Blackmon Rising

 

In the fateful words of Rob Schneider, "OH NO. WE SUCK AGAIN!"

Nolan Arenado, Daniel Murphy, David Dahl and Tony Wolters are all gone. The other three pieces weren't as essential, but Nolan Arenado was the core of this team, and taking him out of the equation is going to make the 2021 Colorado Rockies' season look like a long, slow descent into nothingness again. 

However, enough of the core remains that they could be semi-alright this year. The rotation of German Marquez, Antonio Senzatela, Kyle Freeland and Jon Gray has stayed intact. Senza and Freeland are on the right track right now, but that core four hasn't been split up by trades...yet. At this rate, Marquez could be gone by July. 

And the two big pieces that remain with this team, Charlie Blackmon and Trevor Story, seem to be on pace for strong years, but they may be just auditions for other, better rosters. Especially Story, who might as well put 'trade for me' on his back at this point.

The real story with this Rockies team is gonna be the foundation put into place for the next generation of this team. Josh Fuentes, Brendan Rodgers, Garrett Hampson and Ryan McMahon are still floating around and need to be hammered down to positions and claim their spots for the next several years. Raimel Tapia had a strong 2020, he needs to prove he's a player for the next few seasons as well. Ryan Castellani's still chasing a roster spot, he needs to prove he's worthy of being in the rotation at all. Dom Nunez needs to come up and prove that he's the catcher of the future.

Cause if none of this happens, the Rockies are gonna keep contracting and releasing and the cycle's gonna continue for another decade without any playoff results. Remember, the Rockies still have never finished a season in 1st place. And it's not looking like they will in 2021 either. So hopefully, some of the things they put into place this year will stay intact for the next few seasons.

Coming Tomorrow- The long-awaited return of the hero in Baltimore.