Folks, I’d like you to follow me on over here. The Shawn Chacon Experience is a blog that will follow a season in the life of a Rockies fan in 2009. I think you’ll enjoy it.

The Shawn Chacon Experience

A little late, yes, but it’s Weekend Fourteener time:

1. And now, a word from a spoiled brat: “At the end of the meeting, he wasn’t like, ‘Jay, I want you as our quarterback, you’re our guy.’ It felt like the opposite. He basically said that I needed to tell him if we can’t work this out, to let him know. I thought he was antagonizing me and that was disappointing because I was ready to move on, committed as a Bronco. Really, I figured we’d hash things out, shake hands, laugh a little and move forward.” In other words, so long, Jay Cutler, and don’t let the door hit you on the way out lest you start crying.

2. So where do the Broncos go from here? Tampa Bay and Detroit seem to be Jay’s most likely destinations, but I don’t think Detroit will part with the top overall pick for Cutler. If they did, you could start printing Matthew Stafford jerseys, but I don’t think that’s likely. Mark Sanchez is a possibility with a later first-round choice, perhaps even at 12 where the Broncos currently pick. But if Denver can’t land either of those, they will open the 2009 season with Chris Simms under center… and if you thought the last son of a Super Bowl winning QB that ran the Broncos offense was a let-down, you ain’t seen nothing yet.

3. How will Bronco fans react? Yeah, Cutler was ‘the future’ and ‘the franchise’ and made a Pro Bowl, but his teams didn’t win and weren’t any closer to winning in 2009. And anybody with half a brain can see that Cutler has as much, if not more, to do with his ouster than anything Josh McDaniels and Brian Xanders have done. Cutler moped his way out of Denver. He deserves nothing less than vilification for it.

4. That’s not to say McDaniels and Xanders shouldn’t take some heat from Broncos fans. They were unable to pacify Cutler, even though such an undertaking would have been extremely difficult. And their public stance was confusing at best, misleading at worst.

5. Hey, if nothing else, Cutler will always be the greatest diabetic quarterback who looked like an emo kid in Denver Bronco history, and nobody can ever take that away from him.

6. YouTube video of the week: Thanks for the memories, Jay.

7. In non-crybaby news… seems unthinkable to say this, but who knew that the most important player on the Denver Nuggets was Kenyon Martin? The Nuggets have lost front-court depth, defensive intensity, and a noticeable amount of swagger with Martin on the shelf with back problems. These don’t seem to be the type of problems that will just disappear with time, either, so Denver has to find a way to cope with his loss better than they have of late. The Nugs jumped back into the Northwest Division lead on Sunday night with losses by Utah and Portland.

8. Jorge De la Rosa’s three scoreless innings for the Rockies today in Tucson were a welcome sight after he’d been bombed in consecutive Cactus League starts and subsequently called out on the carpet by manager Clint Hurdle and pitching coach Bob Apodaca, who said Jorge’s problems were all mental. Most of the feeling of relative calm the Rockies have about the front four in the rotation centers around De la Rosa returning to the form he showed the last two months of 2008, so if his rocky spring thus far has been a mere bump in the road, you’ll hear a huge sigh of relief from 20th and Blake.

9. Another note on the Nuggets – it took George Karl 65 games to find out that Renaldo Balkman was good? Why in the blue hell wasn’t this guy getting at least 10-15 minutes a night from the get-go? Karl was able to get the most out of Eddie Najera, and Balkman, for all intents and purposes, IS Najera – high energy and effort, great on the offensive glass, and able to get to the bucket. After Balkman threw up a 22 and 11 at the Clippers on Saturday night, I would love to say he’s bought himself rotation minutes the rest of the season, but knowing Karl like I do, that’s not a certainty.

10. Denver sports blog you need to be reading of the week: Denver Stiffs, my favorite Nuggets blog out there with a terrific Doug Moe-inspired name.

11. Link of the week: Tracy Ringolsby and Jack Etkin, formerly the Rockies beat writers at the dearly departed Rocky Mountain News, are still covering the Rockies. Check out their site here.

12. Are the Avalanche still playing?

13. Remember Mark Macon?

14. And finally, hurry back, Chris Iannetta. You’re doing great things for Team USA at the World Baseball Classic, but Yorvit Torrealba is hitting the ball well for the Rox in Tucson, and I’d sure hate for Clint Hurdle to think it a good idea to give Yorvit an extra start a week in the early part of the season.

Jay Cutler may or may not want to be traded. The Denver Broncos may or may not have tried to trade him to acquire Matt Cassel. The Broncos may or may not have instigated those discussions. Cutler may or may not have asked for a trade after Jeremy Bates was fired. Relations between Cutler and the Broncos may or may not have been irreparably ruined. Jay Cutler may or may not be a Bronco in 2009 and beyond.

There’s a whole lot that’s nebulous in this extremely strange situation. How and why it started, what everyone’s role is, and what the ultimate outcome will be still aren’t anything close to being resolved, and some of the particulars never will be. If I were in the business of making an educated guess, however, I’d give you good odds of Jay Cutler wearing a different uniform next season.

I’m going to name quarterbacks with the physical gifts that Cutler has that are currently starting in the NFL: both Mannings, Drew Brees, Philip Rivers, Tom Brady. That’s pretty much the whole list. Cutler’s rocket arm and ability to make any throw are nearly unrivaled.

But there’s something else those elite QBs share that Cutler has not exhibited in his 2+ years under center: calm, collected leadership and grace under pressure.

Anybody who has seen Cutler with his helmet off on the sidelines during a game in which the Broncos are losing knows that those things are, at best, a work in progress. Nobody’s pouty face is as recognizable as Cutler’s, and it comes out at the first sign of distress, such as when Cutler invariably tries to force a pass with his team down and it ends up being intercepted.

And now, this – issuing a challenge to authority before said authority has a chance to make his NFL sideline debut. Everybody knew that Bates’ firing was going to make Cutler sad, like a small child when his pacifier gets taken away. While Bates showed promise as a first year playcaller, Cutler could not have realistically expected the Broncos to keep him under a head coach with very similar traits, and he could not have expected Bates to stay on in a limited capacity. But Cutler refused to read the writing on the wall, and when Bates headed to USC, he stamped his foot on the floor, stuck out his quivering bottom lip, and demanded a trade.

Credit the Broncos for looking to oblige. Say what you will about Josh McDaniels’ inexperience, but he’s no dummy. You don’t work for years with a coach like Bill Belichick and not have some of his habits and traits rub off. McDaniels came to Denver with a new plan, and his star quarterback immediately decided he wasn’t interested in being a part of it. So McDaniels prepared to move on, and the Broncos were insinuated into the Matt Cassell trade talks before Cassell eventually went to the Chiefs.

When Cutler learned that his wishes were being granted – but behind his back! – he grew furious and demanded a trade. Again. With McDaniels’ best option to replace Cutler off the board, however, the idea no longer seemed as appealing.

Again, McDaniels is no dummy. He knows that Cutler’s a gifted young quarterback who could thrive under an exciting young offensive mind like his, if only he would give him a chance. But as the hostile teleconference of Monday afternoon proved, Cutler’s not willing to do that.

There’s no going back now. Cutler has made it clear not once, not twice, but three times that he does not want to be a Denver Bronco anymore.

When Cutler is traded – and it is ‘when’ at this point – there will be the rending of garments (mostly those with the number six on them) and complaining about a young coach and GM who just traded away their best player. The Broncos offense will have to start over with a new man under center – Chris Simms, or Mark Sanchez, or Matthew Stafford. 2009 will be uglier than 2008 ever was, perhaps the worst season for the Broncos since the AFL years. Fans will call for the heads of McDaniels and Brian Xanders, and all they’ll have through the misery is the knowledge that their hand was forced, and that they did the right thing, cutting loose the crybaby who will never be the kind of leader a quarterback has to be to be truly great.

Football is no different than anything else. You get with the program or you’re gone. Jay Cutler’s as good as gone, because he’s not mature enough to be with any program but his own

A busy, hectic week on all ends kept us from getting new material up, but that’s what the Weekend Fourteener is for – catching up. We’ll return to a semi-regular posting schedule this week with more Rockies content on the way, but for now, the Fourteener.

1. By the time you read this, the Denver Nuggets may no longer be in first place. Pending the result of their game in Sacramento tonight, the Nugs could lose their lead in the Northwest Division to the scorching-hot Utah Jazz. And frankly, it’s deserved, as the magic that seemed to hang over the team after the Chauncey Billups trade has dissolved. Injuries are starting to catch up (Kenyon Martin and Anthony Carter have missed recent games) and the lack of true bench talent this team has is being exposed. Chris Anderson can’t score, JR Smith can’t play defense, Linas Kleiza can’t do anything (we really should have traded this guy when we had the chance), and Carter might be the worst rotation player on any playoff team. Sure, not every player can be a complete player, but there just doesn’t seem to be a great five-player mix on this roster right now. Maybe they’re just in an extended funk, but with the Jazz and Blazers making their move, they need to snap out of it, and fast.

2. Nice to see the Rockies out of their spring training funk with three straight wins. The bats are starting to come around, and now that pitchers are allowed to throw pitches other than fastballs early in counts, they’re starting to have some more success. Franklin Morales threw four scoreless frames on Saturday, and Greg Reynolds followed that with four zeroes of his own in a start on Sunday. It’s good to see the competitors for the fifth starter role having some success.

3. The dramatic portion of the Cutler vs. McDaniels saga appears to have ended for now, as Cutler is expected to meet with the Broncos brass this weekend. But what happens if Jay decides he doesn’t like what he hears? What happens if he decides he really can’t play for a head coach that he doesn’t think wants him? I’m not sure, but if I had to guess I would say that ‘4-and-12’ would be prominently involved.

4. One lousy trade for the Colorado Avalanche at the trading deadline, shipping Jordan Leopold to the Flames in exchange for two nameless defensive prospects and a second-round draft choice. If the contracts for Ryan Smyth and Scott Hannan weren’t so prohibitive in terms of their trade value, they would likely have been gone as well, but the Avs should have done whatever they could to move the pieces that won’t be a part of their next good team. The good news for the Avalanche? They’ll almost surely be one of five teams in the NHL draft lottery to have a chance at the number 1 pick, meaning they could, with a stroke of luck, win the John Tavares sweepstakes. (The 18 year-old just might be the next Joe Sakic.)

5. Nice three-run double by Chris Iannetta for Team USA against Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic on Sunday night. It’s not going to take much to make Iannetta the best catcher in Rockies history – hell, he’s already the best homegrown backstop the franchise has ever come up with – but I don’t think it’s crazy to envision a 25-30 homer season in his future.

6. YouTube video for the weekend: an actual TV commercial that aired in 1990 for the city of Denver’s push for a Major League Baseball team. That site they’re standing on actually ended up being Coors Field, by the way.

7. Let me reiterate a point I made above: the Nuggets should have traded Linas Kleiza when they had the chance. He’s not getting any better as a basketball player. There’s no midrange game, no way of scoring off the dribble, and he’s only mediocre defensively.

8. Air Force men’s basketball – 0-16 in the Mountain West. Ouch, babe. Jeff Bzdelik ain’t walking through that door in the Springs. Unfortunately for Buzz, the door he is walking through doesn’t lead to anything all that much better – his Buffs only won one more conference game than the Zoomies.

9. Taylor Buchholz, out until at least May 1 with an elbow injury. This doesn’t consign the Rockies bullpen to crib death before the season even begins, but the loss of one of their three best relievers does create a hole in the back end, and I’m not sure how comfortable I am with Alan Embree, Jason Grilli, or Ryan Speier filling it. On a positive note, Bucky’s injury leaves room for Juan Morillo, he of the impossibly-fast, ramrod-straight fastball, to make the roster and function like a Rule V pickup a team tries to hide in the back of the bullpen.

10. Denver sports blog you need to be reading of the week: Mile High Hockey, whose takes on the Avalanche are far more frequent and educated than mine. Been a rough year, eh?

11. Link of the week: the new crop of Colorado Rockies commercials, which can be found here.

12. Lamont Jordan, come on down! You’re the next contestant on “Broken Down Free Agent Running Back Derby” at Dove Valley!

13. Remember Marcos Carvajal?

14. And finally, welcome back, Todd Helton. Helton made his spring debut on Sunday, and in his first at bat, slammed a homer to center field off of Padres starter Chris Young. Hit about 20 of those that matter this summer, Todd – which you haven’t done since 2005, I might add – and that’d go a long way towards having a little fun at the corner of 20th and Blake.

Since we can’t get to everything that happens over the course of a single week in Denver sports, the weekend is a time to play catch-up with everything that might have gone under the radar. In honor of the peaks that dot our state’s landscape – and because there will be fourteen points per article – we’ll call it “The Weekend Fourteener.” Enjoy.

1. I’ve racked my brain for the last 24 hours trying to figure out why, exactly, the new Denver Broncos front office is looking to trade Jay Cutler, and I can’t come up with anything that makes sense. Three years in to his career, Cutler’s been to the Pro Bowl and appears to be on a career path that could place him with the elite QBs in the league by the time his prime hits. That’s not good enough for new GM Brian Xanders and coach Josh McDaniels, apparently, who were all set to ship him to Tampa Bay in a three-way deal that would have brought Matt Cassell to Denver. That deal fell through, but the message it sent couldn’t be clearer: Cutler isn’t a McDaniels type-of guy. Now, it depends on which source you’d like to believe, but the prevailing wisdom is that Cutler’s pissed and now wants to be traded. There’s no way to get around it: the relationship between the new coach and his best player has been damaged, perhaps irreparably, before minicamp can even begin. The prediction here is that, for the Broncos, this will get worse before it gets better.

2. Three free agent signings thus far for the Broncos, none of which inspires a great deal of confidence. Brian Dawkins is John Lynch redux: they might be able to squeeze another good year or two out of him, and he’s certainly an upgrade from the dreck the team had at safety last season, but fans expecting vintage ‘Hawk’ will be disappointed. The Donkeys also brought in two running backs, but there’s not a viable starting option among them. JJ Arrington will help the kick return game at least, but Arrington hasn’t looked like anything more than a third running back in his career. And if Correll Buckhalter is the answer, the question must be “How can we make our running back core even more injury prone than it was last year?”

3. The last four games for the Denver Nuggets have been, for lack of a better term, confusing. The Nugs began the week with a 38-point beatdown at the hands of the Celtics, and then followed up by nearly blowing a fourth-quarter lead at home against Atlanta. On Friday night, the Nugs turned up the defensive intensity for the first time in a while and were rewarded with a 90-79 win over the Lakers, a stunning result considering LA’s domination in recent matchups against Denver. Then, on Sunday night, a terrible road loss to Indiana. The Nuggets have to regain the consistent effort, particularly defensively, that they showed back in the season’s first three months, otherwise any current mention of the Nuggets as a playoff threat alongside the likes of Los Angeles and San Antonio is going to seem sadly laughable in retrospect come May.

4. Hey, didn’t you used to be the Colorado Avalanche, one of the proudest and most successful franchises in the NHL? Two hideous road losses in Atlanta and New York by the combined score of 10-1 have sunk the Avs further into the depths of the Western Conference basement. They’ve clearly quit on head coach Tony Granato, and not even the return of Paul Stastny has helped them look any more like a cohesive offensive unit.

5. Nothing matters less than spring training results, but I’d sure like to see the Rockies win one of those Cactus League games soon.

6. Here’s a little YouTube action for you – the broadcast introduction to the last second-round playoff game that the Nuggets played, back in 1994 against the Utah Jazz. It’s posted mostly for the sheer awesomeness of the NBA on NBC theme.

7. Of all the things that have happened this season for the Nuggets, the emergence of Chris Anderson as a viable back-up big man – as in, not only is he not killing the team when he’s on the floor, but he’s contributing defensively as a Marcus Camby-like presence on the blocks while adding some crucial offensive rebounding – has been among the coolest. It’s impossible not to enjoy the whole Birdman experience.

8. On the flip side, there’s the exposure of Anthony Carter of somebody who contributes nothing offensively and badly hurts the team when better players try to take him one-on-one (Joe Johnson just destroyed him in the fourth quarter on Wednesday night).

9. No stat line was more welcome through the first week of spring training than the two perfect innings twirled by Franklin Morales against the Chicago White Sox on Thursday afternoon. If Morales can regain some of the luster that earned him top prospect status coming into 2008, he provides the highest ceiling of any of the back-of-the-rotation candidates the Rockies have.

10. Denver sports blog you need to be reading of the week: The indispensible Purple Row, home to all things Rockies.

11. Link of the week: Rick Reilly’s uplifting story about a child who got to fulfill a lifelong dream by meeting John Elway.

12. The Rockies have already been bitten by the injury bug this spring, with Jeff Baker, Ian Stewart, and Brad Hawpe all missing time with various maladies. There isn’t much for either of these players to be concerned about as far as competition for a roster spot, but in regards to Stewart, I’m wondering if a return to AAA for regular at-bats wouldn’t be a better idea than having him only play twice a week until the inevitable Garrett Atkins trade.

13. Remember Todd Lichti?

14. And finally, goodbye to the Rocky Mountain News. Friday was one of the saddest days in Denver history, as the longest-running paper in the city’s history shut its doors for good. The Rocky had the best sports section in the city when it folded – Tracy Ringolsby and Jack Etkin on the Rockies, Jeff Legwold on the Broncos, and Chris Tomasson on the Nuggets were better than their Post counterparts, and Dave Krieger was the premier columnist. Thankfully, Krieger has already started over at the Post, where he’ll put Woody Paige and Mike Kiszla to shame on a weekly basis, and Ringolsby will appear on pre and post-game coverage of Rockies games on FSN Rocky Mountain. But I have a feeling that the coverage of our local teams won’t feel as complete without two papers competing against each other.

The Colorado Rockies opened their Cactus League season with a 5-3 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks Wednesday afternoon, and although nothing could possibly be less indicative of how a season will transpire than the first game of spring training, I still find myself bothered by the result. The sole reason, of course, is that I really hate losing to the Diamondbacks.

Other than that, of course, there are no conclusions to be drawn – not from Ubaldo Jimenez and Alan Embree’s rough outings (Jimenez gave up three runs, Embree the other two), not from Chris Iannetta throwing out two potential basestealers, and not from an 0-for-3, 2K performance by Ryan Spilborghs. These are the most stress-free boxscores a baseball fan can ever read if they’re taken with the right perspective.

I thought it prudent to celebrate the beginning of the baseball season with the beginning of a new series here at MHCSports: “Blueprint to Contention.” I wanted to call it “Blueprint to a Pennant” but I thought that sounded a little too pie-in-the-sky, even for February. The fact is, the Rockies are in a winnable division, and even if we don’t see a Rocktober redux this season, there is ample opportunity for the Rockies to be playing meaningful September baseball for the second time in three seasons.

Of course, for any team that has aspirations to contender-hood, a lot of things have to go right. Take the 2007 Rockies – they had an MVP caliber season from Matt Holliday, a fabulous debut from Troy Tulowitzki, a bullpen bailout performed by Manny Corpas, and the best year that Kaz Matsui, Willy Taveras, and Jeff Francis are likely to ever have in their careers. Not all of these things seemed probable at this time two years ago, but there were all things that likely would have been fingered as necessities if the Rockies were to do anything of note in 2007.

That’s the point of this “Blueprint in Contention” series. There are things we can pretty safely assume, and even some of those things might be derailed for various reasons. But it’s the factors that don’t seem so certain while still seeming within the realm of possibility that separate a team playing out the string in September to a team making plans for October baseball. This series will explore those factors and try and determine their likelihood.

Our first variable in the Rockies Blueprint for Contention… Ryan Spilborghs as Viable Leadoff Man.

If Ryan Spilborghs can be a capable leadoff hitter, the Rockies lineup can improve by leaps and bounds from last year.

Allow me to be perfectly clear: the number one priority for a leadoff hitter is to get on base with great frequency, thereby giving his team the best chance to score as many runs as possible. Some folks – and apparently Clint Hurdle was one of them, at least last season – believe that you have to have speed at the top of the lineup at any cost. But for all of Taveras’ baserunning exploits, if you’re only getting on base at a .308 clip, you’re killing the offense.

Spilly’s no speed merchant, to be sure. He’s 16-for-23 lifetime in base stealing, so he’s not Bengie Molina or anything, but he’s not likely to threaten 68 steals in ’09. What he will do – what he has shown a predilection for his entire career – is get on base. If Spilborghs can maintain a .360 OBP or higher, this Rockies offense can really go places. If Spilly does a Tim Raines impersonation and edges that OBP up near the .407 it sat at last year, 850 runs is not out of the question. (The team, not Spilly – that’d be a record or something.)

Baseball Prospectus’ PECOTA projection for Spilborghs has him hitting .289/.364/.437, albeit in 202 plate appearances, raising the question of whether or not those numbers would suffer in regular playing time. That notwithstanding, those rates are perfectly acceptable, if not spectacular, for a leadoff man. His power will be an asset as well, considering the potency the Rockies could potentially have at the bottom of their order with hitters like Chris Iannetta, Troy Tulowitzki, Seth Smith, and Clint Barmes (well, he’s potent at home, anyway) figuring to hit in the bottom two lineup slots at certain points.

The biggest reason we’re likely to see an improved Rockies lineup this season is because of an improved presence at the top of the order. Todd Helton, Garrett Atkins, and Brad Hawpe are going to enjoy having a hitter on base ahead of them when they step to the plate. I think Spilborghs is capable of posting numbers at or even slightly above his career rates given 500 AB this year, and although he doesn’t fit the ‘ideal leadoff hitter’ mode, for these Rockies, he’s as ideal as it gets right now. I’d place the odds for this piece of the blueprint falling into place at 75%.

You see a team often enough – and I’m not talking about just one week, or one season, but an entire era – and you start to pick up on things. You see poor shot selection, slow defensive rotations, and a host of turnovers, and it doesn’t take much longer than 8 minutes of basketball to realize, “Uh-oh, this team forgot to give a crap tonight, it’s a good thing ‘24’ is on so I can have something else to watch.”

When the Denver Nuggets have an off night… boy, they sure don’t screw around, do they? A 114-76 loss at home to the defending champion Boston Celtics on Monday night maybe wasn’t the worst performance of the year, and considering the mitigating circumstances – no Nene, limited K-Mart, banged up Melo – a simple loss would have been understandable, if disappointing considering this was supposed to be Denver’s triumphant return home after a good, if not great, 5-3 road trip.

But this wasn’t just a loss. This was a de-pantsing. Denver mailed in this game so egregiously they should have been wearing UPS uniforms just to complete the effect, and Boston, championship team that they are, took full advantage, taking a 60-34 lead at half and never letting off the gas pedal. The Celtics shot an absurd 60.9% (14-23) from three-point land and 49.4% (41-83) from the field, compared to 14.3% (3-21) and 34.7% (25-72) for the Nuggets.

If there was anything positive to come out of tonight’s game, it’s that it’s over. (And, OK, Johan Petro didn’t look terribly lost on defense in his first-half action that I saw, meaning he can probably handle 5-10 minutes a night without murdering the Nugs if George Karl saw fit to give him rotation minutes to spell Martin and Nene. Which he won’t, so the whole point is moot.)

This one was U-G-L-Y in so many ways. Chauncey Billups sleepwalked through the game. JR Smith and Linas Kleiza continued their recent run of crappy basketball. Carmelo Anthony actually played pretty hard for the first quarter, but once the game starting going to pieces around him, he followed the crowd and lost interest.

After two consecutive bad road losses at Chicago and Milwaukee that brought what looked like a season-defining road trip to a screeching halt, there should have been a little bit of pride on the line for the Nuggets tonight. Apparently not.
Now, the Nugs have dropped three straight, and their lead in the Northwest Division is down to one game over Portland. With home contests against Atlanta and the Lakers looming, we can only hope that the Nugs got a little sense smacked into them tonight.

Matt Murton is the newest Colorado Rockie. Could his arrival signal a long-tenured Rockie's departure?

So you’ll just have to trust me when I tell you that not only does this trade matter, and not only could it very well be a precursor of things to come, but it’s got the potential to be a real steal for the Rockies.

First, a word on Wimberley. The 24-year old has a career .312/.378/.372 line in 1,376 AB over four levels of the minor leagues. He was drafted out of Alcorn State in the sixth round in 2005 and stole 36 bases in 67 games with rookie-level Casper, batting .381. Since then, Wimberley’s minor league career has shown him to be a speedster (181 steals, including a Texas League-leading 59 last year, with a 77% success rate) with no power whatsoever (only seven career home runs and 62 extra-base hits). He batted .291/.370/.345 at AA Tulsa last year, but he was repeating the level after a .268/.323/.348 line in 2007. His speed is truly his only plus attribute, as he has shown defensive shortcomings all over the diamond. You’ll find him as the 26th rated prospect in the Rockies section of the 2009 Baseball America Prospect Handbook. If there’s a big league future for Wimberley, it’s as a 25th man who gets enough infield hits to sustain a .265-.270 average and makes a lot of pinch-running appearances – and he has to improve his defense if he hopes to get there. Though he’s an exciting player, he’s not a big loss.

Murton, on the other hand, had a very underwhelming 2008 himself. He hit just .186/.219/.229 in 70 AB split between the Chicago Cubs and Oakland. He was part of the trade that sent Rich Harden to Chicago, and at the time, it looked like the freedom Murton needed after having been crowded out of the Cubs outfield picture. But Murton went 3-for-30 in green and gold and quickly proved himself to be just as redundant as an Athletic as he was as a Cub.

As far as the Rockies are concerned, Murton’s not a redundancy, but a part that could fill a very real hole on the big league roster. I have been campaigning for the Rockies to pick up a right-handed hitting outfielder since I suggested they make a play for Rocco Baldelli in this earlier post on this blog. Aside from Ryan Spilborghs, the presumed Opening Day center field, the Rockies are void of righty swingers in the outfield. Brad Hawpe, Seth Smith, Carlos Gonzalez and Scott Podsednik all hit lefty, and Dexter Fowler is a switch hitter. Ian Stewart, who is expected to see some time in left field this year with Garrett Atkins occupying the hot corner, is a lefty, too. This is precisely where Murton comes in. He’s a corner outfielder with a lifetime .311/.382/.484 line against southpaws. That’s no small sample size, either – that’s 322 AB in 157 games, about a season’s worth of work. Before the Cubs crowded him out of their outfield, Murton looked like a legit big league hitter, batting .296/.367/.455 with 28 homers in 830 AB over three seasons with the Cubs. But only one of those seasons – 2006, in which he hit .297/.365/.444 with 13 homers in 455 AB – was a true full-season opportunity.

Given a chance, Murton can swing the bat. And a move to Coors Field sure won’t hurt him, either. The Rockies need Murton’s power from the right side because somebody’s got to give Hawpe or Smith the day off in the corners against a left-handed pitcher.

But, as you can see above, there’s a logjam in that Rockies outfield. Hawpe and Spilly are entrenched, but that’s about it. Smith deserves a shot in left, Podsednik figures to make the team as the best defensive option in center field and a good pinch-running option, and then there’s Stewart, who will be one of the five-best hitters on this Rockies team provided he gets his at-bats. If the only place for these at-bats is left field, then that’s five outfielders, and no room at the inn for Murton.

Except, what if that’s not where the Rockies are planning to play Stewart in 2009?

When defense is factored in, Stewart projects to be a better option at third base than Garrett Atkins, right now, and into the future. With Todd Helton expected to be ready for Opening Day, Atkins’s role as a security measure at first base is no longer necessary. And with Jeff Francis having set a drop-dead date for potential surgery on his left shoulder that would cost him much of the 2009 season, the Rockies could use an extra starting pitcher. See where I’m going with this?

Today’s trade may appear to be insignificant on its surface. But it’s not. For one, Murton can hit. For two, the Rockies need a right-handed hitting outfielder who can hit lefties, and Murton is exactly that, so they need him on the big club. And thirdly, to make room for him in the outfield picture, they have to remove Ian Stewart from that picture. And the only way to do that is to trade Garrett Atkins for a starting pitcher. And I believe that the seeds have been planted for such a move with the trade for Murton today.

Nuggets and Spurs’ fans were supposed to be treated to a contest between two of the top three teams in the Western Conference Tuesday. While those two teams were indeed on the floor at the Pepsi Center this evening, the game was absent its most recognizable stars. In what was a perplexing coaching decision by Greg Popovich, the Spurs played without the services of their three best players. Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker and Tim Duncan all missed the game for various reasons. Ginobili’s absence was not surprising given his hard fall to the floor Monday night in the team’s overtime victory against Golden State. He was officially out with a bruised hip. What was shocking was Popovich’s decision to sit both Parker and Duncan considering both players aren’t known to be battling any known ailments. The Spurs starting five consisted of George Hill, Roger Mason, Matt Bonner, Bruce Bowen and the prehistoric Kurt Thomas. His team is in the middle of an eight game road trip and it did play an extra five minutes in its win over Golden State late Monday night, but the Spurs next game isn’t until Sunday in Boston. I almost didn’t want to believe ‘Pop’ was serious about sitting Parker and Duncan. I kept peeking at their bench waiting for the two guys to get up but it never happened. It was certainly an interesting decision by the Spurs highly respected head coach to say the least.

The Nuggets were not without their absences either. Kenyon Martin was not in the arena on this night due to strep throat. Chauncey Billups was essentially a non-factor as well after getting in early foul trouble and then spraining his ankle toward the end of the first half. He did not return in the second half and was 1-5 from the field in 18 first half minutes.

The Nuggets caught a break on Tuesday when Spurs coach Greg Popovich decided to rest Tim Duncan and Tony Parker. (AP)

The two remaining units on the floor included a bunch of role players for San Antonio against a Denver squad that threw out Carmelo Anthony, Nene, J.R. Smith and Linas Kleiza. One would figure that unit would have more than enough firepower to outclass the Spurs over the course of a 48 minute contest. Not so fast. The bottom line is the Spurs just know how to play. Regardless of the names of the players on the court, Greg Popovich always has that team prepared to play. The Nuggets struggled to put the Spurs away. Every time Denver appeared to game the game by the throat, the Spurs clawed back. I don’t want to give San Antonio all the credit, as Denver was as big of a participant in their success as the Spurs themselves throughout the game. Seemingly every time the Nuggets gained an 10-15 point lead, they would go five possessions without a field goal because of turnovers or poor shot selection.

The Nuggets also, incredibly enough, seem to be completely ignorant to their opponent’s strengths. Instead of pushing the pace and upping the tempo against an undermanned Spurs squad, the Nuggets were passive in transition and didn’t attack the basket with much regularity at all. The poor scouting report wasn’t limited to the offensive side of the ball. Defensively, Denver allowed a jump shooting Spurs team to constantly get open looks on the perimeter, particularly Roger Mason – one of the NBA’s best three-point artists – who had 26 points on 5-10 from deep.

Despite their static offense and unintelligent defense, Denver did find away to win the game. Carmelo Anthony was efficient on the offensive end of the court, scoring 35 points on 10-17 shooting. Melo was also a highly efficient 14-15 from the foul line. Other than his offensive contribution however, Melo was rather useless on defense and the same can be said for J.R. Smith who had an awful night. Nene was effective once again. The Brazilian had 17 points, 11 boards and 5 blocks. The Nuggets also got nice contributions from LK and Chris Andersen. Birdman had 11 points and 5 blocks.

In the end, the Nuggets did enough to win on Tuesday in what turned out to be a disappointing matchup between two teams who were incredibly shorthanded, particularly San Antonio. I was really pumped for this game and it was sad to not have the big guns for each team out there going at one another. It wasn’t a pretty performance by the Nuggets by any stretch of the imagination but once again they did enough to win a game they should have. Give the Spurs credit too, they kept a game competitive that they really had no business being in.

THE BIRDMANS, BALKMANS AND OTHER OBSERVATIONS

• Color me confused as to why Chris Andersen, after such an effective first half, received little to no playing time in the second 24 minutes. The Nuggets could’ve sure used his energy when the Spurs were outworking the Nuggets in the third quarter.
• Chauncey Billups’ ankle injury didn’t appear to be too serious although I doubt he plays tomorrow. If anyone needed a reminder as to exactly how valuable Chauncey is to this team, tonight served notice. Anthony Carter, God bless him, is just a mediocre floor general at best. AC had 7 turnovers and made numerous bad decisions in transition and in the half court. To be fair, however, AC was generous with 9 assists and he did score 10 points in his 40 minutes. Please hurry back though, Chauncey.
• It was nice to see Renaldo Balkman get some run in the absence of Kenyon Martin tonight. Balkman’s numbers in 18 minutes don’t jump off the stat sheet, but he’s the consummate “don’t judge him by the numbers” type of guy. His relentless hustle on defense is something all the Nuggets could take a cue from.
• Every time Nuggets’ fans are hopeful J.R. Smith will leave his bad days where his head seems as though it’s on Pluto behind him, he throws up a dud like tonight. J.R. looked downright lost out there on the court. His defense was passive, he turned the ball over and was 1-10 from the field. J.R. is enigmatic as ever.
• Just out of curiosity, why does Melo never post up anymore? He knows he’s 6′8″ right?
• The Nuggets now embark on an eight game road trip of their own. They will face Oklahoma City, Washington, New Jersey, Miami, Orlando, Philadelphia, Chicago and Milwaukee. On the face, those opponents aren’t daunting, but funny things can happen on long road trips. Only Miami and Orlando have winning records as of this writing. In the past, a .500 record would be acceptable for a trip of this length for the Nuggets, but the bar needs to be raised this season given the team’s success and stated goal of reaching 40 victories before 20 losses. 5-3 would be good, 6-2 would be great and anything better would be amazing.

With his fingers taped, as seen above, to help with a still healing hand Melo poured in 19 and five assists as the Nuggets easily defeated the Bobcats Friday night. Now the real test begins with a crazy tough February. (Assocaitate Press photo.)

Carmelo Anthony may not be an All-Star in the eyes of NBA coaches, but he showed the home crowd he was worthy in his first game back after missing a 10 game stretch.

The Nuggets easily defeated a scary Charlotte Bobcats team 110-99, in a game that wasn’t as close as the score might suggest.

The should-have been All-Star dropped 19 points and dished out five assists. Melo’s hand appeared to be a non issue as he scored inside, outside and distributed to teammates all over the floor. It wasn’t a spectacular performance, but it was just what fans have come to expect of the new and improved Anthony. He had help, of course, with Nene pouring in 22 and 12 boards and Linas Kleiza had 21 points off the pine.

And the unsung hero was Chris Andersen with 6 points, 6 boards and 4 blocks in just 19 minutes.  

Anthony was snubbed by coaches on Thursday in favor of the likes of Shaq, who doesn’t even play every night, and David West. But if Friday’s performance from Melo was any indication, he couldn’t care less, which is just further confirmation that Melo isn’t anywhere near the same person or player.

The old Melo would have let Thursday’s news get to him. It may not have affected his play, but it certainly would have influenced his mood and demeanor. The new Melo takes the news in stride and is too focussed on his team’s efforts and goals to get distracted with something as petty as an All-Star selection.

George Karl has been waiting — some times not-so-patiently – for Melo to mature and be a leader. His wait appears to be over.

Now that Karl doesn’t have to worry about Melo as much, perhaps he’ll have more time to reconsider his late-game strategy during blowout games. Starting big men Nene and Kenyon Martin are already playing more minutes than ever before, yes Karl continues to play one or both of them late into games that are already decided.

K-Mart took virtually the entire fourth quarter off on Friday, which I’m sure he enjoyed, but Karl had the chance to do the same with Nene, but instead decided to bring him back into the game with about eight minutes remaining and a comfortable double-digit lead. Maybe Johan Petro and Renaldo Balkman kick babies or something, but unless that’s true, there’s not a legitimate reason I can think of for not playing one of them in that situation.

The Nuggets are winning so it’s tough to question the decisions of the coaching staff, but Martin and Nene need to be healthy and ready to make a playoff run if the Nuggets want to have any kind of a chance come May and June. Minutes here and there in February and March could go a long way for both of them. Not to mention Karl wouldn’t be able to live with himself if Nene rolled an ankle with two minutes left and an 18 point lead and missed a few weeks.

Getting back to Friday’s win over the Bobcats, this win was a great team effort. The Nuggets played excellent defense in the first half and they weren’t hurt by there typical offensive lull. Had Charlotte been able to make a run in the third quarter instead of trading spaced-out blows with Denver, it’s an entirely different ball game in the fourth quarter.

As Melo has changed, so have the Nuggets. The old Nuggets would not have clamped down defensively to keep an opponent at bay. And play like that will have to continue as Denver heads into the toughest month any NBA team will face this season. With only four home games in the month of February, against the likes of Spurs, Celtics, Hawks and Lakers, the Nuggets have a make or break stretch ahead of them.