with Rex Brothers taking over for Huston Street, the Rockies will give him every opportunity to develop a change up and remain in the rotation.

I like Tim Wheeler as well, I think he’s better than Seth Smith right now. All Wheeler needs is experience and some reps against lefthanders. He has good hip action, although he has a tendency to rely on his hands too much, but that’s a confidence thing more than a mechanical thing, so no real worries with that.

I’m not a buyer on Kyle Parker..there’s a big difference between a football player who plays baseball over a baseball player who plays football.

When I think of a football player playing baseball I don’t think Bo Jackson, I think Deion Sanders, or even Brian Jordan. Jordan was a pretty good baseball player, but he accomplished more in four years in the NFL than he did in his baseball career.

I’m not sure of his status any more, but a guy I really like is Charlie Blackmon. The acquisitions of Cuddyer and Colvin will relegate him to AAA duty, but he’s a capable fourth OF and could easily be an everyday player with the right team.

To me, the issue with Matzek is more the Rockies trying to change him than anything else. If you look at his season, the Rox shut him down for a month and sent him to Arizona to re-learn his original delivery. Over his last nine starts he had two where he walked fifteen batters, but only walked 35 total.

If you look deep into his numbers you’ll see nothing really changed from the time he signed, he was just trying to force some changes that didn’t work, and as a credit to the organization they let him go back to what he was natural to him.

A sleeper guy to watch is catcher Bryce Massanari.

Massanari was the Rockies 30th rounder in ‘09 from Georgia. He was a Sally League All-Star playing in Asheville and was the Rockies’ organization catcher of the year, ahead of Rosario.

Another guy is lefty Christian Friedrich.

He’s really struggled the last year or so and a lot of guys have written him off, but I can’t, the stuff is there, as is the body and delivery.

With all the issues surrounding Matzek and Friedrich, Pomeranz is deserving of his ranking as the top pitcher in the system…today.

But as a scout I can’t honestly say his ceiling is the highest of the three.

Will he be ready?