It will be interesting to see what manager Jim Tracy does for an encore in 2010. After all he won the N.L. Manager of the Year Award last season after leading the Rockies to a 74-42 (63.8%) record. Tracy has a career record of 636-614 (50.9%) in his 8 years as a major league manager. Tracy is going to have even more weapons to use with Jeff Francis and Taylor Buchholz back from injury.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE MANAGER IN 2010: A

The Rockies have a talented bullpen that’s got good righty/lefty balance. 26-year old righty Huston Street came over a couple of winters ago in the Matt Holliday trade with the A’s and he was solid in his first year with the Rockies. Street pitched in 64 games (0 starts) for the Rockies last season in which he was 4-1 with 35 saves, a 3.06 ERA and a 0.91 WHIP. Street only gave up 43 hits in 61 2/3 innings last season while whiffing 70 batters showing how well he pitched. Street has now pitched in 311 games (0 starts) in his major league career and he is 25-13 with 129 saves, a 2.91 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP. Street will likely miss the first couple of weeks of the 2010 season due to injury but he will be effective when he gets healthy.

34-year old righty Rafael Betancourt really pitched well for the Rockies last season after coming over from the Tribe. He pitched in 32 games (0 starts) for the Rockies last season and he was 3-1 with 1 save, a 1.78 ERA and a 0.87 WHIP. Overall with the Indians & Rockies last season Betancourt pitched in 61 games (0 starts) in which he was 4-3 with 2 saves, a 2.73 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP. He only gave up 42 hits in 56 innings last season while whiffing 61 batters showing how nasty he can be. Even with Street out of action for a couple of weeks, Betancourt will serve as the Rockies’ top set-up man.

24-year old lefty Franklin Morales will be the closer until Huston Street is ready to return to action. Morales pitched in 40 games (2 starts) in which he was 3-2 with 7 saves, a 4.50 ERA and a 1.53 WHIP. He whiffed 41 batters in only 40 innings so he has really good stuff but he walked 23 batters and he needs to cut down on that total in 2010.

28-year old righty Taylor Buchholz missed all of last season but he is back for 2010. Buchholz pitched in 63 games (0 starts) in 2008 for the Rockies and he was 6-6 with 1 save, a 2.17 ERA and a 0.95 WHIP. Buchholz only gave up 45 hits in 66 1/3 innings in 2008 for the Rockies, so if he is healthy he will help them in 2010.

32-year old lefty Joe Beimel will be the #2 lefty for the Rockies in 2010. He pitched in 26 games (0 starts) for the Rockies last season and he was 0-1 with a 4.02 ERA and a 1.47 WHIP. Overall with the Nationals & Rockies, Beimel pitched in 71 games (0 starts) last season in which he was 1-6 with 1 save, a 3.58 ERA and a 1.37 WHIP.

27-year old righty Manny Corpas used to be the closer for the Rockies but he has fallen on hard times. He pitched in 35 games (0 starts) for the Rockies last season and he was 1-3 with 1 save, a 5.88 ERA and a 1.52 WHIP. In his four years for the Rockies, Corpas has pitched in 224 games (0 starts) in which he was 9-11 with 24 saves, a 3.74 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP. If Corpas doesn’t rebound in 2010 he won’t likely be with them much longer.

36-year old righty Justin Speier was a decent pitcher not too long ago so the Rockies will give him a chance to revive his career. Speier pitched in 41 games (0 starts) for the Angels last season in which he was 4-2 with a 5.18 ERA and a 1.48 WHIP. He’s better than that.

34-year old lefty Randy Flores will be the Rockies’ #3 lefty if he makes the team. Flores pitched in 27 games (0 starts) for the Rockies last season and he was 0-1 with a 5.25 ERA and a 1.33 WHIP. Even if Flores does make the staff it would likely be as nothing more than a situational lefty.

31-year old righty Juan Rincon is back for 2010 despite looking awful for the Rockies last year. Rincon pitched in 26 games (0 starts) for the Rockies last season and he was 3-2 with a 7.52 ERA and a 1.44 WHIP. He pitched in 33 games (0 starts) overall last season with the Rockies & Tigers in which he was 4-2 with a 6.87 ERA and a 1.53 WHIP.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE BULLPEN IN 2010: B+

The Rockies rotation looks pretty solid despite the fact that they only have 1 starter (Aaron Cook-31) in the projected rotation over 30 years old. 26-year old righty Ubaldo Jimenez has the stuff to be a ace for the Rockies if he just tightens up his control a little bit. Jimenez started 33 games for the Rockies last season and he was 15-12 with a 3.47 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP. He only allowed 183 hits in 218 innings while whiffing 198 batters which shows how nasty his stuff is. But, he walked 85 batters also last season and that sometimes got him into some trouble. I look for Jimenez to be the ace of the Rockies winning at least 17 games with 200+ strikeouts in 2010 if he stays healthy all year long.

31-year old righty Aaron Cook is the cagey veteran of the staff. He started 27 games for the Rockies last season and he was 11-6 with a 4.16 ERA and a 1.41 WHIP. Cook is the kind of pitcher who will likely win 13-15 games and give the Rockies a lot of innings if he can stay healthy. Stuff-wise, Cook would likely be the Rockies’ #5 starter but he definitely knows how to pitch which moves him up in the pecking order.

28-year old Jorge De La Rosa had a true breakout year in 2009. He pitched in 33 games (32 starts) for the Rockies last season in which he was 16-9 with a 4.38 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP. De La Rosa only gave up 172 hits in 185 innings for the Rockies last season and he whiffed 193 batters showing what kind of stuff he has. But, he walked 83 batters which usually got him into a lot of trouble. If he fixes his control problems the sky is the limit for the lefty with the electric stuff.

29-year old Jeff Francis missed all of last season due to injury. He has pitched in 130 games (all starts) in his five years with the Rockies and he is 51-44 with a 4.74 ERA and a 1.44 WHIP. If Francis can stay healthy the Rockies will be even better in 2010 as he was just coming into his own when he got injured. Having a healthy Jeff Francis will give the Rockies a nice lefty/righty balance in the starting rotation.

27-year old righty Jason Hammel was a solid starting pitcher for the Rockies last season. Hammel pitched in 34 games (30 starts) for the Rockies last season and he was 10-8 with a 4.33 ERA and a 1.39 WHIP. Hammel will be one of the best #5 starters in the National League in 2010 as the Rockies have great depth in the starting rotation.

22-year old righty Jhoulys Chacin is the Rockies’ #4 rated prospect heading into this season according to Baseball America. He will likely be the first pitcher called up in the Rockies’ need a starting pitcher unless he makes the bullpen out of spring training. Chacin pitched in 9 games (1 start) for the Rockies last season and he was 0-1 with a 4.91 ERA and a 1.55 WHIP. Chacin pitched in 22 games (all starts) in AA+AAA ball last season in which he was 9-8 with a 3.21 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP. In his four years in the minors this season he has worked in 78 games (77 starts) in which he is 37-17 with a 2.47 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP. Chacin doesn’t have much left to show in the minors so he will be with the Rockies in some capacity at some point in 2010.

32-year old righty Tim Redding will likely be the long man in the bullpen but he could win a job in the starting rotation if needed. Redding pitched in 30 games (17 starts) for the Mets last season in which he was 3-6 with a 5.10 ERA and a 1.43 WHIP. The Rockies have a lot of depth for the starting rotation in 2010 with Redding in the fold.

26-year old lefty Greg Smith had a terrible first year with the Rockies but he still has potential. He pitched in 11 games (all starts) in A+AA+AAA ball last season in which he was 2-3 with a 6.57 ERA and a 1.48 WHIP. Smith pitched with the A’s in 2008 as a rookie in which he worked in 32 games (all starts) in which he was 7-16 with a 4.16 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP so there still is hope for him.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE STARTING ROTATION IN 2010: B+

30-year old righty swinging Brad Hawpe will be the starting RF once again in 2010 for the Rockies. Hawpe played in 145 games for the Rockies last season and he was 143 of 501 (.285 avg, .903 OPS) with 82 runs scored, 23 homers and 86 RBIs. Expect Hawpe to at least put up the same numbers as he did in 2009 for the Rockies in 2010. He made 5 errors in 141 games in RF for the Rockies last season while showing poor range. He only had 4 assists in RF which is not too many.

30-year old righty swinging Ryan Spilborghs will likely be Hawpe’s replacement late in games for defensive purposes. He played in 37 games in RF for the Rockies last season and he only made 1 error while showing poor range. He only had 1 assist in RF last season so he doesn’t really have the arm for the position.

27-year old lefty swinging Seth Smith could get some time in RF this season even though he didn’t play there at all in 2009.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE RF IN 2010: C+

The Rockies hope that 23-year old switch hitting Dexter Fowler grabs the full time gig in CF for them in 2010. Fowler played in 135 games for the Rockies last season and he was 115 of 433 (.266 avg, .770 OPS) with 73 runs scored, 4 homers, 34 RBIs and 27 stolen bases. Fowler definitely had the speed to steal 40+ bases in a season if he can hit enough. Fowler played in 127 games in CF for the Rockies last season and he made 4 errors while showing poor range. Fowler does have a good throwing arm as he had 5 assists in CF last year. With his speed, the Rockies expect Fowler to improve on defense in 2010.

30-year old righty swinging Ryan Spilborghs played in 133 games for the Rockies last season and he was 85 of 352 (.241 avg, .705 OPS) with 55 runs scored, 8 homers, 48 RBIs and 9 stolen bases. The Rockies expect Spilborghs to rebound with the bat in 2010 as he has a career batting average of .281 with a .793 OPS in 387 games in the show. Spilborghs made 2 errors in 16 games in CF for the Rockies last season while showing slightly below average range. He did have 2 assists in CF so he has a strong arm.

24-year old lefty swinging Carlos Gonzalez will likely be the Rockies’ starting LF in 2010. He played in 43 games in CF for the Rockies last seaosn and he made 2 errors there while showing below average range. Gonzalez had 3 assists in CF for the Rockies last season showing a decent throwing arm.

24-year old switch hitting Eric Young could also get some P.T. in CF for the Rockies in 2010. He played in 5 games in CF last season for the Rockies and he didn’t make any errors while showing poor range. Look for Young to improve in CF defensively because of his speed.

PROJECTED GRADE IN CF FOR 2010: B-