Kuzul

Rougned Odor certainly grabbed the attention of MLB and may have caught the eye Dana White, president of the UFC.

Odor, a promising second baseman for the Texas Rangers, hit Toronto Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista flush on the jaw with a hook that would make Conor McGregor jealous. It was not a good look for baseball or Odor.

The brawl between the two teams was Sunday—the start of a tumultuous week in baseball.

It continued with the firing of Atlanta Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez. Many came to the defense of Gonzalez, who was managing a Braves team in rebuild mode with no intention of contending this season.

But his dismissal raised greater concerns about the diversity among baseball managers. That’s a discussion that continued through the end of the week.

Commissioner Rob Manfred later expressed his concern over the increasing length of games this season. MLB has made an effort to shorten games.

And New York Mets pitcher Matt Harvey, once considered a rising star, has suddenly become a liability in 2016. He has a concerning 5.77 ERA and 1.655 WHIP through nine starts this season.

Brighter headlines included Washington Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg’s continued dominance. He looks like the player many expected he would develop into when the Nationals drafted him first overall in 2010.

But this week had a negative undertone. What can we take away from a topsy-turvy Week 7?

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Hype has such versatile usage in sports, like the English language’s version of Will Smith—a rapper, comedian and actor.

It’s employed to characterize a player, group of players, team, franchise, manager, executive and even owners. Basically, sports’ hype machine is applicable to any breathing organism in the world of sports.

But hype isn’t real. It’s an attempt at speculation—a hope we have for a burgeoning talent. It sets expectations. When someone is hyped, it means they haven’t accomplished anything yet. So hype runs out like gas in your car—only you can’t refill it.

You can only hope, by that time, it takes you to a destination of success. When it runs out for a group of players, we ask: Have they gotten there?

All of which brings us to the Miami Marlins’ talented outfield trio of Giancarlo Stanton, Marcell Ozuna and Christian Yelich. They are a trio of stalwarts in their mid-20s, formerly saddled with great expectations, who are proving to be one of Major League Baseball’s best outfields.

The aforementioned destination? They have arrived.

It’s obviously still early in the season, but through Tuesday night’s games, Stanton is hitting .227/.344/.515, Ozuna .301/.350/.514 and Yelich .317/.422/.525. Stanton’s low batting average isn’t concerning because of his high on-base percentage, which is a statistic valued far more than average in today’s game. His slugging numbers, 11 homers and 25 RBI, are what’s most important in his game.

According to FanGraphs, Ozuna (1.2) and Yelich (1.5) rank 15th and 10th, respectively, among outfielders in WAR. Stanton’s 0.5 WAR ranks 39th among outfielders.

Compare that to other notable outfield trios in baseball, and the Marlins may have the game’s best through the first quarter of the season.

The Pittsburgh Pirates‘ Gregory Polanco, Andrew McCutchen and Starling Marte are hitting .307/.409/.518, .255/.345/.484 and .326/.374/.479, respectively. The Los Angeles Angels outfield of Daniel Nava, Mike Trout and Kole Calhoun boast slash lines of .222/.286/.311, .308/.396/.541 and .298/.377/.418, respectively.

(Note: The Chicago Cubs also have one of MLB’s quality outfields. But given that they don’t have an everyday left fielder—Jorge Soler and Kris Bryant, who also plays third, split time—they couldn’t be included in this conversation by virtue of logistics.)

The ascension of Miami’s group was delayed by injury. In 2015, Stanton was limited to 74 games, Ozuna to 123 and Yelich to 126. Ozuna and Yelich broke into the major leagues in 2013 when Stanton was limited to 116 games.

Each has proved to have the abilities we are seeing collectively this season.

In 2011 and 2014, the only seasons in which he played over 140 games, Stanton hit 34 and 37 homers, respectively. He played just 123 games in 2012 yet still managed to go yard 37 times, giving reason to believe a healthy year would make him a 40-home run guy.

Yelich has never finished a season with a batting average worse than .284, hitting a career-best .300/.366/.416 last season. In his healthiest season of 2014, when he played in 153 games, Ozuna hit 23 homers and 85 RBI.

Hopefully that collective health lends itself to continued success for the trio. At least that’s the likelihood.

Among the reasons that each has had such a strong start to the season is that one player’s success is having a residual effect on another’s in the order.

Yelich and Stanton bat third and fourth in the Miami order. Yelich’s high on-base percentage allows Stanton’s slugging to do more damage. Stanton has had just one 100-RBI season, in part due to injury, but also because hitters were not getting on base in front of him.

Likewise, Yelich’s high batting average can be attributed to Stanton’s slugging numbers protecting him in the order. Because opposing pitchers fear facing Stanton with runners on base, they shy away from walking him. Therefore, Yelich is seeing more pitches in the strike zone that he can drive.

The left-handed bat of Justin Bour bats fifth, breaking up the right-handed-hitting Stanton and Ozuna, who hits sixth, in the order. Still, Ozuna’s solid hitting protects the entire middle of the order—making trips through the Marlins lineup a challenge to any pitcher.

Miami fans will, though, still need to pray for health. It’s a group that has proved to be injury-prone.

Just last Sunday, Ozuna and Stanton collided in the outfield. However, both players recovered. On his at-bat after the collision, Stanton homered.

It all gives credence to the idea that the hype surrounding Miami’s outfield has all of a sudden become real.

Seth Gruen is a national baseball columnist for Bleacher Report. Talk baseball with Seth and follow him on Twitter @SethGruen and like his Facebook page.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Arms stole the headlines in baseball this week. We’re talking arms of all sorts, that is—left, right, starters and relievers.

The value of those arms was topical. Questions were asked about where some ranked among the greatest. Then there were debates about how much some arms were worth.

The past week of MLB action was filled with stellar pitching performances that sparked all sorts of debate.

So as we look back upon the sixth week of baseball’s 2016 season, here’s an attempt to recap some of the takeaways from some historic pitching performances.

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When asked about Joe Ross’ dominance this season, Washington Nationals manager Dusty Baker elected to offer a simple explanation.

“He’s good,” he said of the Washington starting pitcher. “It’s simple as that. He works the strike zone. Has a good sinker, good slider and this guy is going to be good for a long time.”

That bodes well for the future of Washington’s entire rotation, which has been surprisingly dominant this season. The Nationals’ ERA in innings one through six is 2.67, second-best in baseball as of Tuesday night.

Ross, who turns 23 later this month, is the burgeoning star in the group. His emergence among a collection of proven pitchers solidifies its standing as one of baseball’s best rotations. And it’s refreshing for Nationals fans to hear the overwhelming confidence Baker has in Ross. After his start on Tuesday in which he allowed a season-high five earned runs against the Detroit Tigers, Washington’s right-hander had a 2.29 ERA.

Prior to Tuesday, Ross had allowed four earned runs in five starts.

He was the X-factor in the team’s rotation heading into the season after Washington allowed Jordan Zimmermann to leave in free agency. Zimmermann has a 1.10 ERA through six starts for the Tigers this season.

Command of a third pitch is a factor in Ross’ coming of age. It’s a reason to believe his dominance will continue. Bettering his repertoire of pitches can only net positive results.

He isn’t coasting through a period in which he has electrifying stuff, though.

There have been times this season where Ross has had to battle, using location to overcome starts in which he didn’t have as much movement on his pitches.

“I feel like I’ve been able to throw all three of my pitches for strikes, which I think has been my biggest key to the start of this season, because last year I was fastball-slider for the most part,” Ross said. “So being able to throw my changeup for a strike, being able to throw it behind in the count, I think has been really good for me so far.”

Of course, one starter doesn’t make a rotation that also includes ace Max Scherzer, Gio Gonzalez, Stephen Strasburg and Tanner Roark, the only player in the rotation who wasn’t a first-round pick. Roark was drafted in the 25th round of the 2008 draft out of the University of Illinois.

Scherzer is the only player of the five who has struggled. He appears to have caught baseball’s “ace bug.” Scherzer has lugged a head-scratching 4.60 ERA through seven starts this season. His 4.79 FIP (fielding independent pitching) suggests he has pitched even worse than his ERA might indicate.

FIP is a stat that calculates a pitcher’s run prevention independent of the quality of the defense behind him. It’s kind of like judging Beyonce as a solo artist after Destiny’s Child went on hiatus.

Scherzer’s struggles can be taken one of two ways: Either something is seriously wrong, or the trajectory of his season can only go up.

Given that if Scherzer finishes 2016 with that gargantuan ERA it would be the worst of his career, history tells us he will improve—making the latter of the two scenarios more likely.

Last season, Scherzer had an ERA of 2.79 and an FIP of 2.77. In 2014, his numbers were 3.15 and 2.85, respectively, and 2.90 and 2.74 in 2013.

But these numbers are all a product of struggling command.

His location issues haven’t shown up in his walk totals. Through seven starts Scherzer has issued 15 walks. By comparison Chicago Cubs ace Jake Arrieta has 16 in as many starts. But Scherzer is simply catching too much of the plate on his pitches, which has resulted in an a unsightly nine homers off Washington’s so-called ace this season.

“It is improper location,” Baker said of what ailed his ace in Scherzer’s most recent start against the Chicago Cubs. “That’s the main thing. I don’t care who you are. If you’re not locating the ball—especially the fastball—you know you’re going to get hit.”

That’s correctable, which means this rotation could be even better. The biggest shock of the season for Washington’s starters has been their dominance despite Scherzer’s struggles.

Washington’s dominance on the bump isn’t just the real deal. It could be an even bigger deal.

But the task of continuing the group’s stellar performance also rests on the arms of the three aforementioned starters—Gonzalez, Roark and Strasburg.

Gonzalez (2.19), Strasburg (2.76) and Roark (2.03) are all on pace to have career years in ERA, but their numbers aren’t far off from how they’ve performed in previous seasons.

In 2012, his first season with the Nationals, Gonzalez finished with an ERA of 2.89. The last two campaigns, his ERA hasn’t been as good—3.79 in 2015 and 3.57 in 2014—but his FIP indicates he pitched better. Those numbers were 3.05 in 2015 and 3.02 in 2014. In Roark’s only other season as a full-time starter—he split time in the rotation and bullpen last season—he posted a 2.85 ERA.

Strasburg has been a player whose ERA has always hovered around 3.00, except last season when it was 3.46. But his FIP in 2015 was 2.81. This could be the third straight year he finishes with an FIP under 3.00.

And, more importantly, he is throwing ace-like stuff and was rewarded with a seven-year, $175 million contract on Monday. Strasburg has proved this season he is capable of filling the current void left by Scherzer at the top of the rotation.

That was the plan, at least, when Washington made him the first overall pick in 2009.

But injuries, including Tommy John surgery in 2010, have hurt his ascension through baseball’s pitching ranks. As recently as last season, he struggled with inflammation in his elbow. If he can stay healthy, Strasburg can challenge for that top spot, even if Scherzer turns his season around.

The Nationals also have an insurance policy in Lucas Giolito, who is expected to be promoted to the majors this season, according to MLB.com. The site also says Giolito “has the highest ceiling” among minor league pitchers.  

So, should any of Washington’s starters falter, they have Giolito awaiting his opportunity.

It’s difficult to predict the future, but past performance is our best indicator. Each of these players has done it before. Now, they’re doing it collectively.

So there’s little question as to whether this group can keep its current pace. All that’s left to answer: How much better can it get?

Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com. All quotes were obtained firsthand.

Seth Gruen is a national baseball columnist for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter @SethGruen.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

CHICAGO — Imagine if there were a way, on every New England Patriots possession, to prevent Tom Brady from throwing the football. Or if, somehow, a defense could find a loophole in basketball’s rules that ensured Stephen Curry couldn’t touch the ball on every offensive possession.

Both would be sound strategies. But such strategies would also hurt the appeal of those sports.

We want to see the best play. Watching opposing teams prevent that doesn’t make for great theater.

In a loss on Sunday to the Chicago Cubs, Washington Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper, the reigning National League MVP, was walked a record six times (three times intentionally) and was also hit by a pitch. He was without an official at-bat.

The strategy was great for the Cubs but bad for the game.

“It’s kind of like in basketball hack-a-Shaq, whoever they’re hacking,” Nationals manager Dusty Baker said. “I guess that’s part of the game and part of strategy.

“But the fans didn’t come here to see him walk. They came here to see him swing the bat.”

Well, considering how tortured Cubs fans have been for, say, the last century—give or take a few years—Baker isn’t entirely correct. Fans flocked to Wrigley Field primarily to see the Cubs win.

But his point is well-taken. Sports fans want to see the best compete. Walking Harper so many times robbed fans of the opportunity to watch the game’s best pitcher, Jake Arrieta, face its best hitter in Harper.

Sunday was like watching the same bad movie seven straight times.

Baseball is desperate for drama. The MLB playoffs provide that. But the course of a 162-game schedule can, at times, seem as redundant as a season of cop-show storylines.

Harper has made it clear that he wants to amp up the excitement. 

That’s impossible, though, if he isn’t allowed to swing the bat. Imagine an NBA Finals where the defense fouled Curry every possession to keep him from shooting three-pointers. It wouldn’t be very entertaining.

Baseball is a sport that allows opponents to fully avoid a problem. It’s a flaw few other sports share.

“When you’re a pitcher, you’re not going to not challenge a guy because of what their name is and what they can do,” said Tanner Roark, who started for Washington on Sunday. “You can’t play scared. This is a game, and it’s not ‘here’s your free pass.’ Sometimes it calls for that, but I think it’s scared baseball.”

Roark may be posturing. But he’s right about this: We don’t want to see the Cubs or Arrieta hide in a corner.

We may only get one more chance to see Arrieta face Harper this season, assuming the right-handed Cubs starter is scheduled to pitch during the two teams’ three-game series in Washington June 13-15. It’s the last time the teams are scheduled to play this season.

Sunday, baseball was robbed of, arguably, its most anticipated matchup. Twice the Cubs walked Harper to load the bases for first baseman Ryan Zimmerman.

“The way he approaches the game, he tries to pound the strike zone, but he also pitches to his strengths, and that’s what he does every time he goes out there,” Harper said. “So I don’t think he’s going to change his plan to try to get me to go this way or that way. So I think you just try to go up there, wait for your pitch and try to drive. That’s what I did today. I didn’t really get anything over the plate that I could try to drive.”

The short-term solution is for Zimmerman to hit. He bats fourth behind Harper and has struggled. Zimmerman is only hitting .236/.293/.340. He was 0-for-7 Sunday, which is part of the reason the Cubs walked Harper to get to him. If Zimmerman were raking, this wouldn’t be an issue.

But intentional walks have always been a part of the game. The problem with them—that a manager can choose whom his team faces—was magnified Sunday.

Baseball needs a long-term fix to a strategy that is hurting its appeal.

The NFL changed its rules to protect quarterbacks after noticing injuries to the position hurt the game. The NBA eliminated the hand check to allow for more offense.

Yet MLB lingers far behind in curtailing its rules to allow for more showmanship.

Quite possibly, the game might need to allow a batter—and those on base—to advance two bases if a team throws him four straight balls. The way to eliminate the strategy the Cubs employed on Harper would be to make the consequences greater.

This way, a manager would never walk a player with runners in scoring position. An intentional walk would score a runner who was on second.

Other leagues have changed their rules to better the game.

This may seem extreme, but people thought it was drastic when the NCAA tournament extended its field to include 64 teams and 68 after that. Some thought enhancing rules to protect quarterbacks was over the top. Others detested the idea of eliminating the hand check. In all cases, it worked out.

MLB needs to do something extreme to eliminate what happened Sunday.

Chicago manager Joe Maddon decided who would win the Arrieta-Harper battle by gifting the hitter first base. The strategy worked out great for the Cubs.

It would work out better for the game if we let the players decide.

Seth Gruen is a national baseball columnist for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter @SethGruen.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Washington Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper, the arguable face of the league, feels like he should be older than 23. New York Mets starting pitcher Bartolo Colon, who owns a 2.56 ERA, feels like he should be younger than 42.

Suspensions for performance-enhancing drugs feel like they should be longer than 80 games. And it seems like an eternity could pass and Nationals manager Dusty Baker will always have to answer for how he handled the 2003 Chicago Cubs.

If there’s one big thing to take away from this week’s MLB action—you’ll get five here, just for the record—it’s that age and time are the most useless numbers in a sport obsessed with them.

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No scientific survey is needed to know that every MLB team would love for its prospects to be ready at 20 years old. Just like anyone would rather dine at a restaurant with a Michelin star.

But neither figures to happen with frequency.

That’s why the quick ascension of Texas Rangers rookie outfielder Nomar Mazara has captivated baseball like Scott Disick’s latest fling does Page Six.

Through 18 games, Mazara, now 21, is hitting .324/.380/.441 with two homers and eight RBI. He is third among all rookies in batting average and second in on-base percentage.

Talent has been a driving force, sure. But there are other promising 21-year-olds in the game, the majority of whom haven’t reached MLB. There are others who are still figuring out professional baseball in Double-A.

Maturity has been Mazara‘s biggest asset as he has navigated baseball’s professional ranks over the last four years. At 16, he signed a contract that included a then-record bonus of $5 million. So, in essence, this was supposed to happen. The Rangers expected it.

That comes with pressure, none of which Mazara felt.

“I didn’t put too much pressure on myself,” Mazara said. “I didn’t care about the money. I just wanted to play baseball.

“I was pretty young when I signed, so I had to take it step by step,” he continued. “I had to develop in the minor leagues. I think they did a pretty good job of taking care of me down there—to give me what I needed at times. It didn’t take that long. It only took four years. I respect the way they did it, and I’m here now.”

The question now: Will he stay?

Mazara was supposed to make his MLB debut this season, just not this early. A calf injury to right fielder Shin-Soo Choo necessitated that Mazara be called up April 10.

At the time of the injury, Choo was expected to be out four to six weeks. He was only hitting .188 but had an OBP of .409—his key number. So reason would suggest Choo will reclaim his starting spot once he is healthy.

That will leave Texas debating what to do with Mazara—provided he is still playing at a high level. During his interview with Bleacher Report, Mazara said he would feel comfortable with a move to left field. It would require relegating Ian Desmond to the bench, a move that the Rangers would assuredly make if Mazara‘s play warranted it.

Prince Fielder is the team’s DH and doesn’t figure to be moved from that role, giving Texas few options should the organization elect to keep Mazara at the big league level. With a prospect as young as Mazara, however, the concern is getting him regular plate appearances.

So this much is certain: He won’t remain at the MLB level to sit on the bench.

Essentially, Mazara is going to need to play at a level that forces the Rangers to keep him with the big club. A slump would make sending him back to Triple-A as easy as a network’s decision to cancel a poor-performing drama.

Few in the Rangers organization seem to feel he will fall off, though.

“The separator for Nomar is just, you can call it maturity, or you can call it just a presence,” Rangers manager Jeff Banister said. “He seems very relaxed in his own environment. I don’t think we’ve been fooled by that at all. I think that’s real.”

Jason Wood, manager of the Round Rock Express, the Rangers’ Triple-A affiliate, echoed that sentiment: “His maturity level for the age that he is at right now is just off the charts.”

What makes Mazara such a prolific hitter is his ability to dictate the strike zone.

That’s not a learned skill, according to Banister, but something that is innate. The Texas manager has seen players of all ages without the rare attribute, though he admitted it’s something that can develop further.

“That’s something that he’s probably had all the way through his baseball career,” Banister said. “That’s not something that just showed up.”

Combine that with a naturally calm demeanor, and Mazara isn’t a player who looks anxious at the plate. It’s why the right fielder is hitting second in the lineup.

It’s a spot in the order that sees a high number of fastballs. Given that most teams have, in theory, their best hitters in the middle of the order, pitchers are careful not to put the No. 2 hitter on base.

But the spot is important enough that any team, especially one with championship aspirations like Texas, wouldn’t hit a player that high in the order if it didn’t think he was capable.

His demeanor—calm, without anxiousness at the plate—makes him an ideal top-of-the-order hitter. Both Banister and Wood indicated they’ve rarely seen him off balance. Wood was complimentary of Mazara‘s discipline in laying off two-strike pitches.

Regardless of what happens when Choo returns, Mazara is certain to help the Rangers in their playoff chase if he plays anywhere close to his current level.

“I want him to get healthy quick because our team needs him—but when he gets healthy, I don’t know what’s going to happen. I don’t make decisions,” Mazara said. “So I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing right now and see what happens.”

Seth Gruen is a national baseball columnist for Bleacher Report. Talk baseball with Seth by following him on Twitter @SethGruen.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The is-this-for-real conversation begins to happen after the first month of the Major League Baseball season like a young actor enjoying the first taste of celebrity.

What we try to take away from April’s baseball action is what is fact and what is fiction. One month provides us little that is definitive in a six-month MLB season.

But, of course, we want our answers. And we want them now.

Overreaction tends to be the general theme of baseball’s first month. It goes both ways, too. A struggling team might watch its fanbase unnecessarily panic. The Kool-Aid of a surprisingly good team or player tastes like a fine wine.

Until we hit May.

Everything could change with the weather in the eastern part of the country. So before we hit baseball’s second month, on this final day of April, here is what we can draw from the first month of the 2016 MLB season.

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The Colorado Rockies are quickly becoming baseball’s version of Pop, a TV channel that plays reruns of old teen dramas such as The OC, Dawson’s Creek and Beverly Hills, 90210.

The situation percolating with outfielder Carlos Gonzalez is another version of the Troy Tulowitzki saga from a season ago. We’ve seen this episode before. The latter isn’t too far from our minds. In fact, during spring training, the former Colorado shortstop continued to vent on last season’s midseason trade to the Toronto Blue Jays.

Tulowitzki dished on his former team in a February interview with Bob Nightengale of USA Today that rivaled Kelly Ripa’s recent hissy fit. Essentially, he feels the Rockies lied to him. Though he’s offered his opinion more gently, Gonzalez seems tired of the losing and the lack of talent around him.

“I’ve been in this business a long time, and it’s never about what the player wants,” Gonzalez told Mark Kiszla of the Denver Post. “I mean, I want Mike Trout and Bryce Harper on my team, but you don’t get what you want.”

But while the Gonzalez situation has the potential to mirror Tulowitzki’s off-field drama, the two already mirror one another on the field.

When the Rockies traded Tulowitzki, he was hitting .300/.348/.471. At 30 years old, he was still young enough to have an impact, even in the context of a three- to four-year rebuild.

Similarly, Gonzalez, 30, is hitting .321/.368/.556 with four home runs and 12 RBI through 21 games this season. But, as they did with Tulowitzki, the Rockies have to weigh the value of trading him.

Gonzalez will make $17 million this season and $20 million in 2017, after which he will become a free agent, according to Cot’s Baseball Contracts. Unloading that salary would give the Rockies money to play with in free agency this offseason.

He also has a checkered injury history, as he’s struggled with knee issues. In 2014, Gonzalez was shut down for the season in August so he could have surgery to repair a torn labrum in his hip. Though last season he played in a career-high 153 games, injuries stymied Gonzalez through significant parts of the previous four seasons.

Despite reason to question his long-term health, Gonzalez’s short-term value and recent play could be attractive to a contending team in need of a bat.

The left-handed hitter has played at least 200 games in each of the outfield positions. So most teams in need of offense could find a place for the 2015 Silver Slugger Award winner. For those thinking teams might devalue his performance this season playing in hitter-friendly Coors Field, Gonzalez is hitting .288/.327/.500 in 12 games at home and .343/.395/.571 through nine away games.

A haul of notable prospects could come in a potential bidding war.

On the MLB trade market, for a team looking to get younger, a star player often is less than the sum of his parts. The Tulowitzki trade, which included pitcher LaTroy Hawkins, netted the Rockies shortstop Jose Reyes and right-handed pitcher Jeff Hoffman, ranked as the No. 49 prospect in baseball by MLB.com. The deal also sent lesser-known pitching prospects Jesus Tinoco and Miguel Castro to the Rockies.

Of course, that all makes shopping Gonzalez seem like a slam dunk.

But, as in the case with Tulowitzki, his age allows for the possibility that Gonzalez could contribute when this team’s load of talented minor league prospects hits the majors. According to Baseball America, Colorado has the No. 6 farm system in baseball.

According to MLB.com, outfielder David Dahl (ranked No. 43 by the site) and third baseman Ryan McMahon (No. 45) are due to make their MLB debuts next season. Pitcher Jon Gray (No. 30) has already been promoted to the majors this season.

All of this suggests the Rockies will contend soon. Gonzalez would only bolster those hopes. The question Colorado brass is also considering: Can the team contend this season?

While the depth in the Colorado system suggests the Rockies could replace Gonzalez if they were to trade him, it could also be an argument for keeping him.

Though the Rockies have struggled lately, it appears the team could contend for a playoff spot. As of Thursday, Colorado is 9-12 and 2.5 games behind the NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers. The Rockies will need to stay within five games of a postseason spot in the coming months for Gonzalez to have any value to the organization this season.

Of course, the organization will wait until it gets closer to the trade deadline to better handicap its fate.

But, if by mid-June Colorado is in the playoff race, it could make waiving the white flag difficult.

Internally, the Rockies could argue that they could build a contender around Gonzalez this season by becoming buyers in July. They have the depth in their system to be a player in the trade market. If the Rockies are ahead in the NL West by then, the decision would be easier. They would add to the roster. If things go the other way, trading Gonzalez would become more likely.

Though the situation looks similar to that of Tulowitzki, Rockies fans and management alike will be hoping the plot takes an entirely different arc and ends with Gonzalez leading the team to the playoffs.

Seth Gruen is a national baseball columnist for Bleacher Report. Talk baseball with Seth and follow him on Twitter @SethGruen.

All stats are up to date through games on April 27.

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Let’s begin with this caveat: We are a little more than two weeks into the 2016 MLB season.

Making definitive predictions about a season not even 10 percent finished is as futile a task as predicting the Republican nominee. Depending on your loyalties, if these were two random weeks in July, emotional reactions wouldn’t be nearly as polarizing.

The last-place Houston Astros wouldn’t be as panicked. The first-place Colorado Rockies may not be as optimistic. But this is all baseball has provided with which to rank its six divisions.

So don’t take this as a prediction of any kind. Simply, it’s an evaluation of MLB’s divisions over the first two weeks, top-to-bottom, regarding how well each has lived up to expectation, and a look into why each of these divisions may be struggling or thriving.

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