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Rockies OiR Chat: 2022-23
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Anthony Franco
11:29
He should be back relatively early into the year if he starts well in Albuquerque
A Pedant
11:29
Semi serious question - what percentage of baseball fandom would build a better team than Bill Schmidt, and is the number >20%?
Anthony Franco
11:31
Among fans -- not executives who work for other teams -- I think it's less than 1%
11:32
Schmidt has spent decades in scouting and had a decent amount of success with regards to bringing in amateur talent. Essentially no fans have that level of experience with player evaluation, to say nothing of the responsibilities that come with running an organization
Ragbrai
11:33
What can we expect from Moose this year?  Will he eventually just be cut, because it won't cost them much?
Anthony Franco
11:33
If he's a slightly above-average hitter against RHP and a roughly neutral defensive third baseman, that's a win
11:34
They can cut him for nothing, yeah, and that's certainly within the range of outcomes. But if he's not battling foot problems, I don't see why he couldn't still offer some power in a platoon capacity that makes him worth carrying on the roster
Rox
11:34
The Rockies’ biggest rivals, mainly the Dodgers, always have an endless amount of talent within their organization. Do you think the Rockies’ lack of an analytics department keeps them from taking the next step? Thanks!
Anthony Franco
11:36
That's part of it. They've hired analysts before and aren't completely without an R/D group but they don't seem particularly good at integrating data into their player acquisition decisions
Beiler
11:36
realistically, can the Rockies compete in the west long term? Padres/Dodgers/Giants will always spend twice as much, and the Dbacks have outstanding player development imo
Anthony Franco
11:37
It's an uphill battle but they don't have to be doomed to perpetual non-contention. They've had good teams before and the spending gap is wider between the top three teams and Arizona than it is between them and Colorado
11:39
The D-Backs feel like they're in a better spot because they've drafted better lately and haven't pinned themselves down with too many underwater contracts (although Bumgarner was a really bad investment). Colorado should be capable of matching that
I think they've done well lately on the internal market but haven't loved their decisions in the domestic amateur draft
Cron
11:39
when will I get traded to bring toglia back up?
Anthony Franco
11:40
Could see this happening around the deadline, sure. Toglia doesn't have a ton of Triple-A experience so I'd like to see him play there for a couple months and gauge whether he cuts the strikeouts at all before worrying about clearing room for him on the big league roster
Rmac
11:40
Why are the rockies going to play me at 2nd? My glove is so much better at third.
Anthony Franco
11:42
Just don't think they had many other options once Rodgers went down. The free agent second base market was mostly gone and trading for Isiah Kiner-Falefa doesn't do a whole lot
Could've left McMahon at third and given second base to Harold Castro but this at least clears a path to getting a look at Elehuris Montero and eventually Nolan Jones at the hot corner
Castro isn't a long-term piece. Those other guys could be
Kevin
11:42
i think the Rockies are the most misunderstood team in baseball. While their attendance ranks highly, their revenue ranks less so. The owner does spend on player payroll. The team does try to win, they just haven’t figured out how. Hitters have a bigger road disadvantage than any other teams’ hitters have. Recovering from day to day wear and tear is harder at elevation than at sea level. Dan O’Dowd said figuring out baseball at a mile high is like figuring out the Rubik’s cube. Trading players on expiring contracts is hard when those players have less market value than people or they themselves realize. I hope they eventually can figure something out. Coors Field should be mentioned more often as one of the very most beautiful ballparks in baseball.
Anthony Franco
11:44
I agree with the bulk of this, and your point about the Coors Field hangover being a unique challenge to this franchise is a good one. They are at a disadvantage because of the altitude, with players having to adjust to the ball moving differently in home games than it does on the road
11:46
I'd push back on your point about not trading rentals though. That's probably fair for C.J. Cron and maybe for Carlos Estévez but not trading Trevor Story and not getting back any compensation for Jon Gray are just misses
11:47
Obviously, I can't know what specifically was on the table in talks with other teams. But they got nothing for Gray aside from a few more starts in a fourth-place season and I can't imagine they couldn't get a better prospect than the draft pick they received for Story, who the market valued at $140MM a few months later
11:48
Seems like Coors Field gets a decent amount of attention as an excellent ballpark experience. I haven't been yet but everything I've heard about the park (and Denver more generally) is that it's a must visit
Tell me about stuff
11:49
Over/under 3 days of snow games before the end of April
Anthony Franco
11:49
Ha I'll go with two
Holiday Touched Home
11:49
Soooo Charlie Blackmon was really bad to end 2022...like advanced metrics one of the worst hitters in the league in terms of hitting the ball hard and consistently. Do you think even the loyalest of loyal teams in the Rockies can justify having him as their everyday DH this season?
Anthony Franco
11:51
I think it's time to curtail his playing time a little bit to keep him healthier and hopefully more effective on a rate basis but I don't have an issue with him getting the bulk of the DH time
11:52
He's meant a lot to the franchise and it's not like they'll be sitting any dynamic offensive players to force Blackmon into the lineup
dankyank
11:52
What type of production do you expect from Montero?  Apparently he had a strong spring.
Anthony Franco
11:54
25-homer power with a batting average around .260 but a mediocre OBP and slightly below-average third base defense
A low-end regular overall
b-rod
11:54
When do we see an extension?
Anthony Franco
11:56
Rodgers extension seemed viable this spring but I don't know how to value the player when he just underwent shoulder surgery. Feels like the Rockies need to see him playing again to determine how much  power returns after that
Bud Black
11:56
When am I fired?
Anthony Franco
11:57
If they were dissatisfied with Black's work, they wouldn't keep signing him to extensions. The organizational track record is to be incredibly loyal to managers, doesn't seem like he's in any real trouble
BlueJayCrazy
11:57
I heard years ago that Colorado was the first team to store their game balls in a humidor in an attempt to negate the ball from traveling so far there due to thinner air. How does that work?
Anthony Franco
11:59
I don't have a great understanding of the physics behind it but it's basically that preserving some of the moisture keeps the ball slightly heavier and diminishes how far it travels
12:00
The league put humidors in all 30 parks last year, though, so it's not unique to Colorado and a handful of other teams anymore. It's part of the reason offense dropped to the extent that it did last season
Baseball Girl
12:00
No Jays-centric chat?
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