We could be in trouble if De La Rosa is our #1...imo he's a solid 3-4 starter

"We could be in trouble if De La Rosa is our #1...imo he's a solid 3-4 starter"

I don't agree.

While I wouldn't consider him a shutdown ace, he was pitching VERY well before the injury. He gets the nod at #1 (assuming he can rebound) due to the veteran status, and nasty factor. Before the injury his stats for 2011 were...

5 Wins 2 Losses
3.51 ERA in 59 Innings
1.186 WHIP with 52 Strikeouts

Those are great numbers! Both him and Chacin are capable of pitching in the 3.xx ERA.

Greenfield - "1. De La Rosa 2. Aquired Pitcher 3. Jhoulys Chacin
4. Drew Pomeranz 5. Juan Nicasio / Christian Fredrich

(2013) Doesn't look horrible, right?"
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First; I changed my name from 2rewind to FireManagement. A play on the Rox's strife and current events.
Second; While getting DeLaRosa and Chacin back, even if not 100%, will be good, I don't think our pitching staff lacks talent now. Nicasio, Pomeranz and Friedrich have shown themselves capable of giving the Rox a chance to win and there's a lot of potential to fill #4 and #5. White reminds me of Cook while Scahill and Schmidt continue to develop. Moscoso has a ton of potential, Torres was a great find while Outman and Chatwood could be very good long relievers.

Francis returning from a walk-about to contribute is the kind of vet fill-in expected every year with every team, just like the last four guys I mentioned. I don't see a reason to drop cash on another #2-#3 starter just because he has some fancy stats and a resume *cough, Cuddyer and Scutaro, cough*.

The biggest impediment to having a solid rotation has already been cleared - firing Apodaca, though 8yrs late. The second is cleaning up the mess he left, including the epic fqu he gave the Rox on his way out the door with the 4man rotation.
The second biggest impediment is the Rox front office - O'dowd and co. Hopefully they're gone before a new pitching coach is found and trades for next season made or they'll likely leave an equivilant fqu like Apodaca did. After they're toast, the Rox can at least have a shot at assembling a winning roster and developing talent instead of burning cash on stats and searching refuse to plug holes.

- FireManagement

Strongly disagree with you on Apodaca starting the 4 man rotation. You can bet your bottom dollar that is Dan O'Dowds baby all day long. Apodaca doesn't have the authority for such a move. It is rumored that is the very reason why he resigned. Tracy could make that call but not the pitching coach.

The Rockies need to figure out who they are. They don't seem very self aware and have no idea what direction they're going.
Are they buyers or are they sellers?
Are they contending or are they rebuilding?
The answers to those questions are obvious but they seem to be trying to do it both ways. They trade Ubaldo last year for prospects like a rebuilding team would but then they sign Michael Cuddyer in the offseason like a contending team would. What!? They need to pick a direction and go that way completely. That direction is obvious once you look where they're at in the standings. This team needs so much help that a complete fire sale of everyone with an MLB contract is in order. Prospects! And lots of them.

Trade Tulowitski, Gonzales, Cuddyer, De La Rosa and everyone else who isn't pre arbitration. They tried to make a run but it ultimately didn't work. Load up on prospects and try again.... or just keep failing with the team they have now.

I agree that the Rockies need to do some selling.

However, I think you need to keep (most likely) Tulowitzki -or- Gonzalez to build around. Get rid of Cuddyer and Scutaro for sure.

"However, I think you need to keep (most likely) Tulowitzki -or- Gonzalez to build around."

Nah, going halfway won't get you anywhere. This team needs so much help that it inevitably needs to be COMPLETELY dismantled in order to be rebuilt. Tulo and Cargo are the kind of guys that get you the necessary prospects to rebuild, while Cuddyer and Scutaro are the kind of players that get you roster filler. You can't rebuild without prospects and you can't get good prospects by trading run-of-the-mill players like Scutaro.

If your team holds on to Cargo and Tulo, you better hope for some miraculous drafts.