Rockies third-base prospect Nolan Arenado, 20, who drove in 122 runs for the High-A Modesto Nuts last season and was the MVP of the Arizona Fall League, takes a practice cut Tuesday as spring training ratchets up at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick in Scottsdale, Ariz. AAron Ontiveroz, The Denver Post

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. A change of culture, better team chemistry and authentic relationships between the players.

Those are the catchphrases of the Rockies' 2012 spring training. Dan O'Dowd uses them, Jim Tracy uses them, even some of the players use them.

The professional cynic in me rolls his eyes and wonders how a change in philosophy and the addition of a bunch of 30-something ballplayers can transform the Rockies from a 73-89 ballclub into a contender.

It seems too touchy-feely.

Yet I have already seen some tangible changes on a team that was so out of sync last season.

For instance, Jamie Moyer, a 49-year-old lefty hoping for one more season, was given a locker next to prospects Tyler Chatwood and Drew Pomeranz. As the Rockies hoped, the youngsters are asking for advice from Moyer, who's happy to provide it.

As part of the culture-building concept, the players were each given a homework assignment. They drew the name of a teammate and are then required to present a biography of that player in front of the rest of the team. Moyer began it with a 20-minute dissertation on newcomer Jeremy Guthrie. The players loved the needling, the jokes and the inside information.

Monday, Tracy briefly addressed the team before handing things over to veterans including Troy Tulowitzki, Todd Helton, Jason Giambi and Carlos Gonzalez. The impressive thing, to me: It was the players who asked Tracy if they could lay out the expectations for 2012.

I asked Giambi, a 17-year veteran, about all this clubhouse culture stuff. He told me that it's real and it's important, explaining that when he played for the successful Oakland A's teams from 1995-2001, the A's had a homegrown family atmosphere.

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Saunders: Rockies ready to react as far as good team chemistry will take them