CarGo to play center field for Rox

Manager of the Colorado Rockies, Walt Weiss, went on MLB Network Radio to discuss the Hall of Fame and the state of his club going into 2014.

Citing that he has a much better idea of the feel of his club this year than in his rookie year last year, Walt says that being pulled in many different directions was one of the most surprising things about being a manager.

Regarding the outfield, Weiss said that their depth is much better this year than last. He brought up the names of Michael Cuddyer, Corey Dickerson, Brandon Barnes, Drew Stubbs, and Charlie Blackmon, and says that you can’t have too much depth, especially when you factor in injuries. As far as Carlos Gonzalez goes, Walt did say that the plan going into Spring Training was for CarGo to play center field.

"That was a big factor when we talked about it. We didn’t want a situation where we were running CarGo into the ground, especially with our expansive outfield…this guy is one of the greatest assets we have on our club. He came up as a center fielder, we feel like he’s a dynamic defender, and probably as good a defender as there is regardless of position out there in our league, and so we feel like we want to take that asset and put him in a position to impact the game more…we have to keep from running him into the ground."

Weiss said that one of the biggest goals was adding innings to the rotation, a goal they feel they accomplished by adding Brett Anderson. He noted that the loss of Betancourt hurt their bullpen down the stretch, but helping out the rotation should help take the load off of the bullpen.

He also added that Michael Cuddyer was a major factor in bringing Justin Morneau to Colorado, and feels that Morneau is still a middle of the order bat who never got the chance to flourish during his time in Pittsburgh.

The Rockies finished 2013 in last place with a 74-88 record, dealt severe blows by injuries to their rotation and bullpen.