Friday, November 25, 2011

Thoughts on Eric Young Jr.

According to Rafael Rojas, the terrific baseball reporter representing Viva Colorado, Eric Young Jr. was fired by Bravos de Margarita of the Venezuelan League on Friday for a combination of being bad at baseball, but more embarrassing than that, showing up to the ballpark late on more than one occasion.

Congratulations, Jr., you've managed to embarrass yourself, the Colorado Rockies, and I'm sure Eric Young Sr. is real proud at this moment, too.

I'm not going to go on and on and about Young's situation. It pretty much speaks for itself, and it pretty much speaks to the current state of the Rockies. Too many players in the mix that are going nowhere in their careers. Too many players not serious enough about their job, or willing to put in the correct effort to seize their opportunity. A distinct lack of discipline... probably because the people in charge aren't holding enough people accountable.

Bottom line: A lot of kids not ready to grow up or accept the responsibility that goes along with playing at the big league level. The sooner the Rockies cut bait with these guys, and hopefully replace them with grown ups, the better off they will be.

Sadly, it's too late to trade Young for anything meaningful at this point. But I don't think it's too early to speculate he won't be on the Rockies opening day roster. Nor should he be.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Please try to enjoy the offseason

I know, it's not always easy and sometimes it's not even possible, but people just get so worked up over every little detail or rumor throughout the hot stove season. And that's a problem, because there are dozens of those coming out every day.

The Rockies are going to be linked to a lot of players. Heck, at one time or another they will likely be mentioned as interested in every single free agent or trade candidate that has a pulse and sound ligaments that isn't in the upper echelon of talent. I know, we want that upper echelon talent coming to Colorado, but spending tons of money on one or two players would do little to help this team anyway.

Then again, spreading the money around to a lot of high-risk/low reward talent won't either. But just because they're linked to a Grady Sizemore or once again to a Jeff Francis, doesn't mean they necessarily sign that player or even really want that player. They just have to cover their bases in case plans don't work.

If Plan A doesn't work, you can't just call Plan B the next day and say hey we're interested now. You have to show interest, establish communication and give yourself options. That goes right on down the line to Plan Z. A lot of those guys know they aren't any teams first option, but that doesn't mean you can ignore them until you reach your desperation point.