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Colorado Rockies

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On this page: Arrivals | Departures | Spring Cleaning | Team Breakdown | Prospects | Predictions

One tough out: Todd Helton hit .391 at Coors Field and .353 on the road last season. AP

By Jon A. Dolezar, CNNSI.com

Baseball played Mile High style looked decidedly different in 2000 than it had in the Colorado Rockies' first seven seasons.

New general manager Dan O'Dowd and manager Buddy Bell transformed the team into a hack-and-slash squad, forgoing the previous Blake Street Bombers image for manufactured runs. The result was 82 wins and a fourth-place finish in the competitive NL West.

Colorado hit only 161 home runs, which ranked 13th in the National League, but did lead the NL in run production, something that should be expected by a team that plays 81 games in Coors Field. The Rockies likely will boost their homer total if right fielder Larry Walker can stay healthy for 130 games -- something he has managed only three times in his six seasons in Colorado.

Todd Helton follows Larry Walker in the batting order, and following up his .372 season will be the task at hand for the cleanup hitter. Helton has improved his numbers in each of his four seasons, but it's almost unrealistic to expect him to get much better than the .372-42 HR-147 RBI campaign he posted in 2000.

Top Guns Rockies 2000 team leaders Avg.  Todd Helton  .372  HR  Todd Helton  42  RBIs  Todd Helton  147  SB  Tom Goodwin  39  Wins  B. Bohanon/P. Astacio  12  ERA  Brian Bohanon  4.68  Ks  Pedro Astacio  193  Saves  Jose Jimenez  24    Go Figure 5 Players in MLB history to hit 40 homers, score and drive in 100 runs, draw 100 walks and collect 100 extra-base hits in a single season (Todd Helton did it last year).

Third baseman Jeff Cirillo had a solid season in his first year with the Rockies, though his home-road splits did nothing to dispel the myth that Coors Field inflates numbers. Cirillo slugged .607 at home, but only .329 on the road.

Todd Walker hit .316 after joining the team in a midseason trade, and Colorado would be pleased if he can duplicate that. The second baseman appears primed for a breakout season after five uncomfortable years in Tom Kelly's dog house in Minnesota.

Journeyman Ron Gant and Todd Hollandsworth will split time in left, and Colorado thinks the duo should be able to match the production of the departed Jeffrey Hammonds. The Rockies wanted Hammonds back, but when his price tag surpassed the $6 million a year mark, the team was happy to settle for a cheaper, adequate platoon.

The only unsettled position is catcher. Colorado plans to platoon Brent Mayne and youngster Ben Petrick, at least until Petrick emerges as a more capable receiver behind the plate.

The big story in Denver during the offseason was the opening of Jerry McMorris' wallet to secure top-of-the-line starting pitching. Left-handers Mike Hampton and Denny Neagle will try to do what Bruce Hurst, Bret Saberhagen and Darryl Kile weren't able to before them -- bring their quality major-league stuff to high altitude and pitch effectively.

Pedro Astacio has been the most consistent pitcher in team history, tallying 42 wins in the past three years. Fourth starter Brian Bohanon had the lowest road ERA in the league last season, and was the only Rockies pitcher to throw a shutout. If former Reds starter Ron Villone nails down the fifth spot, the Rockies would become the first team with four lefties in the rotation since 1981.

The bullpen is solid with lefty relievers Gabe White and Mike Myers allowing Bell to matchup with teams late in games. Jose Jimenez impressed in his first year as a closer, and Colorado always has Jerry DiPoto to fall back on if Jimenez regresses this season.

Arrivals
Pos.	Player	From	Via
OF	Ron Gant	Angels	Free Agency
LHP	Mike Hampton	Mets	Free Agency
OF	Roberto Kelly	Yankees	Free Agency
LHP	Denny Neagle	Yankees	Free Agency
3B	Greg Norton	White Sox	Free Agency
RHP	Jay Tessmer	Yankees	Trade
LHP	Ron Villone	Reds	Trade

Departures
Pos.	Player	To	Via
2B	Jeff Frye	Blue Jays	Free Agency
OF	Jeffrey Hammonds	Brewers	Free Agency
OF	Butch Huskey	Indians	Free Agency
RHP	Kevin Jarvis	Padres	Free Agency
RHP	David Lee	Yankees	Trade
RHP	Doug Linton	Dodgers	Free Agency
RHP	Julian Tavarez	Cubs	Free Agency

Spring Cleaning

Jose Jimenez Can Jose Jimenez continue to close games effectively? The former starter racked up 24 saves in his first season coming out of the pen, and the Rockies need to get dependable finishing from Jimenez to hang in the tight NL West race. Will Juan Pierre provide the Rockies with the table setter they were missing last year with ordinary center fielders Tom Goodwin and Brian Hunter? Pierre tore through the minors, but then had only two extra-base hits in 200 at-bats in the majors, leaving some in the organization to wonder if he's just a younger version of Goodwin or Hunter. Pierre worked out extensively during the offseason and has apparently added a little pop to his bat. Can the Ron Gant/Todd Hollandsworth platoon in left field equal the production of Jeffrey Hammonds from last year? Hammonds was helped to a career year by the altitude of Coors, but the Rockies think the new platoon in left will be able to better his total of 20 HR and 106 RBI. But with two free swingers vying for at bats rather than one, Gant and Hollandsworth are also likely to surpass the 83 whiffs Hammonds had last season.

Team Breakdown
Projected Lineup		Projected Rotation
CF	Juan Pierre	LHP	Mike Hampton
2B	Todd Walker	LHP	Denny Neagle
RF	Larry Walker	RHP	Pedro Astacio
1B	Todd Helton	LHP	Brian Bohanon
3B	Jeff Cirillo	LHP	Ron Villone
LF	Ron Gant/Todd Hollandworth	Bullpen
C	Brent Mayne/Ben Petrick	RHP	Jose Jimenez (closer)
SS	Neifi Perez	RHP	Brian Rose
Key Reserves		LHP	Mike Myers
OF	Roberto Kelly	LHP	Gabe White
2B	Terry Shumpert	RHP	Masato Yoshii
3B	Greg Norton	RHP	John Wasdin
2B	Brent Butler	RHP	Mike DeJean

Prospects to Watch
RHP Chin-Hui Tsao -- The 19-year-old Taiwanese star is racing countryman Chin-Feng Chen of the Dodgers organization to become the first Taiwanese-born player to make the majors. Tsao struck out 187 batters in 145 innings last season at Class A Asheville while walking only 40. Tsao's pitching may be ahead of his cultural adjustment, so the Rockies figure to take their time with him. SS Juan Uribe -- Colorado expects this 20-year-old to move reigning NL Gold Glove winning shortstop Neifi Perez to second base eventually. Uribe needs to spend his remaining time in the minor leagues working on his plate discipline, as he fanned 100 times last season in 485 at bats at Class A Salem. RHP Shawn Chacon -- After battling injuries for two seasons, Chacon bounced back in 2000 to lead the Class AA Southern League in shutout and strikeouts. The 23-year-old Colorado native won only 10 games last season, but his 172 strikeouts in 174 innings show he may be living up to his potential as a power pitching prospect. OF Choo Freeman -- The Rockies' latest hyped-up tools prospect, Freeman, 21, is athletic enough to play center field at Coors, but has the power to occupy a corner outfield slot. Freeman hit .266 with five home runs and 54 RBI at Class A Salem, which should be enough to earn him a promotion to AA Carolina this season where plate discipline will be tops on his agenda.
Best-Case Scenario
Helton makes a run at the triple crown, with a healthy Larry Walker breathing down his neck all the way. Hamtpon and Neagle both keep their ERAs under 4.50 and match their average win totals for the past five seasons (15 for Hampton, 12 for Neagle). Coors Field comes alive in August and September as the Rockies make waves in the standings by beating teams by normal scores, rather than the softball scores fans have become accustomed to at altitude.
Worst-Case Scenario
Larry Walker plays in fewer than 90 games again, Helton struggles to sniff .300 and Juan Pierre can't get the ball out of the infield. The ultimate sign of the apocoplypse this season would be injuries to the high-priced free agent pitchers, as the Rockies are banking on getting a combined 420 innings from the pricey left arms of Hampton and Neagle.
Bottom Line
Colorado finally has the pieces to be a legitimate playoff contender for the first time in six seasons, since the Rockies took the NL wild-card berth in their third year of existence in 1995. The additions of Hampton and Neagle should help the staff get the team ERA under 5.00 and take pressure off the bullpen. Expect the Rockies to win between 85-90 games (depending on Walker's health), and remain competitive late into the season in the challenging NL West.

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