Trade Deadline Day Action!

Greetings! I hate to be misleading with a headline, but for the Rockies, absolutely nothing happened on the trade deadline day, other than Carlos Gonzalez completing the cycle with a game-winning, 460+ foot home run. But as far as trades go, the Rockies were silent.

There were rumblings that the team was interested in Jorge Cantu, but the Rangers, spending money as if they've got it, beat them to him. There were reports that the Rockies attempted to move Aaron Cook to St Louis, but his final start was bad enough that it scared the Cards away. And there were rumors that Brad Hawpe was on the block, but with the uncertainty at first base surrounding Todd Helton's return, the Rockies hesitated to pull the trigger. So essentially, the Rockies are going the rest of the way with the same team they opened the season.

My analysis: perfect. This team has talent, and this team has depth. At times, the Rockies' problem has been that they are too loyal to veteran players. At other times, they have been too fiddly with their lineup. But the pieces are there... the challenge is to put them together correctly. Adding more pieces would not have solved much, in my Beardly opinion.

The starting rotation is a question, but the answers may be within the Rockies system already.  The Rockies need Ubaldo to stay out of trouble, and they need De La Rosa to snap back and be the "2" in the Rockies' "1-2 punch." If Ubaldo continues to show signs of burnout and De La Rosa does not return to form, the Rockies have a very steep climb ahead of them this season. However, Ubaldo is not in as much trouble as many seem to think, and DLR seems to be progressing nicely since his stay on the DL.

Francis has pitched well lately, and Hammel continues to pitch well... so that final spot is the biggest issue. Cook has been ineffective pretty much all year long, and his spot in the rotation can't be too solid at this point with an arm like Chacin's at AAA. I feel that Cook might get one or two more starts to show he can produce a quality outing, before Chacin is given the opporunity to show what he can do in a pennant race.

The other major question facing the Rockies right now is first base. Hawpe has filled in fairly well lately (and shown signs of breaking out of his bad slump at the plate, to boot). Giambi is hitting the ball better than he's catching it, but he's a nice option to have off the bench and as a backup at 1B. The question is, will a productive Helton return from Casper? If not, is a .250 Helton a better option than a .285 Hawpe?

I'm of the opinion that if Helton is healthy enough to play the field, he should be in the lineup. His defense and his presence in the clubhouse make up for his lack of production at the plate. This season, the Rockies' longest losing streak with Helton in the lineup was three games. As soon as Helton went on the DL, the Rockies uncorked that stinker of a road trip, including their 8-game slide. I do not think this is a coincidence: Todd Helton's value cannot be summed up by his offensive statistics.

As of this writing, the Rockies are tied for third, six games back of the Padres in the NL West. It will not be easy to win this division, but it can be done. Management has said that they like the roster as it is, and now it's up to the players to prove them right, or wrong.