Opinion: Sky Sox's Koshansky belongs in major league baseball

Joe Koshansky belongs in the bigs. He has the required swagger, the graceful swing and the base-clearing power.

Lucky for us, Koshansky remains in Triple-A with the Colorado Springs Sky Sox. But be warned: it won't be long before one of baseball's better young talents gets snatched by a major league team.

Koshansky plays first base, which means it's unlikely - make that borderline impossible - he'll take the short trip to Coors Field.

That's where Todd Helton has a viselike lock on first base. Helton, who turns 35 in August, will earn $16.6 million this season. He is signed through 2011, with a club option for 2012. He's not going anywhere.

Matt Holliday knows this. He enjoyed a view of Koshansky's talents during a weekend rehabilitation assignment with the Sky Sox.

"Joe's a major league player, but you know the circumstances," Holliday said Saturday in the Sky Sox clubhouse. "He's sitting behind Todd. Anywhere else, he'd probably be playing in the major leagues."

Nothing about Koshansky, 26, is boring. He's collected 25 doubles, 14 home runs and 61 RBIs this season, which follows a powerful pattern.

In three seasons (2005-2007), Koshansky pounded pitchers for 93 doubles, 80 home runs and 325 RBIs while he climbed through the Rockies farm system.

But those exploits are only part of the fun. Koshansky steps to the plate on an aggressive quest. He's not there to hit measly singles. He's not there to advance the runner. He swings with malicious intent.

This go-for-the-gusto approach has resulted in 75 strikeouts this season and a staggering 404 whiffs from 2005 to 2007.

Koshansky is working on the strikeouts, but he's not obsessed with them. Neither is Marc Gustafson, the Rockies' director of player development.

"You know what, that's the kind of player Joe is," Gustafson said by phone from Denver. "It's a high-reward, high-risk kind of deal."
Gustafson likes just about everything he sees from Koshansky, and  doesn't plan to seek any major transformations.

That includes playing first base. Koshansky is 6 feet 4 inches tall, ideal for a first baseman but not so ideal for an outfielder.

"To ask him to move to the outfield, that would be a little too much to ask him to chew off at this point," Gustafson said.

If Koshansky isn't moving from first base, he isn't moving to Coors. He could soon be traded to bring badly needed pitching to the Rockies. His ideal destination would be the American League, where he could serve as a designated hitter, but he might haunt the Rockies deep into the next decade as a National League first baseman.

Koshansky insists he's not frustrated. Sure, he dominated Pacific Coast League pitching last season, but he declines to gripe about being stranded in Triple-A.

"I know I'll get my chance," he said.

Yes, he will.

Koshansky doesn't belong in Colorado Springs, or any other Triple-A town.

Enjoy the big show while you still can.