Hero's back with another post!
"For a club as bad as the Colorado Rockies, they don’t have the super top-tier prospects you might think they would. They are very much a team in transition. There is a lot of young talent that I like (and have for years), but many of them are past the rookie threshold. Most of their better prospects currently reside in the lower levels. There is still talent here, but this overview would look a lot more interesting next season.
The Blue-Chippers: Nolan Arenado has become a somewhat enigmatic prospect. Scouts and prospect-followers drooled over his tools after a very good performance in 2011, especially for a 20-year old in High-A. The Cal league is a noted good hitting environment, but everyone who saw him thought he was legit; Baseball America ranked him #42 entering the 2012 season. The only real knock on him was defensive ability – for many, he had work to do if he were to remain a third baseman long term.
Then came 2012. Admittedly very young for Double-A at just 21, Arenado struggled at times, including a terrible stretch in the middle of the year. Questions about his makeup and work ethic arose, both from prospectors like Keith Law and his own GM, Dan O’Dowd. He improved his defense and now is considered a good bet to be solid at third, and he did pick it up offensively toward the end of the year. Still, his overall line didn't match his tools; he didn’t make consistently good contact, and his power vanished for much of the year.
Arenado still came in at #52 on BA’s 2013 top 100 prospect list, indicating that he still has his believers. Plus, he remains very young at 22 years old. He’s had a very good spring so far and there have been rumblings that he could open the year as Colorado’s starting third baseman. That would be a mistake, in my opinion, and I think the Rockies will eventually see it that way. I’d send him back to Double-A and promote him as his performance dictates. It’s not out of the question that he could be a productive major leaguer this season; you can never count out everything just suddenly clicking for guys with his tools. But, I think it’d be wise to let him prove it in the minors first, gaining whatever seasoning he needs along the way.
I’m a sucker for sinker-slider guys, and Chad Bettis fits that profile. Bettis was drafted in 2010 with the Rockies’ 2nd overall pick. Never considered to have an otherworldly ceiling, he still was seen as a fairly solid bet to be a productive major league pitcher. There where whispers that he may end up a closer due to his lack of a good changeup, but he helped to silence those whispers a bit with a very good showing in the Cal League in 2011. Unfortunately, he missed all of 2012 with a shoulder injury, so now it’s tough to really project anything.
Bettis is coming along slowly in spring training and presumably would start 2013 in the minors (Double-A, I’d guess). Bettis probably fits better as a squinter due to his health issues, but he’s always been a favorite of mine and the Rockies aren’t exactly teeming with major league quality starters. If he’s healthy, he could be a factor.
The Squinters: There are a lot of decent squinter/sleeper candidates for the Rockies because, aside from Tulowitzki, Cargo, and Todd Helton, nobody has a particularly strong hold on a roster spot. Wilin Rosario had a nice year for a catcher in 2012, but could turn into Miguel Olivo at any given time, as far as I’m concerned.
Ryan Wheeler has hit just about everywhere he’s been in the minors, including a monster 2012 in Reno, but I could hit 20 homers in Reno, so stats there have to largely be taken with a grain of salt. But there’s something to be said for always hitting, and although Wheeler doesn’t have great tools at all and stands at a burly 6’3/235, limiting his athletic capabilities, he’s got juice in his bat. He is far from great at third base, and probably projects better at first defensively, but the only guys standing in front of him at third are Chris Nelson and Jordan Pacheco. Not exactly world-beaters. If Wheeler has another great showing in Triple-A, likely since he’ll call Colorado Springs his home, the Rockies might stomach his defense and see if he can do more at the plate in the majors than he did in a short trial last season for Arizona.
I’m not the biggest Tim Wheeler (no relation) supporter, but after hitting 33 homers albeit while showing a large platoon split in Double-A in 2011, he didn’t exactly get a chance to show he could be more than a righty-masher in 2012 due to a hamate injury that sapped just about all his power. If he starts hitting bombs like there’s no tomorrow like he did in 2011, then just like the former Wheeler, I think the Rockies will give him a chance to sink or swim in 2013.
The Sleepers: On the surface, Rob Scahill looks like somewhat of a non-factor given his 5.68 ERA in 2012. However, that came at the previously noted Colorado Springs, only a slightly less hitter-friendly environment than Reno. His 3.64 FIP indicates his true talents much better, and matches what he did at Double-A in 2011. He’s an older pitcher at 26, but Scahill is the Rockies’ version of the “relatively low upside but could surprise” guy. Unlike the others, though, Cahill doesn’t have bad stuff. He reaches the mid 90s with his fastball and sits in the upper 80s with his slider. But also unlike the others, his control is erratic – the main thing that keeps his ceiling relatively low. He’ll never be Tom Glavine in terms of execution within the strike zone, but if he can make even small improvements he could find himself at the back of someone’s rotation. If not, he could also succeed as a reliever.
Other potential contributors: Charlie Culberson, Joe Gardner"
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