Closing Day.

That's what today is. Guess that makes tomorrow Opening Day. Yup. Pretty much. 12 teams get baseball officially started up tomorrow. And I'd be remiss if I didn't weigh in on at least a thing or seven.

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There's a lot of chatter out there about the Red Sox winning it all this year. Easy money is what that is. It's about as good a bet as any in baseball. Last year they were devastated by injuries, and still finished 16 games above .500. This year, if they're pitching staff can stay healthy, they own an an offense that could be scary good.

But that's not where I'm headed. There's another team garnering a fair amount of chatter, too. A team that a lot of people are expecting good things from this year. And I can't say it's not because of a good deal of unintended spin. I'm talking about the Pittsburgh Pirates. They're the owners of a major-sprots-league-best 18 consecutive losing seasons. A handsome number of know-it-alls connected with baseball are suggesting, hinting, alleging (read: definitely not "predicting") that might change this year. I think it's because the Bucs are all decked out with a new manager this year. One who knows a little something about getting a team to the World Series sans expectations. Clint Hurdle did just that with the Rockies in 2007 when they won 21 of they're final 22 regular season games that year, and went on to sweep the first two rounds of the playoffs, only to have their brooms turn against them in the World Series by the Red Sox.

Nothing against Clint Hurdle or the Pirates. If I have a second-favorite team, it's the Pirates. And I like Hurdle a lot, as baseball guys go. But I think that's where some of this misplaced spin is sourced. I don't think the Pirates have a pitching staff worthy of consistent run abatement. Although they do have a good core of hitters. And one of the best center fielders I've seen in Andrew McCutchen.

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I'm really geeked up about the Rockies' chances this year. Like any team that captures a World Series title, they've got to have a bunch of stuff go right for them this year, but they've got more depth right now than I can ever remember. To wit: Their last Spring Training game was actually what they call and Exhibition Game because it was versus their AA affiliate in Tulsa. The Drillers no-hit their Major League elders for eight innings, and won 5-3.

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If I were forced to pick a team to watch out for—a team who, like the Padres last year, stays unexpectedly competitive till the last day of the season—it would probably be the Florida Marlins. Their pitching staff is dominant. And they've got Mike Stanton, who many scouts project 40+ home runs out of this year. If they were in the NL Central, they would almost certainly contend.

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Speaking of the NL Central, what a bummer for the Brewers, who plucked Zack Greinke from the Royals this off-season, only to find out that he will be nursing an injury until early May. Good thing they're in the NL Central. Could be the worst division in the bigs.

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The World Series champs Giants announced their opening day roster today and it features rookie Brandon Belt at first base, for whom they designated Travis Ishikawa for assignment. The guy's so young and inexperienced at this level that I'm pretty sure his Little League team just stopped practicing together a couple months ago. I'm not convinced this was the right move for them. But when you're coming off of a World Series win, you can do no wrong. Maybe that's why so few teams actually repeat the feat the following year.

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I saw some buzz today about how the Rockies installed some new purple lights atop the outside of Coors Field. They look pretty cool. But no one's talking about how they switched those ubiquitous dimpled floor matt-like things at intersections from neon yellow to Rockies purple. Rode my bike by there the other day and crews were replacing them. Brilliant, I thought.

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Lastly, there's not a better time in recent memory for the Rockies to capture the hearts of local sports fans than now. The Broncos and Avalanche stink. And the NFL and NBA (and maybe even the NHL) are facing labor pains (sorry, couldn't resist) that could shut down those sports temporarily. How huge would the Rockies become in the minds of potentially erstwhile Broncos fans if they contend all year, and make a run at the World Series? Pretty darn huge, if you ask me.