Some people spend their days talking to neighbors and co-workers and business associates. Me? I talk to athletes and coaches and general managers.
Oh, and people in Las Vegas. I talk to them a lot, too.
Why? Because they’re the ultimate authorities on sports. They think with their heads, not their hearts. They don’t always know what’s going to happen before it happens, but they usually have the best guess.
Which brings us to the Rockies, who’ll be arriving at spring training in a couple of weeks. The Rox, according to the Las Vegas Hilton sports book, have about as good a shot at winning the National League West as any other team in the division.
The Diamondbacks at 9-5 are the best bet to win the West. Then you’ve got the Rockies and Padres at 11-4, essentially the same as the Dodgers at 3-1. The biggest longshot on the board are the Giants at 30-1.
The D-Backs, who acquired former A’s right-hander Danny Haren during the off-season, are 20-1 to win the World Series. That puts them just ahead of the Padres, Rockies and Dodgers at 25-1, and far ahead of the Giants at 100-1.
I mention this stuff for two reasons. First, so you can have a reference point when a Rockies player claims the Rox are the team to beat in the West. When he does, rest assured the numbers crunchers in Vegas also believe the Rockies have a good shot at winning the division.
But more important in an industry in which money and market size rule, the latest Vegas odds also reflect the sorry state of the Dodgers and Giants. Frankly, since they’re by far the largest markets in the division, they should be heavy favorites to win the West every year. But no. Instead, the Dodgers are lumped in with the Rockies and Padres, and the Giants are barely on the map.
In the end, that’s one of the best things the Rockies have going for them. They don’t have the resources of the Dodgers or Giants and never will. But they haven’t made as many stupid decisions as those teams, either.
The Giants in recent years have marched out a lineup filled with injury-prone has-beens. The Dodgers, not to be outdone, paid Andruw Jones $36.4 million over two years.
More than $36 million for Jones, your basic .220 hitter? The Rockies may come to regret letting Kaz Matsui walk away, but at least they haven’t done anything that dumb lately.
Follow Jim Armstrong’s daily sports commentaries on The Jimmy Page during the week at noon. And read his columns on Sundays at .
He can be reached at 303-954-1269 or jmarmstrong@denverpost.com.
