Colorado Rockies Sunday Sit Down: Tyler Maun of the Purple Dino Podcast

In this edition of Sunday Sit Down, I spoke with Tyler Maun from the Purple Dino Podcast.  We discussed the trade deadline, development of Colorado Rockies’ pitching depth and how we can all be better fans. Somehow we forget to settle the debate if a hot dog is a sandwich.

Being a Rockies fan isn’t always easy but it has some perks, like FREE podcasts and a great social media circle on Twitter.  If you haven’t experienced either I implore you to binge listen to episode 1-53 of the PDP and give them a follow on Twitter @purpledinocast.

Rox Pile: When Jeff Bridich was hired, we were told we would have to wait until the trade deadline for this roster to see any real changes.  Do you see any real moves made in the next week?

Tyler: I think there will be moves, I don’t know if they will be substantial franchise altering moves.  I do think by this time next week but I think something will look different.  I think the real issue comes down to not Jeff Bridich but I think the trade deadline is too early.  Especially with the second Wild Card, you basically have twenty teams that are still in the hunt.   A lot of those teams who are at the back-end of that twenty and maybe the top half of the other ten, are still trying to determine if they’re buyers or sellers.  With that being said, I wouldn’t be surprised to see one big move.

“Last year they could have gotten Eduardo Rodriguez for Jorge De La Rosa“

Rox Pile: I just see a few trades that are a no brainer, like Axford to Detroit and Rosario to Baltimore in a package for Kevin Gausman.

Tyler: I think a lot of it will come down to what Dick Monfort we have as a voice in this relationship.  Last year they could have gotten Eduardo Rodriguez for Jorge De La Rosa, then had a shot to sign DLR as a free agent in the offseason.  When it came to the eleventh hour of pulling the trigger on the deal, Dick Monfort was the one who killed it.  That’s not acceptable if you are an owner, you hire baseball people for a reason and they should be making the decisions.

So if it comes out the Bridich is on the verge of a deal and it’s snuffed by Dick Monfort I think that would be the most discouraging thing for me as someone who observes this organization.   To know that you’re still kind of stuck with the same structure would be pretty disappointing.

I think Kevin Gausman would be a phenomenal acquisition, not just because he’s a live arm with tremendous upside, but he’s a Denver kid.  You can tell that to your fan base, “we have Kevin Gausman, Kyle Freeland, we’re paying attention to the talent base in this area.”  They just drafted Jensen Park out of UNC and a couple more guys out of the Denver area.  I think that could be a very good thing to parlay to the fan base.  

Rox Pile: What do you make of this roster construction?  With Wilin Rosario at first essentially stealing Kyle Parker’s roster spot.  With the indecision on Parker’s future, do you think the ship has sailed for him as a Rockie?

Tyler:  I don’t think so.  The way the Rockies have handled Kyle Parker is very weird to me (It’s not just you).  I think a lot of that has to do with the fact they have never settled on a position for Parker.  Early on this season he was primarily in the outfield but they wanted him to get some work in at first base and he has with the call up of Ben Paulsen.  

I talked to Zach Wilson in spring training and he said “Kyle works harder than anybody and he will be a first basemen.”  At the same time, if he already has the ability to at least be a replacement level outfielder or first basemen with the chance to be an impact bat off of the bench, I don’t know why you don’t take that risk.  So I don’t think the ship has sailed just yet, he’s still pretty young but he was a first round pick five years ago.  We certainly expected him to have an impact at the Major League level already.

Walt Weiss has had some more freedom this year, along with that has come some pretty curious decisions.  Do you see Weiss finishing the year as Rockies manager?

The thing that fascinates me the most about Weiss is that he is not a Jeff Bridich hire.  So I don’t know how much loyalty Jeff has towards Weiss.  The first month of the season pretty much everyone was invested in Walt with the way he was being decisive with the bullpen, hitting the pitcher in the eight spot even if it didn’t do much.  It at least showed Walt was being innovative.  However these last few months have been rough.

I think the Rockies need a little bit of a different personality.  Walt is a great guy, but when things go badly I think you need someone who has that fire.  Someone who can be angry and I don’t think Walt has that.  That doesn’t mean he can’t be a good Major League manager, I’m just not sure he’s a fit for this roster and organization.

His handling of the bullpen drives me nuts, Boone Logan in particular.  Logan kills lefties, yet Walt keeps bringing him out against righties who are hitting what? .700 off of him?

Yep, and he insists on doing it.  You would think at some point someone would show him the numbers.  It’s unfair to Boone, everyone has jumped on him for so long.  It’s not his fault he’s placed in situations where it’s very difficult to succeed with his skill set.

Last year the talk was the Rockies have never had pitching prospects like they did then.  After Daniel Winkler going to the Braves, Kyle Freeland waiting to make his season debut and Tyler Anderson injured.  How bad do the Rockies need Jon Gray and Eddie Bulter to be as advertised?

That hits the nail on the head.  Those two guys need to be what everyone forecasted them to be.  the problem I think is with talk to player development people around the league is, the Rockies take guy who do certain things well and try to turn them into Aaron Cook.  Maybe it’s not that drastic.  They cannot afford to have those guys come up and slot in as a three and four in the rotation.  You need Gray to be your one and Eddie to be your two or three.

Big thanks to Tyler for joining me in this edition of Sunday Sit Down!

Go give him and his partner in crime a follow on Twitter…
@MasterTones @TylerMaun

And make sure you look out for their weekly podcast on @purpledinocast or click the link…
iTunes: http://apple.co/1GN3iNQ
Stitcher: http://bit.ly/1j5hlNK
RSS: http://bit.ly/1PVJei4