Rockies links: Jon Gray, De La Rosa, and free agency

With August of the 2014 baseball season rapidly approaching, the Colorado Rockies find themselves in familiar territory. They are in last place and will now play out the remainder of the season focusing on what next year and the seasons beyond might hold.

It is time to assess young talent (again) and consider a role as a potential spoiler (again). This season also brings the unpleasant task of trying to decide what to do with the team’s two injury prone stars, Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez (again).

In the meantime, the Rockies have actually played some decent baseball at home this week against relatively competent teams like the Cincinnati Reds and the Kansas City Royals. Any victories between now and the end of the season will hopefully build some momentum for the franchise while also steering the team below the 100-loss mark.

Here’s what else is happening with the Rockies.

From Joel Reuter: MLB Free Agency 2015: An Early Team-by-Team Preview (Bleacher Report)

"Reigning NL batting champion Michael Cuddyer has been limited to just 33 games this season, as he’s been sidelined with hamstring and shoulder injuries.He’s been productive over the 130 at-bats he has seen, so there should be plenty of interest in him this offseason despite his age. With the emergence of Charlie Blackmon and Corey Dickerson, though, it remains to be seen if the Rockies will make a run at re-signing him."

From Bryan Kilpatrick: Rockies prospects: Jon Gray pulled after 2 innings (Purple Row)

"Provided Gray is healthy, his subpar outing isn’t the worst thing in the world. But it also goes to show that, despite all of the clamoring from desperate fans and media types, the promising right-hander simply isn’t ready for the jump to the big leagues, especially in what is already a lost season for the Rockies."

From David Martin: Time for the Colorado Rockies to give Jorge De La Rosa his due after another phenomenal start (Rockies Review)

"While De La Rosa possesses a mid-90’s fastball, something that is rare from the left-hand side, but maybe what keeps people from having faith in De La Rosa is that he is unconventional. With a fastball in the mid-90’s and a change up that falls off of the table, it feels like he should be getting strike outs. That just isn’t De La Rosa’s game."