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What the heck, here's to bucking trends. It would be easy to pound the Rockies into the dirt for a poor season in which they underachieved more than almost any other team in the league. It would be easy to point out that general manager Dan O'Dowd's plan didn't work -- building a team around expensive pitching and choosing speed and athleticism over raw power sounded good on paper, but failed in real life. It would be easy to point to some unusual trades, acquiring guys and then rather quickly releasing or trading them (Mac Suzuki, Robin Jennings). But the glass doesn't have to be half empty here. Lurking inside the disappointing campaign of 2001 is a young and talented squad which could really make waves next year. So what if we said this last year as well, right?
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Rockies 2000-01 comparison
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2000
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2001
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W-L
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82-80
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73-89
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HR leader
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Helton, 42
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Helton, 49
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BA leader
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Helton, .372
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Walker, .350
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ERA
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Bohanon, 4.68
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Neagle, 5.38
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Best Pitcher: You think Mike Hampton is seeing the downside to signing that eight-year, $121 million contract now? He's shown that he can survive in Colorado, but thriving there is another question. Of course the thin air has messed with his pitching and drastically affected him. His 14-13 record was adequate, he was their ace all year, and he tied the NL record for home runs in a season (7 in 79 AB), but you know he was not happy with his 5.41 ERA, including a 5.10 mark on the road. "It's tough. It's physically grueling to pitch a full season here," Hampton told the Rocky Mountain News after the season. Apparently so. You have to love John Thomson, who appears to have the stuff to be successful, even in the not-so-friendly confines (2-2, 4.64 ERA at Coors Field).
Best Position Player: Choosing between Todd Helton and Larry Walker is never easy. On the one hand, you have the NL batting champion. On the other, you have the first guy in major league history to have 100 extra-base hits in back-to-back seasons. We'll go with the Helton, the latter, despite the fact that his road average fell from .353 last year, to .283 this year. His career slugging percentage of .620, the fact that he improved his power numbers this year (a career-best 49 home runs), and the fact that the Rockies will never let him walk lead us to believe that the 28-year old slugger is going to put up record-breaking numbers in his career.
Grading The GM: C-. What an up-and-down year of trades this has been for O'Dowd. The Rockies owner continued his rotisserie-like trading assault, with highly mixed results. The trade of Pedro Astacio for Scott Elarton shocked some, but it may in fact turn out to be a fine trade, considering the obvious talent Elarton has despite an off year. Even better was the three-way trade involving Neifi Perez, which netted Jose Ortiz and Mario Encarnacion. In one move, O'Dowd created a young and extremely talented middle infield of Ortiz and Juan Uribe, one which should surpass the success of the Perez/Todd Walker combo. On the other hand, what of trading Brent Mayne to the Royals for Mac Suzuki and Sal Fasano? Suzuki lasted just a few weeks with the team, and the trade left the team without a veteran catcher. No surprise that the team's fortunes turned after that trade, a truly awful decision. The additions of Alex Ochoa and Jacob Cruz have also been less-than-successful so far.
Most Improved: Sure, Juan Pierre looked pretty good in limited action in 2000, but who knew just how good he'd be at the top of the order this year? With a stunning .324 road average, Pierre could one day be a batting champion at Coors Lite. His defense has remained questionable at times, but with production at the top of the order like he's provided, the team is more than willing to show patience. Also, hats off to the rotation, which is much improved as a unit. The debut of Shawn Chacon (5.06 ERA in 160 IP) has been encouraging, and grouped with Hampton, Denny Neagle, Elarton, and Thomson, not to mention rookie phenom Jason Jennings (4-1, 4.58 ERA in seven starts) this group could be one of the better rotations in the league.
Biggest Weakness: Ben Petrick has not developed into the starting catcher they thought they had when they traded away Mayne. How Petrick, known to have a great bat in the minors, hit just .244 at Coors Field is hard to grasp. He also struggled handling the staff, and threw out less than 25 percent of the base runners who tried to steal on him. Look for Petrick to find a home as the backup here, or elsewhere, next season.
Gaining Momentum: Oh that middle infield. Uribe and Ortiz, Ortiz and Uribe. Both have solid gloves, both have power, both are under 25. The team should be set for years to come up the middle. Can you imagine two middle infielders on the same team who can hit 20 homers and bat .300? The Rockies now can.
Kicked Off The Island: So what do you do with Todd Hollandsworth? Since coming to Colorado, he is hitting .342, with 17 homers in 284 at-bats. Unfortunately, that's over the course of a year and two months. Who knew when he fouled a ball off his shin in early May that his season was over? Perhaps you keep him and give him a shot again in left. If so, Ochoa and Cruz are very expendable, given the maturation of Mark Little.
Bill Konigsberg is an assistant editor at ESPN.com.
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