Colorado Rockies Quick Hits: 2nd Base, Reynolds, Fuentes, Arenado

We had some news and notes earlier today regarding some of the Colorado Rockies in spring training earlier today but there have been some more items of note that have developed since.

In Bud Black‘s daily meeting with the media, including Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post, Black spoke about the possibilities at second base for the Rockies.

Per Saunders on Twitter, Black said that the everyday second base job is wide open. However, he added that recent signee Mark Reynolds, who the Rockies signed on a minor league deal with an invite to spring training, could also see some time there occasionally.

I think that it’s pretty much a given that Garett Hampson, Ryan McMahon, or Brendan Rodgers will be the everyday second baseman with Pat Valaika and/or Mark Reynolds on the bench but if Reynolds can play second base confidently, it makes him more versatile than he already is, which is still versatile. Last season with Washington, in addition to first base, he played third base but he did play two innings at second base and even one out in center field.

More on Mark Reynolds

On Sunday, Jayson Stark of The Athletic and MLB Network reported on Twitter the story of Reynolds’ offseason before signing with the Rockies. He reports that Reynolds got “no offers for weeks” but all of a sudden, while he was playing golf a few weeks ago, he got a call from his agent saying that he had gotten four offers from teams but all were for minor league deals with invites to Spring Training on the same day.

If you just take a look at the comment section of the tweet, you can see that some people believe that it could be collusion between teams considering that he didn’t receive a deal but then gets four minor league deals in a day but that’s something that would be hard to prove but whether you think there could (or was) collusion between teams is, obviously, something for you to decide.

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The competitive rivalry between family members

Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post also published an article earlier today on Nolan Arenado and his first cousin, Josh Fuentes, who won the Pacific Coast League MVP award last season with Albuquerque. Saunders spoke to Fuentes’ mother and sister of Nolan’s father, Mercedes Arenado-Melian, about the relationship between the two and she mentioned that “competitiveness is a huge component of who they are [and] what they have done.”

Arenado’s mother, Millie, said that they are “very close, but they don’t like to lose. They are super competitive; it’s fierce. It molded them, and, number one, it helped them stay out of trouble.”

Fuentes also doesn’t lack any confidence as he says that he’ll “die saying this” but he’s “better than Nolan…I really think I am.” Fuentes also said that Nolan knows that he’s better than him but “he would, obviously, never, ever give me that [satisfaction].” Nolan had three words about Fuentes trying to steal his job: “He can try.”

Overall, it’s an excellent read and Saunders has much more, including about a wiffle ball game between the two this past fall, so I would highly encourage that you read the piece in it’s entirety.