Strike 1: It was 30 years ago that Coors Field opened and the Colorado Rockies, in just their third season in existence, made the National League playoffs. They threw a scare into the eventual World Series champion Atlanta Braves in the postseason to boot.
Fast forward to 2025. After Monday’s loss to the Chicago Cubs, the Rockies 9-45 record is the worst through 54 MLB games. Ever.
What the heck has happened? How is it that an established organization that reached the World Series in 2007 can be so much worse off today than they were as an expansion franchise more than three decades ago?
If you take up the position put forth by Rockies management, it’s because they’ve been dealing with major disadvantages from Day 1.
The atmospheric conditions – the high altitude and the dry air – make keeping players healthy for a full season far more difficult here than in all the other climates. A glance at Colorado’s injured lists over recent years lends credence to that argument.
Players say they get more sore more quickly at high altitude, and bouncing back day after day is far more difficult. Opposing pitchers agree. Hall of Famer Tom Glavine said he was always a lot more sore after he pitched in Colorado than at any other time.
They also contend that ball acts differently and pitches play differently at Coors (perhaps the altitude was different in 1995?) and that making the constant adjustments between being playing at 5,280 feet – and then not – back and forth over 162 games is just too much for the players and the team to overcome. Necessary altitude adjustments – in terms of being able to find a level of consistency on the mound or at the plate – are almost impossible. Statistics would back that up.
On top of that, Denver is not a big market, and the financial discrepancies in media rights revenue between the Rockies and many of their competitors is stark. That puts the Rockies at a disadvantage in terms of investing in free agent players, established coaches and much needed farm system resources.
While NL West rival Los Angeles is bringing in a reported $196 million per year in local media (broadcast) rights, the demise of Colorado’s AT&T SportsNet Regional Sports Network (or “RSN” in industry lingo) two years ago cost the Rockies dearly. They are now reportedly bringing in somewhere in the neighborhood of $30 mil a year for local broadcast rights, most of that courtesy of the MLB Network and the streaming partnership between the two entities.
Having an ownership group that has modest resources to begin with in comparison to much of the rest of baseball has made this a hurdle that’s almost impossible to overcome as well.
For all these reasons, Rockies ownership, while speaking rarely and contritely, has done everything they can to tamp down expectations for on field success. Since their last playoff appearance in 2018 – and including the massive financial losses that the entire industry absorbed during the 2020 and 2021 COVID-impacted seasons – the Rockies have been in perpetual rebuilding mode, preaching patience to an agitated fan base and talking about the young prospects that were on the way, but never seem to pop when they do finally arrive (with the notable exceptions of Gold Glove winners Ezequiel Tovar and Brenton Doyle.)
Maybe these are excuses or maybe actual legit reasons for the Rockies never ending struggles?
Maybe not.
Over the past 25 years, one constant – ever since the sudden passing of then-team president Keli McGregor in April of 2010 – has been the team’s upper management and its very insular approach to running the franchise. While he was in charge, McGregor – a former college football star and NFL player – was consistently seeking to acquire feedback from well-schooled sources from all corners of the MLB world. He wanted to know how outsiders viewed the Rockies organization and how the new guys at 20th and Blake were going about doing things.
When Keli passed, things flipped 180 degrees. Outside opinions were no longer sought or welcomed. The Rockies were going to do things their way with their people, regardless of what baseball norms might be.
And that, more than the altitude or any financial chasms, have left the Rockies in the position they find themselves in right now.
