Brad Hawpe News

The Rockies' outfield is crowded with talent. The emergence of Carlos Gonzalez, Dexter Fowler and Seth Smith has made all-star Brad Hawpe expendable.

There should be no real big changes in the Colorado Rockies coming off a charge into the 2009 playoffs, the principal owners of the club said this week.

Jayson Werth knew his purpose all season, as did his manager, teammates, and the public.

This week, I suspect, the Rockies will give general manager Dan O'Dowd and manager Jim Tracy new contracts.

If the Rockies weren't so fixated on next year, they might still be playing Baseball this year.

Jimmy Rollins danced around at shortstop while trying to keep from freezing. Jason Hammel blew on his pitching hand in an attempt to restore some kind of feeling.

The game entered the ninth tied, 5-5, after Chad Durbin drew three ground-ball outs.

From left, Dexter Fowler, Yorvit Torrealba and Carlos Gonzalez were among the Rockies getting the last laugh when the team made the NL playoffs after an 18-28 start.

When Troy Tulowitzki struck out on that nasty slider from Brad Lidge, the Colorado Rockiesa TM offseason officially began.

Greetings from Coors Field, where an hour before first pitch the temperature is a balmy 35.1 degrees, according to WeatherBug.com's tracking station at the stadium.

Seth Smith With their season teetering on the edge of the cliff, manager Jim Tracy is tweaking his lineup today.s He will start Seth Smith in left field and hit him seventh, the latest evidence of how far Brad Hawpe has fallen on the depth chart.

Cliff Lee has heard the horror stories from other pitchers about breaking balls that don't break in the mile-high altitude at Coors Field.

Outfielder Brad Hawpe and righthander Jason Marquis, Colorado's representatives at the All-Star Game this season, are expected to spend the remainder of the National League division series in minor roles.

Todd Helton is the Rockies. For more than a decade, he has achieved a level of consistency and durability no other Colorado player has ever equaled.

By the time Cliff Lee closed his summer campaign, the former Cy Young winner's situation resembled that of the woman in the Seinfeld episode who looked super one day, scary the next.

In attempts to rekindle some April magic against Philadelphia's Cole Hamels, the Rockies juggled their lineup to a degree for Game 2 of the NLDS against the Phillies on Thursday.

The weather in Philadelphia, however, did not.A Damn that crap was nasty. When I saw the flags doing that during pre-game, I predicted there would be at least two Brad Hawpe misplays in right field.A Hawpe obliged with one .A But it's Carlos Gonzalez who stole Hawpe's defensive blunder thunder with this complete mess in the 6th inning.

Neither the hitter-friendly dimensions of Coors Field nor a tender left hamstring bothered Freddy Garcia.

It's fitting that for the Rockies' wild ride this season, they'll be rewarded as the Wild Card in the National League.

Colorado Rockies catcher Chris Iannetta and right fielder Brad Hawpe celebrate in the clubhouse at Coors Field in Denver on October 1, 2009.