

Denver Post sports writers Troy E. Renck and Patrick Saunders post the Rockies Mailbag on Tuesdays during the 2012 MLB season. This week, Troy takes his cuts at five Q’s.

Pose a Rockies- or MLB-related question for the Rockies Mailbag.



I’ve been of the opinion that if we had a pitching staff that matched our bats then we’d be one of the best in baseball. How do the Rockies go about acquiring pitchers who can actually pitch?



— Geoff Koop, Canberra, Australia



Geoff – The Rockies’ primary avenue to acquire pitching is through the amateur draft, signing free agents in Latin America and trades. Colorado is never going to be a destination place for top big league free agents. In 2000, Mike Hampton represented the only time the Rockies landed a marquee free agent. But they overpaid in money and seasons (eight years, $123.8 million). Couple Hampton’s contract with the Denny Neagle signing (five years, $51.5 million), and the Rockies created a flawed business model. A handful of players compromised roughly 75 percent of the payroll. And when they didn’t perform — Hampton and Neagle both struggled mightily — the Rockies adopted their current build-from-within philosophy.



It is more sustainable, and it also makes sense for a team with a modest payroll. However, there must be waves of prospects or impact players from Latin America to pull it off. The Rockies have failed too frequently in the draft, particularly with pitchers. And even when they have selected the best player on the board — California prep left-hander Tyler Matzek in 2009 — it has backfired. The lack of impact arms in the draft threatens to paralyze the franchise.



The absent high-end pitching, most notably the failure of second 2006 overall pick Greg Reynolds to become a serviceable big leaguer, helped motivate the Ubaldo Jimenez trade for young starters Drew Pomeranz and Alex White and Double-A reliever Joe Gardner.



Colorado’s future is tied to its young arms developing into good major leaguers: Pomeranz, White, Juan Nicasio, Jhoulys Chacin and Christian Friedrich. If the majority of that crew regresses, the Rockies have no chance to bounce back barring shrewd trades.



The Rockies attempted to acquire pitching through deals last winter, but starters are the game’s currency. Because so few quality arms are available, teams require a ransom — like the Yankees shipping off top prospect Jesus Montero to Seattle for Michael Pineda. Tampa’s Wade Davis and Jeff Niemann, Florida’s Ricky Nolasco and the Cubs’ Matt Garza would have been good fits, but the Rockies didn’t have the pieces those teams wanted and none of those clubs was motivated to move its pitchers. Colorado ultimately landed three arms, and none has panned out yet. Tyler Chatwood, who began the season as a reliever, is working through an injury in Triple-A and recently threw a simulated game. When healthy, he and his 97 mph fastball will get a shot in the rotation at some point.



Guillermo Moscoso, acquired from Oakland in exchange for fourth outfielder Seth Smith, flopped in a two-start debut while replacing the injured Jeremy Guthrie. He’s pitched better of late in Triple-A and remains in the big league call-up mix as a long reliever and spot starter.



In the biggest offseason move, the Rockies sent starter Jason Hammel and reliever Matt Lindstrom to Baltimore for Guthrie, a deal that has not worked out because of Guthrie’s shoulder injury and chilling home/road splits. Guthrie also missed three starts after a bicycle accident, all Rockies’ losses. He will soon become trade bait as the Rockies look to give young pitchers more opportunities.



So it comes down to this: The Rockies have to draft and develop better — that fills big league jobs and creates commodities for better trades — or they won’t improve.



I’m afraid to ask, but doesn’t The Post have a financial interest in the Rockies? Claiming that Bob Apodaca has helped a number of pitchers is beyond belief. He has never improved a single pitcher for the long run. It is time to let him go, and Dan O’Dowd and Jim Tracy should follow suit. Time to clean house. Have a nice day.



— Ross, Berthoud



Ross – The Post has a minority stake in the Rockies. Since arriving at the paper in 2002, I have never been told to cover a story differently because of it. In fact, over the last decade, multiple members of the front office, one manager, and a handful of players have ceased talking to me for months at a time for what they view as negative coverage.



My job is to write about the team’s performance with context. If they are going through a full-blown youth movement, the expectations are mild and progress is measured more by development than the standings. But since the World Series berth in 2007, the Rockies have gone into every season, on paper, as a contender. This year could be the exception given the preseason questions about the pitching staff, but the team acquired older position players to compensate. In any event, their performance since the end of 2010 has been largely disappointing.



The Rockies reached the 2009 playoffs and played well for five months in 2010. But since a 1-13 finish in 2010, they have been one of the National League’s worst teams. Pitching coach Bob Apodaca is part of that, but assigning blame to one coach hardly seems fair. There’s been a system-wide failure.



As I’ve written repeatedly about Apodaca, he’s had success stories, but they haven’t been sustainable. Under his watch, Darren Oliver and Shawn Estes blossomed. Shawn Chacon, Aaron Cook, Jason Marquis, Ubaldo Jimenez and Brian Fuentes were all-stars. Jeff Francis won 17 games. Relievers Matt Belisle, the last few weeks notwithstanding, and Rafael Betancourt have been among the league’s best setupmen over the past two seasons.



The issue with Apodaca now is simple for me: Can he connect with the young pitchers? The Rockies’ rebound rests almost squarely on the improvement of Pomeranz, Nicasio, White, Chacin, Friedrich and Rex Brothers. If they don’t get better and reach their potential, it will haunt this franchise for years.



The Rockies have made a lot of bad plays on the basepaths the past couple of weeks. Is that a sign that they are forcing things too much in trying to get out of their tailspin?



— Ryan, Denver



Ryan – A year ago, the Rockies were horrible on the bases, making inexcusable mistakes almost nightly. The errors haven’t been egregious this season, but Colorado continues to struggle. Part of it is predictable. When the Rockies aren’t scoring runs, they run with more urgency, which creates mistakes (like Marco Scutaro getting thrown out at third base over the weekend). The team has tried hit-and-runs to get the defense in motion and create more havoc. But the results have been inconsistent just like the lineup itself.



I have long been on record disagreeing with the contact play at third base, where the runner takes off on contact with less than two outs. The play has been a failure the past two seasons, defusing rallies by providing gift outs at the plate. Of late, the play has not been used as much. There are times it makes some sense, for instance, with a runner like Eric Young Jr. who can create a bad throw with his speed.



It has been very frustrating watching the Rockies the last few years. Are there enough good young players in the minors who can at least give us fans any hope?



— Ron Schmitz, Evergreen



Ron – There are some intriguing prospects, but that’s all they are until they reach the big leagues. I am convinced that Nolan Arenado will be an everyday player with an impact bat, possibly as soon as next season. I expect to see the Double-A third baseman sometime this season in the bigs. I long ago predicted he would get called up in June, but it could be later.



I am interested to see if either DJ LeMahieu or Josh Rutledge can win the second-base job next spring. Tulsa left-hander Edwar Cabrera is worth keeping an eye on as well. Outfielders Corey Dickerson and Rafael Ortega and last year’s top pick Trevor Story continue to hit well in Class A ball.



Most of the young players that the Rockies are counting on have reached the bigs or are here (Pomeranz, White, Nicasio, Friedrich, Brothers, Wilin Rosario, Jordan Pacheco). Their growth is not linear, leading to frustration and anger from fans. But there is talent in that aforementioned group.



Hi, Troy. Please excuse my pessimism, but being a Rockies fan isn’t easy these days. I have seen a trend developing from the team and media this past week stating the Rockies are going to “focus on their young pitching.” I also saw recently that Jeremy Guthrie could be traded because of this reason, which makes no sense. Why would the Rockies trade Lindstrom and Hammel for Guthrie, a pitcher they were so high on, only to trade him not even a quarter of the way through the season? Is the “focusing on their young pitching” an attempt by the Rockies to be excused for an awful 2012 season? It seems to me this excuse is the brainchild of Dan O’Dowd, hoping the fans will remain patient, and ultimately hoping they’ll accept another failed season. This season-ticket holder is officially out of patience.



— Jarrod, Denver



Jarrod – The young pitching is not an excuse for this season, but has certainly played a role in the record. There have been questions about the staff since the first day of spring. The idea was that the Rockies would hit enough to help the pitchers through growing pains, creating a team that could keep its head above water, as it did during the 12-12 start. Once Guthrie got hurt and Chacin didn’t perform before landing on the DL, the Rockies fell off a cliff. And on nights when the team has pitched well — three different times on the last road trip — the team hasn’t hit.



Young pitching was going to create issues, no question. But it doesn’t excuse the third-worst, 40-game start in franchise history. Just look at the roster, how many players have performed well? Carlos Gonzalez, the power from the catching position, Jamie Moyer, Matt Reynolds, Rafael Betancourt, bench players Tyler Colvin and Eric Young Jr.?



Michael Cuddyer has faded since a fast start, but has been OK, along with Matt Belisle, Josh Roenicke, Jason Giambi and Jonathan Herrera.



Troy Tulowitzki, bothered by injuries, has not been himself. Same goes for Todd Helton, Marco Scutaro, Dexter Fowler and Chris Nelson. All have underperformed. You get the idea.



Manager Jim Tracy has struggled this season as well, his double-switching at Coors Field creating more problems than it solves. These are all hallmarks of a flailing team. The pitchers feel like they have to be perfect on the road because the team doesn’t hit. At home, the offense feels like it has to score 10 runs because the team doesn’t pitch. Throw in a few lost leads late, and this is the result: a disappointing club.



The Rockies aren’t going to get better without getting in sync, combining mediocre pitching and strong hitting, the formula used in the first 24 games.

Denver Post sports writer Troy E. Renck is in his 17th season of covering the Colorado Rockies, his 11th for The Denver Post. Pose a Rockies- or MLB-related question for the Rockies Mailbag.