The Tulowitzki rumblings this morning are ripple effects from the winter meetings where the Cardinals, through the course of mapping the shortstop terrain for the coming season and winter, took the Colorado Rockies temperature regarding their franchise cornerstone. The dots are difficult not to connect. The Cardinals did it months ago. Tulowitzki is owed more than $100 million on his contract, including $20 million annually from 2015 to 2019. The Rockies have a prospect coming up at his position in Trevor Story. The Rockies are rebuilding, though their blueprint has been rewritten, wadded-up, rewritten, wadded-up, rewritten several times in the past decade. They've got to figure out what direction they're going and if Tulowitzki is the player to take them there, or perhaps he'll get frustrated and want a chance to get out and help the Rockies rebuild by not being there, but bringing a healthy return. Those factors have been in play for awhile, have been reported for awhile, and now it's just a matter of timing -- and whether all those factors lead to the Rockies taking offers. by Derrick Goold 2/25/2013 7:25:56 PM