Last year, they were one bad series from the world championship. With their potent offense back and perhaps gettign better, can the Rockies go all the way?

The 2007 Colorado Rockies were a huge surprise and a great late-season story.

On September 15th, 2007, they were six-and-a-half games out of first place and were almost an afterthought in the tight National League wild card race. But then they got very hot, and won 13 of their last 14 regular season games. After 162 games, they were in a dead heat for the Wild Card with the San Diego Padres, which set up a one game playoff on Monday, October 1, 2007.

The game lasted 13 hellish innings, and finally ended with Matt Holliday sliding home (safely?) on a sacrifice fly to win the game and get the Rockies back in the playoffs for the first time in twelve years.

The team also made a a great run through the playoffs before getting pummelled by the Boston Red Sox in a World Series sweep. This year, the Rockies are looking to go one step further. But they may be limited by a mediocre pitching staff.

2007 Regular Season: 90-73, NL wild-card winner

NLDS: Swept Phillies: 3 games to 0

NLCS: Swept Diamondbacks: 4 games to 0

World Series: Swept by Red Sox 4 games to 0

Key New Arrivals: 2B Marcus Giles (signed a free agent deal), OF Scott Podsednik (free agent, RHP Josh Towers (free agent), RHP Luis Vizcaino (free agent), LHP Kip Wells (free agent).

Biggest Offseason Acquisition

Luis Vizcaino, who bounced around as a middle reliever for the Yankees and Diamondbacks over the past two seasons, will replace LaTroy Hawkins as the set-up man. Coincidentally, Hawkins signed his own deal with the Yankees and will fight with Kyle Farnsworth for the set-up job in New York. In his last two seasons, Vizcaino proved that he could handle a heavy load, pitching an average of 73 games in '06 and '07. He can handle the load, but can he keep his ERA under 4.00?

Gone But Not Forgotten

The Rockies acquired second baseman Kazuo Matsui on the cheap ($1.5 million) after the former Japanese star sputtered with the Mets. But he lived up to his billing for the Rockies with some clutch hits in the postseason (including a back-breaking home run against the Phillies in the NLDS), and parlayed that into a three-year, $16.5 million deal with the Houston Astros.

So who fills in?

The Rockies also lost backup second baseman Jamey Carroll, and are looking at a lot of different options at second, but the leading candidate entering spring training is Jayson Nix. He'll be challenged by former shortstop Clint Barmes, Omar Quintanilla, and former Padres and Braves second baseman Marcus Giles.

A Potent Offense Returns to Coors Field

The 2007 Rockies could really hit. They led the National League in batting average (.280), hits, and on-base percentage. They finished second in runs scored, walks and RBI, and ended up fourth in slugging percentage. Their biggest weapon, of course, was MVP runner-up Matt Holliday who hit .340 with 36 home runs and 137 RBI. Supporting him are a trio of veteran hitters who will keep the wheels in motion through the long hot season.

The first is Brad Hawpe. A relatively unknown player outside of Denver before the 2007 season, Hawpe came into his own last season, batting .291 with 29 home runs and 116 RBI. Third baseman Garrett Atkins is also back after agreeing to a one-year, $4.375 million deal during the offseason, and he will bring a bat to camp that was tremendous last year: Atkins hit .301 with 25 homers and 111 RBI.

The most seasoned, but least powerful, of the three is Todd Helton. Sure, gone are the insane days when Helton hit like Rogers Hornsby, but this guy is still one hell of a good fourth (or even fifth) hitting option. Look at his numbers from last year: he hit .320 with 42 doubles, 17 home runs and 91 runs scored. He also had an OBP of .434. Do that for twelve or thirteen years and Cooperstown might someday give you a call. The point is, even in his post-Ruthian state, Todd Helton is still a damn good guy to have in your lineup.

For purposes of this review, Troy Tulowitzki is in a class by himself. He sure looked like a big-time player in 2007, almost winning the Rookie of the Year award with his .291 average, 24 homers, and 99 RBI. The kid who holds Derek Jeter as his hero was actually a better player after the All-Star break than the Yankee shortstop. He’s got all of the tools, even some decent speed.

But it’s still too early to, as Bill Parcells once said so creepily, “break out the anointing oils” for Tulowitzki. He will need to avoid the dreaded sophomore slump before he belongs in the pantheon of today’s top shortstops. He sure does look like he will be great, though. Right?

With that much pop, it will be good to have a player like Willy Taveras leading things off. He missed games because of injuries last year, but when he played, he was the perfect leadoff man. He batted .320, stole 33 bases and scored 64 runs in only 97 games. He also led the league in bunt base hits with 31. In short, this guy is a speedster who is hell bent on getting on, getting over and getting in. Assuming he’s heathier this year, Willy can top a .300 BA, 100 runs and 50 steals. And if he does, the Rockies should lead the league in scoring.

The Rockies Pitching is Questionable

This is, as always, a mess. Not just for the Rockies, but for all of baseball. Putting together a pitching staff is always an adventure. Should the team rely on the old veterans one more time? Trust the rookie in camp who's throwing 95 MPH but with questionable control? Or how about trying to figure out which year it is for your one or two every-other-year guys?

You also must anticipate injuries. You must be mindul of the tenderness of young pitching arms. You must coerce, command, cajole and godammit, pray, pray, pray for somebody to step up.

The staff will rely heavily on last year’s ace, Jeff Francis, a seventeen game winner with a 4.22 ERA last year. He also increased in strikeouts by fifty last year, and lowered his walks, both good signs for a 27-year old starter. He is s olid foundation, but after that, things gets sketchy.

Aaron Cook has been mediocre at best in his two years as a starter. Third man Ubaldo Jimenez throws hard, very hard. But he's still unpolished and has just 17 career appearances. After that it's Kip Wells, a guy whose promise has never been fulfilled at the big league level, and the last spot will be open to Franklin Morales, Mark Redman, and Jason Hirsch.

If the Rockies are going to be tough this year, they will need at least two of the guys (after Francis) to produce. Their bullpen is full of questions, too, one of which can be solved by Vizcaino. The rest?

Rockies fans will just have to wait and see.

Season prediction: 84-78 (Third Place)

_______________________

2008 Philadelphia Phillies Season Preview

2008 Chicago Cubs Season Preview

2008 New York Mets Season Preview

2008 Arizona Diamondbacks Preview

2008 Los Angeles Dodgers Preview