Who will have breakout season?
It’s time to predict the future. Who are your choices of Rockies to have a breakout, career or terrific comeback season? And in your opinion, what are the strengths and weaknesses of the Rockies right now?
If I look into my crystal ball and tell you everything now, what am I going to write about during spring training? But, OK, here you go:
• Breakout season: I’ll go with right-hander Peter Lambert. Call me crazy, but I liked what I saw from him late last season. Lambert’s been through a lot but he’s got decent stuff and he pitches with a chip on his shoulder.
• Career season: I’m tempted to say, Nolan Jones. I think he’s a star in the making, but his career-best year is a bit down the line. So I’ll go with Brendan Rodgers. If he stays healthy, this could be the year he puts it all together. If so, that brings up an interesting scenario. Suppose Rodgers lights it up in the first half of the season, would the Rockies trade him for pitching? Infield prospect Adael Amador could make his debut this season and Rodgers is scheduled to become a free agent after the 2025 season.
• Comeback season: It’s got to be Kris Bryant, right? If he manages to play 140-150 games, that would qualify as a major comeback in and of itself. He’s never going to be worth the
$182 million the Rockies gave him but he’s still an accomplished hitter. At some point, Bryant’s going to put together a solid season.
I see many other teams signing international players, especially players from Japan. Why don’t the Rockies ever sign those kinds of players?
The Rockies have been doing a solid job with their Latin-american signings. Case in point: Ezequiel Tovar. I think Rolando Fernandez, the Rockies’ longtime vice president of international scouting and player development, does a good job finding, and signing, young players in the Dominican Republic and Venezuela.
Monday, as the international signing period opened, Colorado signed Ashly Andujar, a 16-year-old shortstop from the DR, the No. 17 international prospect according to MLB Pipeline.
They also signed Oscar Pujols, a 17-year-old right-hander from the Dominican. He’s ranked as the 35th international prospect.
As for the Rockies’ lack of activity in Asia, here is what general manager Bill Schmidt told me in The Post’s “Rockie Way” project at the end of last season: “It’s about where you put your resources, and we have put more into Venezuela, Mexico and the Dominican Republic. We feel like we have a better chance there. It’s difficult to go head-to-head (in Asia) when you’re talking about the Mets and Yankees, Red Sox and Dodgers; those kinds of teams.”
How do you like Todd Helton’s chances of making the Hall of Fame this year?
It’s going to be close, but I like Helton’s chances. As I write this, he has garnered 82.9% of the vote, with 42.7% of the anticipated votes collected by the Baseball Hall of Fame Vote Tracker. Typically, a player tends to lose about 6% when the official vote is revealed. So it appears that Helton will clear the magic 75% bar this year.
Helton got 74.5% of the vote last year, missing being elected by a mere 11 votes.