Rockieshome.com | Colorado Rockies News, rockies Scores, Game Recaps & Commentary - <div> It's a given that left-hander Jeff Francis won't be ready to start the season, since left shoulder inflammation, which plagued him last year, has kept him from throwing off a mound this winter.</div>It appears that if Francis doesn't show improvement soon, he'll opt for exploratory surgery that would sideline him for much of the 2009 season. His agent, Jim Lindell, said Francis has set Feb. 19, nearly one week into spring training, as a deadline to determine whether he'll need surgery on his inflamed shoulder. Francis underwent a second MRI exam early last month that revealed no structural damage in his shoulder. Lindell said Francis initially responded well to a cortisone injection but hasn't progressed lately. Fluid build-up in the front of Francis' shoulder, Lindell said, has caused persistent soreness and prevented the ball from coming out of Francis' hand the way it would if he were healthy. General manager Dan O'Dowd didn't sign off on the Feb. 19 deadline but did agree the clock is ticking as far as when that deadline would be for Francis. "I know it's somewhere in the beginning of spring, because you don't want to run the risk that he's going to miss any of 2010," O'Dowd said. "And we spent a whole winter trying to get him over the hump. So I know that time's coming; I don't know exactly (when)." O'Dowd, based on past experience, held out hope that Francis, who has shown improvement, would have a breakthrough that would enable him to avoid surgery. "I've been around a lot of players that have some scar tissue and they went through a throwing motion or a running motion and all of a sudden, something tore and they felt great and they never looked back," O'Dowd said. "If we get to surgery, we'll get to that point in time, but we're not there yet." Regardless of whether Francis does or does not undergo surgery, the Rockies feel they have more depth in their starting pitching and can better protect themselves in Francis' absence. In addition to holdover right-handers Aaron Cook and Ubaldo Jimenez, and left-hander Jorge De La Rosa, the Rockies acquired durable righty Jason Marquis to buttress the back end of their rotation. Those competing for Francis' spot include lefties Greg Smith, Franklin Morales and Glendon Rusch, and right-handers Jason Hirsh, Greg Reynolds, Josh Fogg and Matt Belisle. "You can look at the depth we built in numbers and look at the quality of that depth," O'Dowd said. "I know some of them had bad years last year, but that could have been them just going through the learning process. We continue to feel that more than one of them is going to step in and have a strong season for us." WHERE, WHEN: Hi Corbett Field, Tucson, Ariz. First exhibition game is Feb. 25 against Arizona. TOP CANDIDATE TO SURPRISE: OF Carlos Gonzalez, acquired from the A's in the November trade for LF Matt Holliday, is a talented 23-year-old who has been traded twice and is eager to settle in with the Rockies. Gonzalez must show he can make steady contact in spring training after he had an alarming number of strikeouts last year. But in winter ball in his native Venezuela, where he played a total of 39 games, Gonzalez said he adopted the mind-set of a leadoff hitter with two strikes and did a better job of reaching base. He has options, so the Rockies could easily send him to Class AAA, but Gonzalez, who began his career in the Diamondbacks organization and was traded to the A's in the December 2007 deal for RHP Dan Haren, seems poised to find a home with the Rockies and leave a good impression in camp, even if he falls short of making the Opening Day roster. TOP CANDIDATE TO DISAPPOINT: RHP Josh Fogg, who pitched for the Rockies in 2006-07, will attempt to return after signing a minor league contract. Fogg, 32, will compete for the fifth starter's job, following a horrible season with the Reds. He will need a very good spring to open the season with the Rockies. Fogg is a prototypical back-of-the-rotation starter who competes to the utmost but has very ordinary stuff. It's easy to envision him scuffling in the spring and opening the season at Class AAA Colorado Springs, where he has agreed to go if another big-league job doesn't materialize. AUTHORITY FIGURES: Manager Clint Hurdle, who is entering the final year of his contract, is 516-597 since taking over the Rockies on April 26, 2002. He has vowed the emphasis in spring training will be to get players ready for the regular season and not to keep them from getting hurt, which Hurdle said was more the case last year. Regulars are expected to play more in exhibition games and easily get more than 60 spring at-bats, and Hurdle intends to incorporate some situational drills he used in the minors to hone the players' execution and attention to fundamentals. Only pitching coach Bob Apodaca and first base coach Glenallen Hill return from Hurdle's 2008 coaching staff. New additions include bench coach Jim Tracy -- Hurdle's likely successor if the team stumbles early and the decision is made to fire him -- hitting coach Don Baylor, who was the Rockies' first manager from 1993-98, bullpen coach Jim Wright and third base coach Rich Dauer.<div class="spacer10"></div><div class="gray_dots"></div><div id="body_footer_link">Play FOX Fantasy Baseball today </div><div class="gray

It's a given that left-hander Jeff Francis won't be ready to start the season, since left shoulder inflammation, which plagued him last year, has kept him from throwing off a mound this winter.

It appears that if Francis doesn't show improvement soon, he'll opt for exploratory surgery that would sideline him for much of the 2009 season. His agent, Jim Lindell, said Francis has set Feb. 19, nearly one week into spring training, as a deadline to determine whether he'll need surgery on his inflamed shoulder.

Francis underwent a second MRI exam early last month that revealed no structural damage in his shoulder. Lindell said Francis initially responded well to a cortisone injection but hasn't progressed lately. Fluid build-up in the front of Francis' shoulder, Lindell said, has caused persistent soreness and prevented the ball from coming out of Francis' hand the way it would if he were healthy.

General manager Dan O'Dowd didn't sign off on the Feb. 19 deadline but did agree the clock is ticking as far as when that deadline would be for Francis.

"I know it's somewhere in the beginning of spring, because you don't want to run the risk that he's going to miss any of 2010," O'Dowd said. "And we spent a whole winter trying to get him over the hump. So I know that time's coming; I don't know exactly (when)."

O'Dowd, based on past experience, held out hope that Francis, who has shown improvement, would have a breakthrough that would enable him to avoid surgery.

"I've been around a lot of players that have some scar tissue and they went through a throwing motion or a running motion and all of a sudden, something tore and they felt great and they never looked back," O'Dowd said. "If we get to surgery, we'll get to that point in time, but we're not there yet."

Regardless of whether Francis does or does not undergo surgery, the Rockies feel they have more depth in their starting pitching and can better protect themselves in Francis' absence.

In addition to holdover right-handers Aaron Cook and Ubaldo Jimenez, and left-hander Jorge De La Rosa, the Rockies acquired durable righty Jason Marquis to buttress the back end of their rotation. Those competing for Francis' spot include lefties Greg Smith, Franklin Morales and Glendon Rusch, and right-handers Jason Hirsh, Greg Reynolds, Josh Fogg and Matt Belisle.

"You can look at the depth we built in numbers and look at the quality of that depth," O'Dowd said. "I know some of them had bad years last year, but that could have been them just going through the learning process. We continue to feel that more than one of them is going to step in and have a strong season for us."

WHERE, WHEN: Hi Corbett Field, Tucson, Ariz. First exhibition game is Feb. 25 against Arizona.

TOP CANDIDATE TO SURPRISE: OF Carlos Gonzalez, acquired from the A's in the November trade for LF Matt Holliday, is a talented 23-year-old who has been traded twice and is eager to settle in with the Rockies.

Gonzalez must show he can make steady contact in spring training after he had an alarming number of strikeouts last year. But in winter ball in his native Venezuela, where he played a total of 39 games, Gonzalez said he adopted the mind-set of a leadoff hitter with two strikes and did a better job of reaching base.

He has options, so the Rockies could easily send him to Class AAA, but Gonzalez, who began his career in the Diamondbacks organization and was traded to the A's in the December 2007 deal for RHP Dan Haren, seems poised to find a home with the Rockies and leave a good impression in camp, even if he falls short of making the Opening Day roster.

TOP CANDIDATE TO DISAPPOINT: RHP Josh Fogg, who pitched for the Rockies in 2006-07, will attempt to return after signing a minor league contract. Fogg, 32, will compete for the fifth starter's job, following a horrible season with the Reds. He will need a very good spring to open the season with the Rockies. Fogg is a prototypical back-of-the-rotation starter who competes to the utmost but has very ordinary stuff. It's easy to envision him scuffling in the spring and opening the season at Class AAA Colorado Springs, where he has agreed to go if another big-league job doesn't materialize.

AUTHORITY FIGURES: Manager Clint Hurdle, who is entering the final year of his contract, is 516-597 since taking over the Rockies on April 26, 2002. He has vowed the emphasis in spring training will be to get players ready for the regular season and not to keep them from getting hurt, which Hurdle said was more the case last year. Regulars are expected to play more in exhibition games and easily get more than 60 spring at-bats, and Hurdle intends to incorporate some situational drills he used in the minors to hone the players' execution and attention to fundamentals.

Only pitching coach Bob Apodaca and first base coach Glenallen Hill return from Hurdle's 2008 coaching staff. New additions include bench coach Jim Tracy -- Hurdle's likely successor if the team stumbles early and the decision is made to fire him -- hitting coach Don Baylor, who was the Rockies' first manager from 1993-98, bullpen coach Jim Wright and third base coach Rich Dauer.

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