Tuesday, January 4, 2011

RSR: Carlos Gonazalez New Contract Edition

A special off season Rock Solid Recap a day after Carlos Gonzalez reportedly agrees to a 7 year/$80 million contract. Includes random thoughts on things other than baseball.

-- I'm blown away by how calmly, smoothly and easily the Rockies have taken a potentially chaotic and disastrous off season and turned it into an overwhelming success. All those questions we feared we'd be asking when spring training rolled around have not only been answered, but answered with a resounding "relax, we know what the **** we're doing".

-- Is Scott Boras getting soft, or is Carlos Gonzalez proving to be another of those rare superstar athletes that can think for himself?

Knowing the answer to that question, how much more do you love and respect CarGo?

And how much quicker do you want to be rid of the Carmelo Anthony headache?

-- Here's CarGo with a Chihuahua on his lap.

-- Sorry Teboners, little Timmy is never going to own the city of Denver the way John Elway did. That has more to do with the prolonged presence of Mr. Tulowitzki and Mr. Gonzalez than it does Tebow's shortcomings as a pure NFL Quarterback, but both are factors to be sure.

-- The next time you see a Monfort in public or at the ballpark, please resist the temptation to take a running leap into their arms, but do shake his or her hand.

-- The Tulowitzki and Gonzalez contracts do not guarantee success or championships. What they do is promise relevance on a national scale - something Colorado has yet to experience in nearly two decades despite a World Series appearance - more appeal to future free agents, and a good foundation to build upon for over half a decade.

That works for me.

-- I'm talking directly to Ian Stewart right now.

How much are you worth?

How good can you be?

I'm dying to find out.

-- That aside, I really enjoy following Stewart, Dexter Fowler and Eric Young Jr. on Twitter. They all seem like really good guys and I hope all three cement themselves as Rockies in 2011 and beyond.

-- There's a girl with fangs on The Bachelor. So the answer is yes, that show can get worse.

-- Things I learned reading Bleacher Report yesterday...

Carlos Gonzalez doesn't have great speed and he isn't all that great a defender.

Apparently he's a rich man's Brad Hawpe.

-- I look at the Denver Nuggets roster and can only identify one player I believe San Antonio Spurs coach Greg Popovich would take on his team. That one guy is Aaron Afflalo. The only problem is San Antonio already has a better version of Affalo in 2nd year guard George Hill.

-- I'm still worried about Jim Tracy's ability to manage a bullpen. And by worried I mean positively frightened.