Colorado Rockies - The Bush Years (2000-2009)

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2000

Decade

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Titles:

Top Rockies Players of the Oughts

2007 - WC, Won LDS (Phillies), Won NLCS (Arizona), Lost WS (Boston)

2009 - WC - Lost LDS (Phillies)

Pitchers:

Jeff Francis (9.13) - 32

BallPark:

Aaron Cook (17.35) - 27

Coors Field

Jason Jennings (10.43) - 27

Brian Fuentes (9.77) - 25

Team Name:

Jose Jimenez (4.75) - 21

Rockies

Ubaldo Jimenez (10.22) - 18

Pedro Astacio (4.22) - 17

Owner:

Shawn Chacon (3.21) - 12

Consortium led by Larry McMorris (2000 - 2004)

Jorge De La Rosa (3.65) - 12

Consortium led by Dick and Charlie Monfort (2005 - 2009)

Josh Fogg (1.7) - 12

Huston Street (1.78) - 8

General Managers:

Jamey Wright (1.49) - 5

Dan O'Dowd

Manny Corpas (4.26) - 5

Gabe white (4.21) - 4

Managers:

Buddy Bell (200 - 2002)

Catchers:

Clint Hurdle (2003 - 2009)

Chris Iannetta (5.21) - 17

Charles Johnson (2.08) - 15

No Hitters:

Brent Mayne (0.66) - 10

None

Yorvit Torrealba (1.42) - 10

Hall of Famers:

First Basemen:

Larry Walker

Todd Helton (53.11) - 126

Rookie of the Year:

Second Basemen:

Jason Jennings (2002)

Jamey Carroll (3.47) - 10

Luis Gonzalez (0.34) - 10

Cy Young Award:

None

ShortStop:

Troy Tulowitzki (13.72) - 30

MVP:

Clint Barmes (8.22) - 23

None

Neifi Perez (2.49) - 14

Juan Uribe (2.63) - 14

Notable Events:

Third Base:

2000 - Coming into the decade, Colorado had only contended once in the

Garrett Atkins (5.3) - 24

Nineties (in a strike shortened season) and was a below .500 club again in '99.

Jeff Cirillo (7.9) - 17

Altho' they squeak over .500 in 2000 at 82-80, it won't be until 2007 before

they're over .500 again. 1B Todd Helton, 26, and OF Larry Walker, 33, are

Outfield:

the team's two big stars. They are top of the line hitters, but playing at Coors

Matt Holliday (18.49) - 47

half the time certainly doesn't hurt their stats. Helton will still be around as a

Larry Walker (21.75) - 44

starter on the 2007 squad.

Brad Hawpe (5.42) - 30

Juan Pierre (4.06) - 23

2000 - Dan O'Dowd takes over as GM from Bob Gebhard.

Willy Taveras (1.12) - 20

No improvement in the club's performance as a result.

Jay Payton (4.47) - 13

Preston Wilson (0.74) - 12

2001 - A sign of insanity is doing the exact same thing over again thinking

Tom Goodwin (1.22) - 10

that things will turn out differently the next time. In the case of the Rockies

Seth Smith (2.21) - 9

and free agent pitching, they did and things didn't. Three years earlier,

on the heels of two slightly winning seasons, the Rockies signed ace

Notable Events:

righthander Darryl Kile to a big contract with the thought that he would

get them to the next level. It didn't. Now, in 2001, coming off a slightly

A change of ownership. Things can't get much worse

winning season, the Rockies, once again, feel that free agent pitching will

ownership-wise for the Rockies. And they don't get worse.

get them over the hump. Only now, they overspend on two guys, ace lefty

However, things don't get a whole lot better with the Monforts

Mike Hampton, 28, and righty Denny Neagle, 32. Hampton gets a huge

at the helm either, altho', early on in their tenure, they

eight year deal. He's a sinkerballer whose sinkerball doesn't sink so good in

do make the post season twice

Denver. He goes 14-13 5.71 and 7-15 6.15 before being mercifully sent

away, ultimately to Atlanta, where he resumes his career pitching well.

2006 - RHP Ubaldo Jimenez, 22, debuts. He was an IFA in 2001.

Meanwhile, Neagle goes 17-19 5.32 in 2001-2002 combined, thus ending his

career. Neagle was a control fastball, changeup guy. This repertoire should

2007 / 2009 - Colorado begins the most successful period of it's history,

have served him well at Coors, but, at this stage of his career, Neagle's

topping 90 wins twice (in '07 and '09), and making it to the wild card

fastball wasn't so fast no more and slight mistakes in control were next

both of those times. The Rockies had never topped the 90 win mark

found in the seats.

before so these were heady times for them. In 2007, Colorado

swept the Phillies in the NLDS and the Dbacks in the NLCS only to

2002 - Righty reliever Brian Fuentes, 26, is picked up in a deal with Seattle.

be swept in the World Series by Boston. In '09, they lost to the

He will get 'over a hundred saves with the Rockies before 'moving on as a

Phillies in the NLDS.

Free Agent in 2009.

Colorado did it in the old fashioned way, they bludgeoned the opposition:

(stats for '07 / '09)

2002 - Because they're a bad team, the Rockies have a lot of top ten picks

□ 1B Todd Helton 17-91-.320; 15-86-.325

in the amateur draft during the Twenty Oughts. A couple of them pan out:

□ Clint Barmes 23-78-.245 in '09

□ 2002 - Lefty Jeff Francis, 21, 9th overall pick, debuted in 2004

□ SS Troy Tulowitzki 24 99-.291 (as a rookie); 32-92-.297

□ 2005 - SS Troy Tulowitzki, 20, 7th overall pick,debuted in 2006

□ 3B Garrett Atkins 25-111-.301 in '07

□ 3B Ian Stewart 25-70-.228 in '09

2003 - 3B Garrett Atkins, 23, debuts. In an odd career arc, Atkins is a big

□ OF Matt holliday 36-137-.340 in '07

time slugger in the middle of Colorado's lineup thru 2008 and then drops off

□ Of Brad Hawpe 29-116-.291; 23-86-.285

the face of the earth at age 29 and is out of baseball the next season. A

real puzzler, no one is precisely sure what triggered the sudden massive decline.

2007 - On the mound, Jeff Francis leads the way with 17 wins

There were a couple of possible things, however. He had started declining a bit

in both 2007 and 2008 after a career year at age 26 in 2006 of 29-120.329.

2009 - The Rockies get the best starting pitching in their history:

A normal arc would have seen him improving. Also, he started pulling the ball

□ RHP - Ubaldo Jimenez, 25, 15-12 3.47

in 2007 and did it more and more after that. 'The feeling is, that despite his

He was an IFA in '01, debuted in '06

young age, the bat speed was declining and he was starting to over compensate

□ RHP - Jason Marquis, 30, his only season in Colorado, 15-13 4.04

by striding earlier. He also was having some major contract negotiation issues

□ LHP - Jorge De La Rosa, 28, obtained in a trade with KC in '08, 16-9 4.38

and was either losing his concentration or trying to jack up his numbers, or both,

□ RHP - Jason Hamel, 26, obtained in a trade with TB in '09, 10-8 4.33

as a result. Anyway, the Rockies dealt him away in 2009 which sealed his doom

□ RHP - Aaron Cook, 30, 11-6, 4.16

as Garrett was definitely a Coors field baby.

□ Righty Reliever Huston Street, 25, 35 saves

2004 - OF Brad Hawpe, 25, debuts. He's a stud in the middle of the Rockies

2009 - There's also several younger hitters, not mentioned

lineup thru 2009 when he suddenly loses it in 2010 at age thirty one.

above, in 2009 who have good years offensively:

The career arc is not quite as pronounced as for Atkins, but is very similar.

C-Chris Ianetta, 26; ; OF Seth Smith, 26;

He was a 7th round pick in 2000.

OF Dexter Fowler, 23; and OF Carlos Gonzalez, 23.

2004 - OF Dexter Fowler, 20, is a fourteenth round pick, he debuts in 2008

2009 - Gonzalez was obtained from the A's along with ace righty closer

Huston Street, 25, in exchange for slugger Matt Holliday before the

season. Holliday was in his walk year and the A's were going for

it in 2009. Turned out to be a great trade for the Rockies