If there is a play that exemplifies the Colorado Rockies’ season so far this year, it came Saturday afternoon in Detroit in the fifth inning of a game Colorado was already losing 2-0. The Tigers’ Miguel Cabrera hit a come-backer to Rockies rookie pitcher Christian Friedrich who knocked the ball down, but hurried a throw that drifted past first baseman Todd Helton. The ball came to rest near the tarp along shallow right field where catcher Wilin Rosario tracked it down but then made an ill-advised throw to third—where the ball bounced past Friedrich, who was covering the base. Cabrera raced home for an inside-the-park home run. For those scoring at home, an out was turned into a two-error, one-run fiasco.

That pretty much sums up the 2012 Rockies.

The Rox have the third-worst record in baseball this year and could be on pace for an all-time stinker of a season. Is it time to re-do the Rockies’ management? Or to dump players who would have been considered untouchable last year? Could (gasp) Colorado fans be looking at late summer games without the likes of Troy Tulowitzki? In reality, moving the expensive shortstop could bring a bounty of young players—but, well, we’ve been there before. And for anyone who has followed baseball, the prospect chase is exactly the cycle you don’t want to follow.

Sure, it’s always great to get new, young players to build a playoff-contending team around. Remember, though, that fans once dreamed of Carlos Gonzalez leading Colorado to another World Series appearance—a consideration that perhaps has never seemed more improbable. And while it’s too early to make any sweeping declarations about pitchers Drew Pomeranz and Alex White (and their combined 5.28 ERA this year), this wasn’t what fans had in mind when the pair joined the team last year.

We’re not even to mid-season in the Rockies’ schedule and the situation on Blake Street has never seemed so bleak. Changes need to be made, somehow, somewhere. And they need to be made now.

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