I think at this point we, as Colorado Rockies fans, need to take a step back and temper our outrage with the team – it is beginning to stray wayward in regards to solving the myriad issues.
Over the last few weeks, Denver fans on the airwaves and internet have broached the subject of trading Troy Tulowitzki for anything ranging from pitchers to prospects. To those folks who share that line of thinking, you need to drop it. It isn’t going to happen, nor should it.
Tulo isn’t going anywhere and rightfully so. Tulo is hurt, his numbers understandably down, and he has been shaky defensively at times. Troy is still the best shortstop in baseball, and when he rips the cord on his bat, he is straight money. Fantasy guy, feel free to back me up on this.
The blame lies with the front office and the pitching staff. Trading Tulo is not the solution. Sure, you could replace Tulo with Marco Scutaro or Jonathan Herrera, but they are not the offensive power that #2 is. These same folks are claiming that because Tulo’s contract is so back-loaded the Rockies will be hampered by it come the last few years. They are fearful of it turning into another Todd Helton situation: bloated pay for a player who doesn’t produce like he did when he signed his last deal.
It’s a fair point but not a cause to cut ties with Tulo – even if the goal was to gain a pitcher who may help a bit. The rotation is too far gone to hope that plugging in one pitcher will turn the season around.
Trading Tulowitzki is not the solution. Luckily, the Rockies have decided to finally take some measure of action by demoting Jeremy Guthrie and Guillermo Moscoso to the bullpen and moving forward with a four-man rotation. The new plan is to go with four guys on a 75-pitch limit. I hope the bullpen is ready to really pick up the slack now. ROOT Sports’ Drew Goodman reported that Jim Tracy called all the pitchers into his office and informed them of the new business model: The starters are going to pitch less, and the rest of you will have to finish the job.
We have to temper our anger and keep the bull’s-eye firmly placed on the front office and the guys taking the starts on the mound. Addition by subtraction in this case isn’t going to solve the Rockies’ problems, even if Tulowitzki is injured and not putting up numbers.
Follow me on Twitter @CoryWhitmer for game thoughts and some sports talk.
