" I'm not as hard on the Desmond signing because he was signed to be a 1B/super utility player, has veteran leadership qualities and is one of the few Rockies' regulars with base stealing capability. (Of course...you have to get on base to steal them.)

Not a good value for $14m / yr / 5 yrs.  Blackmon (28 in 2014, 43 in 2015, 17 in 2016), Story & Tapia are all base stealing threats but you're right they have to get on base first.