We've got a roster

The Colorado Rockies announced the Opening Night rosters for their four full-season minor league affiliates over the weekend. 

Here's a link to the release that our PR stud Lee VanHorn wrote about the Albuquerque Isotopes roster. It will change a lot. Last year, the Topes had 188 transaction and 60 different players. The Rockies were besieged by injuries in the major leagues last year, so their previous triple-A affiliate in Colorado Springs ended up with over 200 roster moves.

Here's a few notes about the first 25 players on the 2015 Isotopes roster:

• 16 players have MLB experience, including 10 of the 13 pitchers
• 14 players were on the Opening Day roster in 2014 for Rockies previous triple-A  affiliate Colorado Springs (Matt McBride, Kyle Parker, Ben Paulsen, Tim Wheeler)
• 4 countries are represented (18 from USA, 2 from Curacao, 3 from Dominican Republic, 2 from Venezuela)
• 13 states are represented by birthplace (3 from California and Tennessee; 2 from New York; and 1 from Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennslyvania, Texas and Wisconsin)
• 2 are former Isotopes from the Dodgers days (Roger Bernadina, Aaron Laffey)
• 9 have played at Isotopes Park previously (Rex Brothers, Aaron Laffey, John Lannan, Jorge Rondon, Chris Rusin, Matt McBride, Ben Paulsen, Brandon Barnes, Roger Bernadina)
• The oldest is outfielder Roger Bernadina (30 years, 301 days old)
• The youngest is pitcher Jon Gray (23 years, 155 days)

I'm excited about the interesting mix of players on the roster. You've got the young phenom in Jon Gray. 

You've got other solid prospects knocking on the door of the majors: Cristhian Adames, Kyle Parker, Jairo Diaz and Scott Oberg. 

You've got some under-the-radar guys that don't get a lot of attention on the prospect list, but they've produced and are making their triple-A debuts: Ken Roberts, Ryan Casteel.

You've got some guys past the prospect stage because of their MLB experience, but still young and worthy of a promotion: Chad Bettis, Matt McBride, Ben Paulsen, Tim Wheeler. 

You've got some guys who were expected to be on the Rockies, but ended up in the minors due to a roster crunch or ineffective spring: Red Brothers, Tommy Kahnle and Brandon Barnes. [All of them, by the way, seem to have a great attitude. That's not always the case.]

You've got some veteran guys with a track record of success in the majors, sidetracked by injury or the next flavor of the month, trying to get back there: Jair Jurrjens (a former all-star), John Lannan and Roger Bernadina.

Initial impression after media day is a really good group of humans. Players were in a good move, helpful, showed some personality, impressed by the ballpark, and happy to be in Albuquerque. I'm excited for the start of the season.

Let's do this already.