Though at a critical juncture at 24, former top Rockies prospect Ian Stewart is expected to need a day or so of rest after stressing his left arm swinging the bat in the cage. Perhaps he has been trying to hard. The soreness comes at a time when Stewart finds himself under great pressure, as he must...

For the most part, MLB teams are entering Spring Training with their third base position set. There are a few battles going on; Buscher versus Harris in Minnesota, Blum vesus Boone in Houston (yuck) and McPherson versus Helms in Florida. When those teams make decisions regarding the hot corner, I...

We’re starting to get into the thick of things when it comes to differing draft strategies and player evaluations. These next five to seven rounds are very fun to watch. Take a look back and read the write-ups for round 1, round 2,  round 3, round 4, round 5, and round 6. Round 7 : Pick 1(73)...

THURSDAY, 8:10pm: Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post reports on comments from Rockies GM Dan O'Dowd. O'Dowd says Atkins' future with the Rockies is closely tied to the future of Todd Helton. If Helton can't produce, Atkins becomes a seemingly irreplaceable part of the Rockies offense. WEDNESDAY, 11...

It may turn out that Milton Bradley—sometimes a trade speculation target, in hand with his Texas Rangers being a speculation target for shenking 2008 in favour of 2009 and beyond—may not be going anywhere just yet, if at all. And the switch-hitter just might have a Hall of Fame express t...

Baseball Prospectus' Will Carroll has plenty of rumors in his latest post. Pat Gillick "doesn't seem that interested" in going back to work for the Mariners. One team asked the Blue Jays to include players to be named later on both sides of an A.J. Burnett deal, to serve as a balance for t...

The New York Yankees have decided ice cream was no longer politically incorrect in its clubhouse—thank resurgent Mike Mussina, who won a bet with manager Joe Girardi and got the stuff back in the clubhouse freezers—and neither would Sidney Ponson be, in their organisation. The Empire Eme...

ESPN's Buster Olney makes a point to say that this trade idea is pure speculation rather than anything he's heard.  Still worth discussing.  Here it is: If Colorado eventually turns the page on 2008, the Indians and the Rockies could match up well in a deal built around Garrett Atkins. The...

With yesterday's signing of Brad Hawpe the Rockies have now locked up five young players through at least 2010 over the past 14 months. Impressive. The Denver Post says Garrett Atkins would be "the next logical candidate" for a deal, but that his situation continues to be complicated by Ia...

Sorry it took so long to write this up, but here it is. Garrett Atkins is one of my favorite 3B trade targets right now. First let's go over the power. In the preseason it would have been easy to predict a small power increase from Atkins, and 35 HRs were a distinct possibility. So far, he has only ...