Colorado Rockies: Saturday's News, Notes and Thoughts
As Colorado plummets into the Arctic chill on the weekend before the holidays, it’s a great time to warm up with some thoughts of baseball. With that in mind, here are some news and notes regarding the Colorado Rockies.
New homes for Barnes, McKenry
A pair of former Rockies found new homes yesterday, including Brandon Barnes, who struggled to a .220 average last season in his third campaign with the Rockies. Miami has signed him to a minor league deal with an invitation to spring training, according to a tweet from Chris Cotillo. Barnes was always well-liked in the clubhouse and brought “energy” to the team, former manager Walt Weiss was always fond of saying.
Former Colorado catcher Michael McKenry is now part of a Florida-based system as well, signing a minor league contract with Tampa Bay. He’s expected to compete for catching depth with the Rays, but also has a chance for some early playing time in the season. Tampa Bay signed Wilson Ramos to a contract but he won’t be ready to join the team until likely mid-season after tearing his ACL at the end of last season.
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Gaining ground
More and more national outlets are starting to like Colorado’s chances to make a postseason run in 2017. As this article states, Colorado still needs to make some improvements in the bullpen, even with the recent signing of southpaw Mike Dunn.
Brad Ziegler is no longer an option for the Colorado bullpen after Miami signed him so it remains to be seen what the Rockies will do their lone remaining spot on the 40-man roster.
Spring training must-see action?
Looking for a stretch of games to watch the Rockies in spring training? With the schedule now released, Colorado has an interesting stretch between March 20-25.
During that time, the Rockies face the American League champion Cleveland Indians twice, the World Champion Chicago Cubs twice and division rival San Francisco. Nothing like raising the bar of competition and getting some sun as well.
