Christian

Colonel

Colonel hit .309/.362/.495 this year, but he did that as a 25-year-old in Double-A. The Rockies are trying to evaluate whether he’ll be worth a spot on their 40-man roster this winter. If they decline to protect him, some team might get visions of Dan Uggla and grab him in the Rule 5 draft.

With Garrett Atkins and Jeff Baker having both missed considerable time, Colonel has gotten a long look this spring and hit .255/.310/.431 in 51 at-bats. He leads the Rockies with 15 RBI. The 27-year-old is due to spend his second year in Triple-A this season, but he will be a candidate to surface on Colorado’s bench if the team keeps having injury problems.