With the talk of the Rockies holding onto Hawpe I am hoping that the Rockies plan on finding a right handed out fielder that is a much better hitter than Spilly. A tandem of Jermaine Dye and Brad Hawpe would be a great outfield platoon. Any other ideas?

I'd rather trade Hawpe for pitching. Platoon Smith and Spilbourgs.

Spilly is a bench player and always will be. Smith right now is a great pinch hitter and good bench guy but also does not disserve to start. They need to spend in this area.

Murton looked solid when he was up earlier in the year.

I think Spilly, Smith, or Murton have had their chance to step up and earn a starting role and have not come through. They have shown why they are solid bench/pinch hitters but cannot be trusted in an everyday lineup. Platoon Dye with Hawpe and they might combine 40 + home runs. That is better than having Holliday!!

Jermaine Dye would be way to expensive for just a platoon.

Regardless, our management wants our OF next year to be Smith, Fowler and Gonzalez from left to right. Seth Smith, in my opinion at least, has the potential to be a .300-20HR-100RBI guy when given a full season of at bats in the middle of the order. Now is the perfect time to trade Brad Hawpe...he is getting into his 30's and will never be as productive as he was in 2007. If we can get some young relif pitching help, then it will be worth it.

I'm more worried about Fowler in CF than anything. Yes, he did well for a rookie, but can he for sure anchor the position and do better than his pathetic OBP and .260-something average? If he fails we will have to use CarGo in RF and Spilly in CF or vice versa. So if we trade Hawpe that spreads us thin in the OF.

I'd like to see us keep Hawpe, or replace him with a power right-handed bat in RF (better yet). That way we can swing Smith in LF, CarGo in CF, and Hawpe (or somebody at least as good) in RF. IMHO Fowler needs some development.

I think you, and a lot of other people on these boards, are understating the clubs confidence in Fowler as our guy in CF next year. Fowler made a huge jump from AA to MLB this year and did pretty darn good if you ask me. His OBP at roughly .363 is really solid for a leadoff hitter - to compare, both Jimmy Rollins and Rafael Furcal had consideraly lower OBP - and both are considered, for the most part, good lead off hitters. In fact, many would consider Fowler an above average lead off hitter.

Are there things that Dex can improve upon? Sure...but I see his development only accelerating now that he has had a full year in MLB. If there is one thing I know for sure, we can expect more from Fowler next year. If he can improve from the right side, we are looking at our leadoff guy for at least the next five years who is putting up consistent .300 - 10HR-15HR - 30-40SB seasons.

Fowler hit .320 from the right side this year, and only about .240 from the left side. I think if he doesnt improve his left side numbers next year, they might need to reconsider him switch hitting. It does lessen his value a little, but if it means he can be a .300+ hitter then its worth it.

Fowler is the man!! If he hits the weight room and has some natural growth this off season he will be an absolute stud. He is a stud defender and a great athlete, the lineup was much better with him in the 2 hole rather than Seth Smith.

" can he for sure anchor the position and do better than his pathetic OBP and .260-something average"

Since when is having the 30th best OBP in the NL pathetic? He made a huge jump from AA and hasn't been switch hitting for long. He'll be fine.

For the record, a Jermaine Dye/Brad Hawpe platoon would be the worst defensive platoon in MLB history.

"With the talk of the Rockies holding onto Hawpe I am hoping that the Rockies plan on finding a right handed out fielder that is a much better hitter than Spilly. A tandem of Jermaine Dye and Brad Hawpe would be a great outfield platoon. Any other ideas?"

Just wondering on how you get Jermaine Dye to agree to a deal knowing he's only gonna be in a platoon?

I agree with ya on Fowler being a stud. This was his rookie year. He will come out and prove a lot of people wrong. If he comes out and hits .280 and around 10 HR's and 30-40 SB's then he will be a great lead off hitter or even 2 hole hitter if they want to put CarGo lead off. As for the Hawpe situation I think you should keep him for now and if there is a time to do a good trade then maybe think about it. But only for a good pitcher.

I agree. Fowler shows promise, but I am nowhere near sure that he can be a good starting CF in the very near future. His average, OBS, and K's all need vast improvement. Plus, with his height he really ought to be capable of more than 2 HRs. Bottom line: He needs to develop and a starting place in the lineup is not a good place to let a guy "find himself". So I would hesitate dumping Spilly. Because even though Spillborgs probably isn't going to toss up any impressive numbers he is at least a cheap insurance policy if either CarGo, Fowler, or Smith go down the tubes.