Colorado Rockies Film Commercials, Start Training

The Colorado Rockies face increased urgency in the face of relative hopelessness as 2013’s Spring Training commences. The time is now for the key figures on this team, ranging from the stars to the young players, from the starting pitchers to the front office. That should be reflected in the buzz we hear and read about as the team gathers in Arizona.

Cuddy is back and better than ever. Or something. Image: Jennifer Stewart-USA TODAY Sports

Thank goodness the Rockies got right down to business and filmed some commercials yesterday.

By the way, the fans seriously dragged down the quality of the commercials last year. We need to get back to the days of Dinger taking Tulo’s car and the wedding mound visit. Also, there is always that awkward possibility that one of the Rockies who appear in the commercials will not be with the team later in the season. Michael Cuddyer, anybody? Jorge De La Rosa and his $11 million? Hopefully they played complementary roles in the commercials. And are we convinced that Dexter Fowler is totally off the trade market?

I understand that baseball activities haven’t even started yet, and that it’s better to film commercials and take care of P.R. stuff before workouts are fully underway. Still, it feels dubious that one of the very first things I read about the Rockies was about their gathering to film commercials. Here it is, straight from Troy Renck’s article this morning: “Outfielders Dexter Fowler and Michael Cuddyer donned purple jerseys Sunday afternoon, stepping in front of a camera as the Rockies began shooting their annual television commercials.”

I just don’t like it. I’m not blaming anybody and I can’t really say why. I just don’t.

It does appear that trade talks before Opening Day are officially dead. One might think that teams will always pursue Dexter Fowler, whose contract situation still has not been settled, but it is hard to imagine anybody knocking down the door for him at this point. Michael Bourn is still without a team, after all.

So the Rockies get things going. One imagines that lots of congratulations were exchanged yesterday on a successful commercial shoot, a lot of “atta boys” doled out. Now it’s down to the business of baseball.