Monday Morning Shortstop: First Things First, Win NL West

A well-deserved aura of optimism is surrounding the Colorado Rockies as we inch ever so close to opening day.

The Rockies had a busy and successful off season, locking down franchise players for years to come (Tulo, Cargo) and acquiring new faces to add to the mix (Wigginton, Lindstrom, Lopez).

The Rox have a rock-solid line-up, with blazing speed at the top (Young, Fowler) and power bats throughout (Cargo,Tulo,Stewart).

The Rockies have a stellar pitching rotation, with a bona fide ace (Ubaldo) and several savy, complimentary arms (De La Rosa, Chacin, Hammel).

They still have a hall-of-famer in their clubhouse in Todd Helton, who, from a statistical standpoint, is one of the greatest 20 hitters of all time.

Colorado has an eloquent and knowledgeable manager in Jim Tracy, who has a deft coaching touch when it comes to getting the best from his players.

And the Rockies have owners whom have shown a propensity to shell out the big bucks, after spending hundreds of millions of dollars on players this off-season.

So when you take all of these positives into account, you would think the Rockies should cruise to a division title in the NL West, right?

Well, that is an accomplishment that the Rockies still have on their to-do list, because they have never worn the NL West crown.

Eighteen years in existence, zero division titles.

In the last sixteen seasons, the Padres, Diamondbacks, Dodgers, and Giants have each won four division titles, with the Rockies putting up a goose egg.

The Rockies have been to the playoffs thrice (all via the Wild Card), made it to the Word Series once, but still have never have won their division.

So before we anoint this years Colorado Rockies as one of the league’s best teams, first things first – win the NL West.

Let’s hope the aura of optimism translates into a bevy of wins, and if the Rockies garner enough victories, let’s hope we can finally refer to them as NL West Champs, for the first time ever.

— Zach Cohn

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