Morning Links: Rockies News 2/4

Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports

The state of Colorado is in shock. The recovery will start once we can actually process what happened in Sunday night’s blowout Super Bowl which saw the Denver Broncos completely overwhelmed by the Seattle Seahawks.

Part of that process comes with the Denver Nuggets, who tried to ease the pain with a thrilling victory over the Los Angeles Clippers Monday night. The Colorado Avalanche also did their part, defeating the New Jersey Devils in overtime. And it will be baseball season soon, at which point the Colorado Rockies will try to capture our attention.

Here’s what is happening with the Rockies as we get closer to the day when pitchers and catchers report:

From Troy Renck: Jonathan Gray leads four Rockies’ prospects in ESPN’s top 100 list (Denver Post):

"As for Gray, he owns a rare combination of power with plus off-speed pitches. I wouldn’t waste too much time keeping him in the minors if his changeup continues to progress. Same goes for Butler. The Rockies need one or both to make an impact this season. It could change a good staff into a force."

From Thomas Harding: Blackmon confident he can clear spring hurdle (MLB.com)

"The Rockies’ trade of center fielder Dexter Fowler and decision to move Carlos Gonzalez from left to center opened up the possibility of playing time in left for Blackmon, a left-handed hitter. The Rockies also traded for the right-handed hitting Drew Stubbs, who played in right and center field for the Indians last season. Blackmon has more big league experience than his left-handed competition,Corey Dickerson, although Dickerson opened some eyes with five home runs, five triples and 13 doubles in just 194 at-bats in 2013.”"

From Jordan Freemyer: Saturday Rockpile: Where does Nick Masset fit with the Rockies? (Purple Row)

"If one of Lopez or Ottavino fails to make the roster or gets injured in Spring Training or the Rockies choose to go with an eighth reliever, Masset would likely be near the top of the list of names to take that spot, along with Corpas, Chad Bettis and Rob Scahill.”"