Faith and Loyalty is Holding the Rockies Back

The Colorado Rockies right now are on the verge of having their worse season based on win percentage.  As of July 4th, the team enters the day at 31-49...a .388 win percentage.  Even in their worst years has the team never experienced this horrid of a season.  This team had lofty expectations of at the very least competing for the NL Wildcard.  Due to injury and VERY questionable moves, the team now is in the basement of the MLB and decisions being made by Manager Jim Tracy are being questioned by Rockies fans.

The pitching staff has been down right atrocious from the get go.  In the offseason, the Rockies let Roy Oswalt get passed them, then they proceeded to trade Jason Hammel to the Baltimore Orioles for Jeremy Gutherie.  His last season with the Rox, Hammel did have a drop off in the number of strikeouts he produced, and did give up timely runs to the opposition.  But to his defense, his numbers across the broad show that he was consistent, he gave quality starts as the 5th starter in the rotation but never received much run support as well.  As a result, the Rox shipped him off to the O's and in return get a pitcher in Gutherie who would be a innings eater and should blossom because he would be out of the shadows of the Rays, Blue Jays, Red Sox and Yankees.

Hammel as of today is 8-4 with a career best 3.43 ERA and pitching for a first place team and in the All-Star game.  Gutherie avoid arbitration with the Rox, gets a one year deal worth over 8 million dollars, he's 3-7 on the season with a 6.56 ERA and a BAA of .327...good move in my books.  For all that Hammel did for the Rox, they could have showed him some faith and loyalty for a somewhat down year and gave him another year with the club.

As a result, the pitching staff is dead last in ERA, quality starts, WHIP and batting average.  The situation is so bad that long time pitching coach Bob Apodaca asked to be reassigned, and now the Rockies are going against the grain by using a 4 man rotation, and may continue to do so going into the future.

Aside from Gutherie and recently acquired Drew Promeranz and Alex White, the Rox have had too much luck, but they hold on to their faith in that their farm system will work out for them.  Since the overpaid and questionable signings of Denny Neagle and Mike Hampton, the Rox went low-ball with their business model and hoped that "GEN R" would produce.  It did, but that was your everyday players that broke through for the team.  In 2007 and 2009, the only pitchers that came through the farm system for the Rox were Aaron Cook, Jeff Francis and Ubaldo Jimenez.  

Their faith in their farm system has come back to get the Rockies in the rear and in doing so, the club now dipping into the Double-A ranks and promoting up to the big leagues in hopes that they can catch lightning in  a bottle, there isn't much for the club to go with at for the time being.

Their loyalty has also been a downfall for this ball club.  Lets be honest here, yes he has been the face of the franchise for years and when he retires, he will retire having worn only one jersey.  I'm speaking about Todd Helton.  Yes, he has helped keep the Colorado Rockies name relevant until Matt Holliday and Troy Tulowitzki showed up on the scene.  But his names have dipped dramatically, his age is catching up to him with signs of wear and tear.  His loyalty to the team has been rewarded by the team it self.  The club has tried trading him in the past, but he would veto any trade to stay with the Rox.  So through the years, he was able to call the shots, and he would ultimately decide when he would sit most days whether it would be due to "soreness, tightness, etc."

This loyalty is not helping the Rox in any form, his productivity has gone down.  He hasn't hit more than 20 HR since 2006, has barely produced more than 20 XBH three times since 2008.  He has essentially been reduced to a singles hitter who continues to stay in the heart of the lineup.  Helton will not be around forever, the Rox need to look into the future and have GOT to move Helton (easier said than done, their last best bet to move him would have been in 2009, but due to no-trade clauses in his contract, it will be almost impossible to move him).  Get young guns like Tyler Colvin in the everyday lineup.

Their loyalty also stretches to other fan favorites in the likes of Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez.  CARGO has been a godsend for the club after trading for him in the Matt Holliday trade.  He signed a 7 year worth over 80 million in January 2011.  He has been very productive and his numbers should be close, if not better than his 34 HR, 117 RBI season he had in 2010, and the lone bright spot for the club as he will represent the Rockies going into the All-Star game.  Then there's Tulo.  Yes, his numbers would show that his production hasn't slipped, but it's the things that don't show up on the everyday stat line that should alarm people.  For one, Tulo has multiple times redefined his batting stance to try and get his "groove" back, and in doing so, we see him go on hot streaks and pick his numbers back up.  I still think there is a problem with his mechanics, and that may have something to do with the loss of Don Baylor.  His more productive and constant seasons came under his tutelage.  Now, Tulo's numbers in terms of power has dropped, his AB/HR has gone from 17 to 22 this season.

His fielding has been surprisingly a problem this season.  2011, Tulo committed only 6 errors all season long, and thus far in this season, Tulo has committed 8 errors...in 47 games!  A lot for a multiple Gold Glove Winner.  Yes, don't get me wrong, these are two great players, but I would want to build my team around a player such as Cargo over Tulo.  Rumors had been spread around that the Rox would move Cargo, I would much rather move a guy such as Tulo based of name and reputation to try and acquire as much pitching as possible, if anything a bonefide starter in the second spot of the rotation along with some prospects that you know that can be called up in September to get playing time in the league before the start of the 2013 season.

The problem with all this faith and loyalty that the Monfort Brothers hand out to GM Dan O'Dowd has been the source of the problem for the Rox through the years.  Mismanagement of player signings (Shawn Estes, Jason Marquis to name a couple), letting players walk due disagreement over a few million dollars, making trades in which he thinks he outsmarted the other team in which all reality, he outsmarts himself and comes back to haunt him in the end (GUTHRIE), and making statements that he is disappointed in the teams effort, that the team should and will perform better, that he takes responsibility for the team not performing up to par.  Yet, we continue to see "Dealin Dan" still standing pat and status quo with the ball club.  His "Faith" in this ball club is what is hurting this team, he had no problem moving fan favorites in Matt Holliday and Larry Walker, whats to stop you from moving Helton in the past or Tulo right now to help better this ball club for tomorrow.  There's no sight that this season will get any better, and no reason to believe that going into 2013 will be any different.