Very well done, Saj. Way to get us started on the right foot. It'll be interesting to see if the Webb-Johnson combo can bring the Diamondbacks out of the NL West cellar. Today, I'll examine the team that tied with Arizona for the worst record in the worst division in baseball. Translation: This team stinks worse than Bengie Molina after catching an August doubleheader in Texas with no deodorant.
THE COLORADO ROCKIES
Pitching: Pitchers and Coors Field go together like basketball hoops and peanut butter. In the fourteen years of the Rockies existence, Colorado has never finished lower than fifth in the National League in runs scored. The flipside, of course, is that the team has finished last in the league in ERA ten times, often by a wide margin. Their franchise leader in ERA, Aaron Cook, has a 4.58 career ERA. At one point, the Rockies spent 172 million dollars on Mike Hampton and Denny Neagle, two of the top pitchers in the National League. They went to Colorado and their careers tanked. The point? A team with Jeff Francis, Aaron Cook, Raul Lopez, Brian Lawrence and (wait for it) Byung-Hyun Kim probably won't keep the opposition from scoring runs. This team has about as good of a chance to finish in the top half of the league in ERA as Dennis Kucinich does to win the Democratic Primary. (For more Presidential Politics, click here.)
It's worth noting that the back of their bullpen isn't that bad. I can live with a final three of Jeremy Affeldt, Latroy Hawkins, and Brian Fuentes. Sure, they'll blow a lot of saves, but so would any decent bullpen that played 81 games in Denver. Mark me down for this being Colorado's greatest strength, other than being the home state of the city where beer flows like wine and beautiful women instinctively flock like the salmon of Capistrano.
Hitting: Gone are the days of Andres Galarraga, Dante Bichette, Vinny Castilla, and Larry Walker. Upon us are the days of Troy Tulowitzki, Chris Ianetta, Kazuo Matsui, and the artist formerly known as Todd Helton. And you know what? It won't matter. This team will still finish in the top half in batting average and home runs. But without good pitching, this team will lose a lot of 8-5 ballgames.
Speaking of for Kaz Matsui, he just might be the most overpaid player in baseball. Matsui, who spent time at the AAA level when it had nothing to do with an injury, made eight million dollars last year. Eight million dollars! Here’s a list of what I could do with eight million dollars:
#1. Everything
Miscellaneous: Throughout spring training, most of the invitees to Rockies training camp won't be able to tell the difference between their starting second baseman and their fifth starter. And they're not even from the same country.
Rockies-related Ridiculous Proposition Bet: Over/Under on the number of Colorado Rockies pitchers that will see a therapist by season's end: 10.5
Tomorrow, Saj returns with a preview of the third place NL West team: The San Francisco Giants. Thanks for spending part of your Friday with us. Hope to see you this weekend.
Previous teams
NL West
Arizona Diamondbacks
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