TUCSON, Ariz. — Seth Smith is in the wrong place at the wrong time again. Smith played football as well as baseball while at the University of Mississippi. A star on the baseball field, Smith played little on the football field as a backup quarterback to Eli Manning, now a Super Bowl MVP. Now Smith is in a position to see very little time on the baseball field � if, that is, Smith plays well enough this spring to make the Colorado Rockies� roster. Smith doesn�t have the baseball equivalent of Manning in front of him. But when the 25-year-old outfielder looks up the depth chart, he sees six major league veterans in front of him. Matt Holliday, Willy Taveras, Brad Hawpe, Cory Sullivan, Scott Podsednik and Ryan Spilborghs all sit in front of Smith, who has played a grand total of two big-league innings. Cracking that lineup would seem to be easier than getting a few minutes on the football field. �I hope you don�t talk to him because we�ve actually told him there is an opportunity,� Rockies manager Clint Hurdle told me. �So we�re not seeing things the same way.� Then after Hurdle�s quick snipe at me, he proceeded to give reasons why Smith wouldn�t make the Rockies� opening day roster. �He could show some value off the bench as an extra corner outfielder,� Hurdle said. �We�ve got a number of guys in, whether it be Spilborghs, Sullivan, Seth Smith and Podsednik. Those are four off the top of my head and we�re probably going to choose two and move forward with. We haven�t eliminated anybody. �Obviously, you�ve got to like some of the things from some of the guys we�ve had for awhile. Sullivan acclimated to that role so well last year, a role he�d struggled in previously. Spilborghs was like your sixth man in basketball with the push he was able to give us when he got into play.� Podsednik could be the player the Rockies put in the lineup when Taveras needs a break or his hurt. He doesn�t have the strongest arm or the best power. But he has the speed the Rockies would miss with Taveras out. �Maybe we can rekindle him,� Hurdle said, referring to Podsednik�s numbers with the Chicago White Sox before injuries derailed him. �He can revisit some of the success he�s had. But again, it creates depth. You�re in a good place if you do have injuries. And it does create some competition. And the other option is to move Seth around. You can not overlook what he was able to bring to the table late in the season. He has that going for him.� Smith�s September is the only reason we�re having this conversation. Smith was 5-for-7 in seven regular-season games after getting called up Sept. 16. He was 3-for-6 in the playoffs. Without Smith�s pinch-hitting prowess, the Rockies might not have made the playoffs, and then might not have made it to the World Series. Smith�s hits came as a surprise to many because most folks hadn�t heard of Smith, who was with the Sky Sox for the entire Triple-A season � minus time for a separated shoulder. Smith finished his Triple-A season batting .317 with 17 home runs and 32 doubles. He also drove in 82 runs. The accomplishments weren�t a revelation to the manager who saw him every day. �We told them that he�d be a great pinch hitter and that he has a nice swing,� Sky Sox manager Tom Runnells said soon after Smith helped the Rockies to their first playoff trip since 1995. �And if he gets hot he hits better than anybody.� Runnells should get to see a lot more of Smith this season. �Obviously, I want to make it here. I want to make this team,� Smith said, sitting at his locker at Hi Corbett Field. �But if I have to go to Colorado Springs, it�s an opportunity to play every day, where I might not get that same opportunity here.� Repeat last year�s numbers and soon enough, Smith will be in the right place at the right time.

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