It cannot get much worse for the Colorado Rockies. It can stay the same amount of bad for a while, and it may, but yes this team has hit Rox bottom. There are a lot of reasons why this has happened and it is going to take quite a bit of work to fix it.
This organization needs a reset. They need to re-evaluate how they approach practically everything. Over the next several weeks, I will be taking a look at 10 things this team can do to change their fortunes in the future from the huge and franchise-shifting to the seemingly smaller on-field details. And it starts at the very top. It is hardly a revolutionary idea to say (again) that Dick Monfort should sell the team. But he actually, for the first time ever, recently gave some credence to the notion that this might happen relatively soon.
New ownership has long been a dream of much of the fanbase but, of course, it matters what that new ownership looks like. Would fans be excited about a new person in charge if that person was still named Monfort?
More likely than a total outsider buying the team is the possibility (probability?) that Walker and/or Sterling Monfort will be the next owner(s) of the club. While that may dull any excitement for some, it would still represent an opportunity for foundational change. Regardless of who takes over, someone else captaining the ship is the first step toward steering it into calmer waters.
But it’s not as simple as “sell the team” and all things get better. The two other fundamental changes that need to happen are: Bringing in some outside voices in the front office and on the coaching staff, and embracing an analytically driven mindset.
The team has long been known for remaining loyal, or insular depending on who you ask, and promoting from within. But it’s past time for some fresh blood and a fresh perspective. And a big part of that perspective needs to be one that is driven by data.
As much focus as we put on their admittedly long list of failings, anyone being objective about the matter knows that the Rockies also have a fairly long list of disadvantages to contend with. Like several other teams in baseball, they find themselves on the wrong side of a modern MLB dynamic whereby the gap between the richest teams and the “poorest” teams is widening exponentially.
Then there’s the uniqueness of altitude not only on the flight of the baseball but on the ability of the body to recover. There’s Coors Field and its massive outfield that gives up cheap extra-base hits like it’s handing out Halloween candy. There’s the fact that most pitchers (and their agents) would rather submit an application for Squid Game than sign a contract to play in Denver. Oh, and there’s the fact that they play in what is consistently one of the most difficult divisions in baseball.
So even if every Rockies fan got every wish from their list fulfilled, we would all collectively be left with a lot of the same questions.
The new owner, new GM, new coaching staff, and new analytics team would still be faced with the task of figuring out how to compete given a massive financial gap, the uniqueness of Coors Field, and the unusual challenges they face when they go on the road.
Can or should they be big players in free agency or the trade market? Is focusing on drafting and development still the way to go and if so how can that process be made better so that we don’t see so many rookies struggling so mightily? Should the team who will never have the resources to be elite in every category prioritize slugging? Pitching? Defense? Should they play Moneyball or should they spend more?
These are some of the questions I will be tackling in this series. Because as much as it is true that this franchise is in desperate need of a top-to-bottom shakeup, it is also true that the “how” of it matters as much as the “who” of it.
Can there be a consistently successful MLB team in Denver despite all that they face, and the current state of the team? I believe there can be. But making that happen is going to take a ton of commitment to a new plan, a new identity, and a new way forward.
