"WhiteFanposts Fanshots Sections Scaling the RocksPebble ReportRockpileRockies Game ThreadsRockies Fan ExperienceRockies State of the PositionRockies fans have less and less to complain about with team ownershipNew Rickey Henderson Jersey ,45commentsDick and Charlie Monfort are closer to model owners than the cheap owner stereotypeMSTShareTweetShareShareRockies fans have less and less to complain about with team ownershipIt’s been a slow offseason. Prognosticators are saying that the free agent market that has handed out $1.251 billion dollars worth of contracts over 87 years (resulting in a lower raw total than projected but a higher average annual value) will result in the players going on strike when the collective bargaining agreement expires after the 2021 season. From perspective of public perception, it’s not a good time to be an owner (and it may be immoral to side with them, apparently).Well, unless you’re talking about the Colorado Rockies. In fact, if you’re a fan of the Rockies, you’re rapidly running out of things about which to complain as it relates to ownership. For the longest time, everyone had an opinion on Rockies owners Dick and Charlie Monfort, and thanks to some non-competitive teams, some alleged meddling with the on-field product, and some unfortunate emails, very few of those opinions were positive. Now that the team is experiencing a sort of golden age, it’s passed time to reevaluate our opinion of the Monforts.One thing that the Monforts have understood better than most is that they aren’t just selling an on-field product, but an in-stadium experience as well. For all of the completely hilarious Party Deck jokes, Coors Field was among the first stadiums in the league to feature such an area that can now be found the league. Last season the scoreboard in left field got a much-needed upgrade. And construction on a “mixed-entertainment district” in the former West Lot near the stadium began in the fall, promising, among other things, a Rockies Hall of Fame. The Monforts have always done what it takes to keep Coors Field one of the crown jewels of Major League Baseball (unlike some owners who look at an 18-year-old stadium and decide to move to the ‘burbs).They haven’t been content to just spend money on the stadium. Since bottoming out at $73.9 million in 2013, the Opening Day payroll has set record highs each of the past five years, with this year’s projected $143 million projected to set another record. As young players have developed, the team has shown a willingness to supplement the homegrown talent with free agent contracts. They haven’t gone on a Steinbrenner-esque spree by any means, but they have run a payroll above league average for two years now and were one of a handful of teams to devote more than half their revenue to the on-field product. Not bad for a team with the 17th biggest US media market in MLB.What has set the Rockies apart is not the money they spend to bring in players, but the money they spend to keep the players fans love most. In 2001 http://www.padresfanproshop.com/authentic-brad-hand-jersey , they signed Todd Helton to a nine-year extension that was the fourth biggest contract in baseball at the time. Nine years later, they signed Troy Tulowitzki to a seven-year extension, which was the eighth biggest in baseball at the time, and gave Carlos Gonzalez a seven-year deal of his own. Last season they gave fan favorite and reigning batting champ Charlie Blackmon a six-year extension. And, of course, everyone is still basking in the glow of inking Nolan Arenado to an eight-year extension just this week, the richest by average annual value in baseball history. As Jeff Bridich said at the press conference announcing Nolan’s extension,That kind of culture of commitment can only happen when you have the support of an ownership group.Oh, and the team has averaged 88 wins over the last two years, so all of these positives have also been accompanied by winning baseball.So we have owners who spend money to create a memorable in-stadium experience and are willing to bring in free agents to supplement a roster built around home-grown talent, which has historically included signing the best and most beloved players on the team to long-term extensions to keep them in purple pinstripes.It’s understandable if the ownership lost your trust in the down years. But it’s high time to recognize that the Monforts are among the best owners in baseball. We move from the mount to the plate and start our look at the position player non-roster invitees."Abraham AlmonteOne of the more experienced non-roster invitees, Almonte has played 352 games over six seasons in the majors. Most of those were for Cleveland, but he has been quite nomadic, also appearing for Seattle, San Diego and Kansas City, after originally being a Yankees’ prospect. The results haven’t been there though, with an OPS+ of just 71 over the last three years, and overall bWAR of 0.1 in 186 games. However, he is generally seen as been good defensively - though we already have Socrates Brito and Jarrod Dyson, if we want all glove and no bat outfielders. He’s a recovering alcoholic, having turned to drink after the death of his father, then his addiction was exacerbated by a shoulder injury in 2010 and the resulting time off. He said Cory Spangenberg Jersey , “People think they can control it. They think everything is fine. But one day you find out that you’re not. You’re just lying to yourself. For months. For years. Then, when you find out, you have two choices: You change and do better, or you just keep doing it, keep lying to yourself, keep killing yourself.” Almonte changed, giving up the booze - but was suspended for 80 games in February 2016, after testing positive for the steroid Boldenone. Juniel QuerecutoAn 80 baseball name, the 26-year-old Venezuelan infielder was a Rays prospect, making his MLB debut for them as a September call-up in 2016. His father, Juan, was a veteran of the game at home, playing 13 seasons for the Cardenales de Lara. He spent 2017 in AAA with the Giants, before signing for Arizona that winter. Last year, he split time between AA Jackson and AAA Reno, hitting an impressive .337 between the two clubs. However, he was very much a “ball in play” guy, with just 30 walks and 56 K’s in 459 plate-appearances, and managed just a single home-run. Those factors kept his OPS for the season down to a less-impressive .798. He appeared mostly at second- and third-base in 2018, but overall in his career, he has been mainly a shortstop. He is playing in the Venezuelan league for the Cardenales, who reached the finals and beat Caracas to win the domestic title for the first time in eighteen years. Junior enjoyed a good series Eric Hosmer Jersey , highlighted by his performance in Game 3, where he had four hits and drove in five runs, including a grand-slam in the seventh inning. He’ll now play with his team in the 2019 Caribbean Series, which will take place from February 4-10, at the Rod Carew Stadium in Panama City. It was scheduled to be played in Venezuela, but the current situation there has led to it being moved. Kelby TomlinsonTomlinson has played the past four seasons with the San Francisco Giants, appearing in a total of 273 games, with a line of .265/.331/.332 in that time. He was a bit of a fan favorite after making his debut there in 2015, his dark-rimmed glasses becoming something of a cult icon, earning the nickname of “Clark Kent.” But he wasn’t exactly great, with basically no power. Indeed, each of the last three seasons, Tomlinson’s on-base percentage was higher than his slugging percentage. That’s not easy to do: Gregg Garcia of the Cardinals is the only other major-league player to do that, with 100+ PA in each year. Tomlison has one home-run since 2015. On the plus side, it was off Clayton Kershaw...Mind you, all of Kelby’s home-runs have been impressive. I’m not certain, but he has to be close to the only player whose first two homers (his only others, bar the Kershaw shot, to date) were a grand-slam and an inside the parker - the latter is shown above. In terms of the 2019 Diamondbacks, it’s likely he’ll be in the mix, along with the likes of Ildemaro Vargas, for the final bench spot as a utility infielder. He was mostly a second-baseman with San Francisco Jose Pirela Jersey , but also started games at shortstop, third-base and even left-field. Andy YoungWell, you should already know all about Mr. Young, considering that Mike wrote about him on Monday, and interviewed him later that day. You should skip the rest of this paragraph, and go read those in-depth pieces instead. But if you want the Cliff Notes version... Young was a late (37th-round) pick by the Cardinals in the 2016 draft, but has put up numbers significantly better than that since, batting .281 with an .829 OPS over 289 games. And that doesn’t include his spell in the Arizona Fall League, where Andy hit .301, after being described by our siblings at Viva El Birdos as “a huge breakout story” of 2018. initially, Young drifted around positions: in his rookie pro season, he started games at second, short, third, left and even in right field. But the focus has been increasingly on second-base, where he started 101 times last season, plus eighteen more in the AFL. It’s probably a stretch to see him making Arizona’s Opening Day roster this year, with a number of more advanced and/or experienced names ahead of him. But if Young continues to perform as well as he did in 2018, he’ll likely be knocking on the door before very much longer.