Tracy Ringolsby's weekly baseball notes

Troy Tulowitzki has company in his misery.Not that it makes the Colorado Rockies shortstop feel any better.Tulowitzki has struggled through a two-week funk that is unlike any funk he has endured on a baseball field, but he's not alone.It wasn't until the ninth inning Wednesday night - the Rockies' 14th game of the season - that Tulowitzki picked up his first RBI, and that, more than a paltry batting average, is what eats at him. Having driven in 99 runs as a rookie last year, Tulowitzki was hitless in 13 at-bats with runners in scoring position before his two-run double at San Diego.It has been that kind of an April for several of the game's rising young stars.Ryan Zimmerman, the fourth player taken in the 2005 draft, is hitting .212 for Washington with only seven RBI.Ryan Braun, who beat out Tulowitzki in the National League Rookie of the Year voting last year and was the fifth player taken in that draft, was benched Tuesday to give him a chance to catch his breath, but he is hitting .246, was in a 4-for-29 slump before going 2-for-4 on Thursday and hasn't drawn a walk in 61 at-bats with the Brewers.Hunter Pence of Houston, who finished behind Braun and Tulowitzki in rookie voting, not only is hitting .161 but also has a .186 on-base percentage.That's April.Statistics get skewed because there is such a small sampling. Slumps can't be covered up by season-long efforts.Tulowitzki is 199th out of the 201 players who have qualified for the batting title, ahead of Adam LaRoche (.143) and David Ortiz (.111).Among the players hitting .200 or lower are Ivan Rodriguez (.189), Carlos Pena (.179), Paul Konerko (.176) and Jim Thome (.173).Not everybody can be Arizona wunderkind Justin Upton, the only player in the big leagues who can't legally buy a beer but sure can hit. He goes into the weekend with a .351 average, five home runs and 12 RBI.INFIELD CHATTER-- Jon Rauch is the closer for now in Washington. Manager Manny Acta was concerned about Chad Cordero when his fastball topped out at 82 mph this week.-- With Cubs center fielder Felix Pie struggling and Alfonso Soriano on the disabled list, it seemed like Chicago could come calling for Boston's Coco Crisp again. But Crisp, slowed during spring training by a groin problem, now is bothered by a sore hamstring.-- San Francisco remains interested in first baseman Dan Johnson, who was designated for assignment by Oakland on April 10, giving the A's until Sunday to make a move with Johnson.THE ROTATIONMaybe there's a reason they were non-roster invitees to spring training, even though they did make opening day rosters. Five veterans who not only earned roster spots in the spring but also earned regular roles:-- Left-hander Odalis Perez wound up drawing the opening game assignment for Washington. He is 0-3 in his first four starts with a 4.35 ERA, though. The ERA is second best among Nationals starters.-- Center fielder Corey Patterson has four home runs and nine RBI for Cincinnati, but the Reds kept him over top prospect Jay Bruce because they needed a leadoff hitter. Patterson is hitting .216 with a .268 on-base percentage.-- Designated hitter Mike Sweeney has a .275 average for Oakland, but he has yet to hit a home run and has driven in only three runs.-- Outfielder Shannon Stewart is platooning with Matt Stairs in left field for Toronto, hitting .233.-- Right-hander Steve Trachsel is 1-2 with a 5.65 ERA as a veteran influence in the Baltimore rotation and has issued nine walks in 14-1/3 innings.CLOSING STATEMENTThe Houston Astros must be wondering what is going to be revealed next about shortstop Miguel Tejada, who cost them a load of prospects to acquire from Baltimore in the offseason.First came word that Tejada was in the Mitchell Report and faced possible legal ramifications.Then he revealed to the Astros that he is actually 33, not 31, which was the age listed on Major League Baseball records.The age may explain growing concerns about scouts over Tejada's quickly diminishing range at shortstop and the slowing of his bat speed.The Astros are on the hook for $13 million this year and again in 2009 for Tejada, although it would seem they could raise a ruckus if they wanted over being misled about Tejada's age.VALUES RATEDSome tidbits from Forbes magazine's annual assessment of the value of major league franchises.The Rockies' value increased 17 percent, the highest of any team in baseball. That's good news.The Angels and Cleveland had 16 percent increase in their values.The Rockies, according to Forbes, are worth $371 million, which is 21st among the 30 major league teams and fifth out of the five National League West teams. That's bad news.While the actual financial figures can be challenged because Forbes does not have full access to financial statements and ignores expenditures in scouting and player development, it does provide an annual means for comparing franchises.No surprise that the top five franchise values belong to the Yankees ($1.31 billion), Mets ($824 million), Red Sox ($816 million), Dodgers ($694 million) and Cubs ($642 million). And the three lowest values belong to Florida ($256 million), Tampa Bay ($290 million) and Pittsburgh ($292 million).WHERE'S DON?Biggest oversight in the game? Lack of a job for Don Baylor, original manager of the Rockies. It was bad enough he was in a part-time pre-game host, post-game analyst role for the Washington Nationals a year ago, but to have him not around at all this year is a loss for baseball.NUMBERS GAME-- 28: Innings out of the first 145 played by St. Louis this year are all that the Cardinals have trailed in their first 16 games.LONG-TERM RISKThe Cubs are finding out about the risk of long-term contracts. Outfielder Alfonso Soriano never had played fewer than 145 games before the Cubs gave him an eight-year, $136 million deal.He was limited to 135 games last year by leg problems and already is on the disabled list with leg problems this season.HE SAID IT"I never played what if. What good does it do? Do you say, 'What if I had married this girl instead of that one?'"-- Dusty Baker, Reds manager, on seeing his former team, the Cubs, increasing its payroll to $138 million.(Contact Tracy Ringolsby at ringolsbyt@RockyMountainNews.com)(Tracy Ringolsby writes for the Rocky Mountain News in Denver, Colo.)