The one and only good moment from Toyota Talk this season.
This week was the official halfway point of the 2012 season and the Rockies (31-51) are neck and neck with the Cubs for the dubious distinction of the worst team in baseball. Before the season began, 2012 was designated “The Year of the Fan” by Rockies management and the team has responded by putting forth a record setting campaign. The Rockies’ current winning percentage of .378 is on pace for a whopping 101 losses, which would surpass the futility of the inaugural 1993 club (67-95) as the worst team in franchise history. Year of the Fan, indeed.
- Will the Rockies lose 100 games for the first time in franchise history?
Brendan: Yes. I still cannot believe that the talent on this team is of the 100 loss variety, but the results don’t lie. 20 games under .500 before the All Star break is brutal and it is not going to suddenly turn around. The pitching has been terrible and the defense has been even worse. Although the Rockies rank in the MLB top 10 in several offensive categories (including runs scored), the inability to prevent runs is killing this team every night. The only hope to avoid joining the century club is actually the trade season. Shipping out veterans (Scutaro, Guthrie, Betancourt, Giambi) will free up playing time for the younger players, who have shown some potential when given a chance. Everyone associated with this team should be embarrassed (I know I am as a fan), and the one good thing about such record setting futility is the hope that it will force changes in management.
Ned: A 100 loss season is easily within this team’s reach. Remember that at the end of April, their record was 11-11. In both May and June, they lost 18 games per month, which equates to losing at a rate of 66% during this period. With 81 games left, if they continue at the May-June pace of losing two out of three, they will drop another 53 games. Hence, a 100+ loss season is not just within reach, it is probable. The good news: the Rockies would need to dog it well beyond their current low standards to surpass the Mets’ 1962 record of 120 losses.
Logan: Sadly, yes, especially if Tulo doesn’t come back soon. We’ll have more about this in the coming week on BSB, but there are those that are actually rooting for this team to lose 100 games. Let’s get one thing straight, losing 100 will be no good for anyone. I just don’t see changes being made regardless of win/loss record. In the end, those that rooted for this to happen are just going to look like morons.
2. What is the best-case scenario for the second half of the season?
Brendan: The young pitchers become more consistent (in a good way), the Rockies play .500 baseball for the final three months, and finish with 70 wins. Tulo and DLR come back for September, everything comes together, and the Rockies have something to build on for 2013. Not buying it? Me neither. How about this: the Rockies continue to be terrible, the bad press from the 4 man rotation finally alerts Dick Monfort to the fact that O’Dowd may not actually be the best GM in baseball, and the Rockies hire a president of baseball operations to clean house. Picture the “Bob’s” from Office Space: “So Dan, what is it that you actually do here?” O’Dowd: “IT’S CALLED PAIRED STARTERS, NOT A 4 MAN ROTATION! That wasn’t the question? Oh, umm, well, I built the team to be good in the clubhouse, not in the field, but don’t blame me for all the losses because, you know, Coors Field sucks.”
Ned: The best case scenario for the team for the second half is to develop the young pitchers and position players. With the 2012 season blown, the coaches and management should be putting together the 2013 team. It is fairly safe to assume that at least Betancourt, Guthrie, Scutaro, Giambi and probably Cuddyer will soon be sold to the highest bidders. We can and should look forward to the continued development of Friedrich, Pomeranz and White at the major league level. One or more of these three pitchers will be needed in the 2012 rotation. While it looks like Friedrich and Pomeranz have the most potential, it is way too early to give-up on White. Brothers should get the closer role. Let’s see right now if he has the stuff and the mind-set to close games. The promising young minor leaguers should be given a ML shot. Nolan Arenado at third base, Josh Rutledge at short, and Edwar Cabrera on the mound (again) are prime candidates. Helton should be limited to pinch hitting, with an occasional relief start at first. Colvin should play every day in right field with Pacheco at first if Cuddyer is traded. Forget the 2012 season. The team needs to use the remainder of this year to re-build once again.
Logan: To sniff a .500 record in the second half. Admittedly, there is very little chance that will happen, but it would be nice if they went on a run. In the alternative, I’ll settle for a departure from this absolutely ridiculous rotation scheme. It’s stunting development.
3. Are you satisfied with the Rockies’ broadcast team (radio and/or TV)?
Brendan: Yes. Are they the best? No, but neither is the product on the field. Imagine if you had to watch every inning of every game and discuss it in a positive light the entire time. I know I could not do it. In general, I find their insights to be interesting and the play by play to be adequate. Of course, I do not always agree with everything that gets thrown out there, but it is good enough for me. What I cannot stand is the Toyota text line. I don’t know why, but my eyes are always drawn to that scroll at the bottom of the screen and I cannot help myself from reading the inane comments (and, by the way, my inane comments are not force fed onto your TV screen). I guess they are better than watching the actual game most of the time, but it is still annoying.
Ned: The TV team does a nice job. Drew Goodman calls an accurate game without interfering with the visuals. George Frazier and Jeff Huson both provide insight that comes from having played and been students of the game. On the radio side, Jerry Schemmel has made the transition to baseball very well. He is prepared, accurate and crisp in his call of the game. However, while Jack Corrigan is a knowledgeable baseball fan, he fails as a play-by-play announcer. Gently put, he is ponderously slow. It seems as though Jack’s mind cannot react to the game quickly enough to call the action either timely or accurately during his verbal wanderings and ruminations throughout the game. If you spend any time at all listening to the radio broadcasts, you undoubtedly share my frustration. Jack was a long term TV announcer for the Cleveland Indians, and apparently never learned how to do radio play-by-play. In Corrigan’s defense, he knows the game well, is prepared, and occasionally has a valuable observation. In other words, he makes a nice color man—which is where he should be. For those who have not been frustrated in trying to follow Jack’s play-by-play on the radio, let me give you an example of his confused and delayed play calling. Rather than watching the action, I suggest closing your eyes while listening to his call and see if you can tell what happened.
Logan: Toyota Talk has got to go, but other than that, I’m generally okay with the team’s broadcast. It’s not great – Frazier and Huson can wear me out at times — but I try to listen to the opposing team’s broadcast at least once a series and for the most part, it’s not really that different. Obviously, when they play the Dodgers, I always tune into the great Vin Scully, but comparing others to him is pretty unfair. Could they be better? Absolutely, but out of the things about this team that make me miserable, the broadcasting is pretty low on a long list.
Have a different take? Let us know in the comments below.
Got an idea for a future 3U3D discussion? Email us at BlakeStBulletin@gmail.com
Loading ...
Loading tweets...
8 comments
Kevin Giles
July 6, 2012 at 3:08 PM (UTC -6)
Replacing Jack Corrigan is number 1,723 of the 1,723 problems this team needs to fix.
Seth
July 6, 2012 at 4:15 PM (UTC -6)
The Toyota talk is horrifying to watch. End it NOW! Huson and Frazier are ok but sometimes I dont like how they just come up with lame excuses on why we are terrible instead of just plainly saying we suck, but they dont get paid to do that. I think Goodman is one of the better announcers out there, he definitely is not the best but he is at least decent and I rarely get annoyed with him as I think he allows Huson and Frazier to be the annoying ones.
TroyF
July 6, 2012 at 6:53 PM (UTC -6)
This is as good of a place as any to post this. O’Dowd’s two biggest successes (in my mind) are playing well tonight.
1) Pomeranz. He’s back to 93+ on his fastball. He’s pitching very well. I’ve never lost faith that he would be a top of the rotation type of guy and these couple of starts are encouraging. The organization did a very good job of hiding the angst they felt toward Ubaldo and that allowed them to trade Ubaldo for a top flight prospect (and an avove average prospect) If the Rockies let out how Ubaldo is acting, we never get Pomeranz.
FWIW: at the time I’m writing this, Pomeranz has now thrown 11 innings without giving up a solid hit and could easily be throwing a no hitter right now.
2 Tyler Colvin. I think it’s fairly safe to say O’Dowd beat the living heck out of Theo in that trade. Bear with me for a second. . . I’m not saying Colvin can continue this. His walk ratio still sucks and he is getting a little lucky with the fly balls flying out.
That said, Stewart is done. He got consistent playing time and hit 201 with no power. We can all stop talking about his being worth a crap, can’t we? Colvin is likely a .260 hitter with 20 HR pop who can play multiple positions and hits lefties ok. He’ll be a cheap, solid option on this team for a few years. Stewart will be in AAA next year unless some other team gets fooled into thinking he has potential.
Of course, with that moment of compliment, it’s also important to remember Casey Weathers went 8th in the draft. The two guys who followed him at 9th and 10th were Jarrod Parker and Madisom Bumgarner. Jason Heyward was picked a few spots later. I think I’d rather have any of those three than Colvin. . . Even a good O’Dowd move is only because of a horrific one.
Simone
July 7, 2012 at 2:40 PM (UTC -6)
I think that losing 100 games will indeed help the Rockies. Why?
1. It increases the chances of change actually happening from O’Dowd to Tracy and everyone else.
2. It will give the Rockies a very high #1 pick in the draft (hopefully they won’t f*** it up).
3. Attendance will hopefully fall off a cliff in the 2nd half of the season which will in turn hurt the pocketbook of the Monforts which again increases the chance for some real change in the organization.
What are the other options? So we lose 80-90 games and still get nowhere. Everyone should be rooting for a miserable finish. If not we’ll just have a 2013 season just like this one. I don’t know about you but i’m tired of these mediocre seasons.
Brendan Giles
July 10, 2012 at 11:58 AM (UTC -6)
I don’t think I can ever cheer for losses, but it is certainly tempting. I am not sure that losses will effect the attendance numbers – only because most of those tickets have already been sold. Certainly the walk-up sales will drop, but the real indicator will be season ticket renewals for 2013 and advanced sales come next February.
The high draft pick for DOD is the most terrifying thing (two words: Greg Reynolds). I have been watching the Mark Appel-Pirates drama and it looks like Appel is currently posturing to return to Stanford. It might just be manuvering, but we will know by Friday. This is a terrible development for the Rockies and will surely be “signability” fodder for DOD to sell when he drafts a low-first round grade talent with a top 3 pick. High picks can alter a franchise, but only if you have the courage to take the most talented player on the board – even if he is a Scott Boras client – something I do not believe O’Dowd is willing to do even after 100 losses.
Ron Kearns
July 7, 2012 at 9:40 PM (UTC -6)
The Bobs: Tulo, we noticed you’ve missed a lot of games.
Tulo: I wouldn’t say I’ve missed them, Bob.
Just me
July 10, 2012 at 8:53 AM (UTC -6)
I agree that this season is a wash. Try to develop the younger players by giving them playing time. Work on pitchers, since that is the crux of our problem now. Trade who you can and look at next year. This is a deep hole this year and we are not in a position to dig out of it!
And who do we contact to get that Toyota Talk thing off my TV! I hate that thing. Very distracting.
Young Meezy
July 18, 2012 at 1:47 PM (UTC -6)
lmao I posted that Ted Haggard toyota talk!! I was so sick of everything being all sweet like “we love our rockies”
I also did some with “Pastor Ted in Fruita” lol