The Rockies nabbed a Wild Card spot in two straight years, getting into the postseason in 2017 and 2018. However, the past four years have been a struggle. They slipped to 71-91 in 2019, followed that up with a 26-34 showing in the shortened 2020 season and then won 74 and 68 games in the past two years.
Despite that rough slide, owner Dick Monfort is maintaining external optimism. “We have a lot of talent, a lot of good things are going to happen, and I think they are going to start happening this year, and I think we can play .500 ball,” he recently said.
Suddenly finding an extra 10-15 wins would likely have to come from internal improvements, as the roster hasn’t changed much relative to last year. Their most notable free agent departures included Carlos Estévez, José Iglesias, Chad Kuhl and Alex Colomé. One other name on that list was José Ureña, though he was eventually re-signed and will be back with the club this year. Garrett Hampson also departed the roster when he was non-tendered, as did Chad Smith and Connor Joe via small trades.
The Rockies have also made a few additions to the roster, of course, but mostly younger players and a few relievers. Infielder/outfielder Nolan Jones, who has 28 games of MLB experience, was acquired from the Guardians. Connor Seabold and his six career starts were acquired for cash considerations or a player to be named later after he was designated for assignment by the Red Sox. The bullpen got a few new faces when Brent Suter and Nick Mears were claimed off waivers and free agent Pierce Johnson was signed to a one-year deal.
Those changes will all have impacts, though none jump out as franchise-altering moves like the Kris Bryant signing from a year ago. A healthy Bryant is probably the club’s best chance at improving their fortunes, as he was only able to play 42 games last year. He mashed when on the field, hitting .306/.376/.475 for a wRC+ of 125, and the Rockies would surely love to have that kind of production over a larger sample.
The outfield mix will have holdovers in Charlie Blackmon, Yonathan Daza, Randal Grichuk but could also get a boost if Jones breaks out. He came up as a third base prospect but moved to the outfield since Cleveland had José Ramírez at the hot corner. The Rockies will likely keep him on the grass since they have Ryan McMahon at third. Jones has hit very well in the minors despite a high strikeout rate. In 655 Triple-A plate appearances, he’s been punched out at a 28.4% rate but drawn walks at a 13.7% clip, hit 22 home runs and stole 14 bases. His .252/.361/.443 slash line at that level amounts to a 117 wRC+. He didn’t quite reach that level of production in his first taste of the majors, but it was a very brief debut. Sean Bouchard could also be a factor here, as he hit .300/.404/.635 for a 150 wRC+ in Triple-A last year. He kept it going in a 27-game MLB debut by hitting .297/.454/.500 for a wRC+ of 158, though he won’t sustain a 21.6% walk rate or .404 batting average on balls in play.
On the infield, McMahon, C.J. Cron and Brendan Rodgers will still be around. The biggest change relative to last year will be that Iglesias has departed and prospect Ezequiel Tovar has seemingly been given the job. It’s an aggressive move given his youth and inexperience. He began last year in Double-A and crushed it, hitting .318/.386/.545 for a wRC+ of 153 over 66 games. A hip/groin injury kept him out of action for all of July and August, but the club promoted him to Triple-A when he was healthy in September. After just five games there, he got promoted to the big leagues for nine games as the season was winding down. Tovar is considered one of the top prospects in the league but he’s just 21 years old and has only 14 games played above the Double-A level.
Another X-factor on the infield could be Michael Toglia, who is primarily a first baseman though he’s also played a bit of right field. With Cron still under contract for one more year, he’s not being relied upon in the same way as Tovar, but he could force his way into more playing time or fill in for an injury. His MLB debut last year didn’t go well, but he hit 30 home runs in 114 minor league games for a batting line of .249/.341/.510 and a wRC+ of 124. Elehuris Montero could also be in play here, as the corner infielder hit .310/.392/.541 in Triple-A last year, though he also struggled in his first taste of the majors.
At the catcher position, Elias Díaz will be looking for a bounceback after his 18 home runs in 2021 were cut in half to nine last year. He also walked less and struck out more, leading to a .228/.281/.368 batting line and 67 wRC+, a drop from 91 the year before. His defense was also graded far worse, leading to a wide swing from posting 1.6 fWAR two years ago but -1.4 last year.
In the rotation, Germán Márquez and Kyle Freeland will be back at the front, but it gets murky after that. Antonio Senzatela tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee last year and required surgery in August. The timeline at that point was given at 6-8 months, meaning he could return soon, but that remains to be seen. Ureña seems to have laid claim to another spot, though the last time he posted an ERA under 5.00 was 2018. Austin Gomber could be in the mix, though he posted a 5.56 ERA last year. Seabold has some good Triple-A results but has struggled in the majors thus far and will have to get acclimated to the Coors Field experience. Other options on the 40-man include Peter Lambert, Ryan Feltner, Ryan Rolison and Noah Davis.
In the bullpen, the Rockies will be without Estévez, who has been a quietly effective reliever of late. His triple-digit fastball helped him post a 3.94 ERA over the past two seasons, not too shabby for a guy who takes the mound at altitude half the time. Daniel Bard will still be present in the closer’s role, but the club will try to replace Estévez with Johnson, Suter, Mears and Dinelson Lamet, whom they grabbed off waivers in August of last year.
A few things will need to go right for the Rockies to make a huge jump in the win column. A healthy and productive season from Bryant would be great, as would a return to form from Díaz and a healthy Senzatela. Younger players like Tovar, Jones, Toglia, Montero and Bouchard taking steps forward would be a huge help. But the pitching staff has big question marks and there’s also the matter of what other clubs have done. The Padres have added Xander Bogaerts and various other players in order to build off their strong 2022. The Giants didn’t make a huge addition but added several strong players such as Michael Conforto, Mitch Haniger, Sean Manaea, Ross Stripling and Taylor Rogers. The Dodgers have been fairly quiet but are still loaded with talent and coming off a 111-win season. The Diamondbacks have tons of exciting young prospects and a big surge seems possible. 2023 will have a more balanced schedule, meaning the Rockies will play outside their division more often, but most American League teams are in good shape, as are the clubs in the NL East. The NL Central is seen by many as weaker, but the Cubs and Pirates have both made efforts to be better than they were in 2022.
What do you think? Is Monfort right? Can this club play .500 ball? Have your say in the poll below.
(poll link for app users)
What would you want the owner to say?
We will be terrible this year. Please come to games buy our merch, but honestly we will be terrible.
They would want the owner to say…
We are going to rebuild RoxNation. Overspending the market on players like Senzatela, Freeland and Bryant was a mistake. We finally realize that will never win us a championship. We owe it to our fans to actually win them a championship as soon as possible and stop spending money on players that won’t win us one. We are tired of people calling us “refreshing for spending money” when it is useless. We owe Rockies fans a world championship and we are going to get it as soon as we possibly can. We admit the Senzatela, Freeland and Bryant deals were bad ideas. We are going to do everything we can to trade as much of that money off the books so we can spend the cash on players who are actually good. Sorry for squandering this team financially but I realize this is the wrong direction. I paid 2 pitchers like they were borderline aces even though they are undraftable in most teams eyes. That was a terrible way for me to waste over $100 million. Things will change because we are rebuilding and I am no longer pretending this roster I stupidly overpaid for is actually competitive.
Something like that would suffice. At least an admission that his plan won’t work. The average Rockies fan has to believe they would be better at running a team now. I couldn’t disagree with them either. At least the cheap teams get to cite the fact they aren’t spending money. Monefort doesn’t even get to say that. He just keeps spending more and more money to be terrible. And no… I don’t buy the idea that signing Bryant pays itself off by him making people watch the game. Who wants to pay to go see Bryant? Certainly not $180 million worth of people. The Rockies need a new owner because this owner spends money but is a terrible judge of talent.
The Rockies fans may just be the most used in all of baseball. Why? Because they’re committed regardless of how poor the Rockies play (seasonally) and constantly turn out for the home games. Perhaps that’s why the owner doesn’t see a need to change anything.
@ YankeeClipper- I agree. Monfort is the worst owner in baseball. At least the cheap owners keep the payroll clear for when the next guy can take over. If Monfort ever finally sells the team the new owner will be dealing with his massive mistakes for the better part of a decade. I feel bad for Rox fans. They are good loyal people. I lived up there for a year. Their loyalty deserves a better owner than this. You should have seen the way they marketed Kris Bryant up there after they signed him. The Rockies proposal to ticket buyers was basically “Come see Kris Bryant! He might be the best player in baseball!”
I heard this from someone from Montreal once. They said their winters can be so bad and long that they love to do outdoor activities during the summer months in Canada. This may have been a key reason as to why baseball wasn’t supported there and is in Denver. I do wonder what the Rockies attendance would be if they had an indoor stadium tho.
It’s not the stadium, although it’s a nice one. The Rockies draw so many fans because Denver is a city of transplants. Everyone here is from somewhere else. The attendance numbers are significantly inflated due to those fans coming out and rooting for their (visiting) team.
I can see the transplant logic, but that doesn’t seem to help the Rays’ attendance or the Marlins’.
Wish Montfort would sell, but he won’t get rid of that cash cow
If your organization can’t find internal options who improve a lousy sub .500 team you don’t need to sign free agents because management is too inept to identify homegrown and cheap players what makes anyone think they can identify expensive players playing well into their 30s?
Montero has a great chance to light up the mile high air… followed his production since 2018
He’s struggled at almost every next stop throughout his pro ball career… feels like he’s gonna adjust like Anthony Rizzo did, or many others who have struggled in their first major league action
They want him to say “I am selling the team”.
Which he won’t sell as long as people attend in droves . For them to be .500:many things must run perfectly.
He’s an awful owner and no true Rockies fans care about what he has to say. No one is buying any more or less tickets based on his projections
Why say 500? He could have said something more vague but still positive.
Not..even…close.
Poll should ask if they lose 100 or not?
Unfortunately for the Rockies the 28 games they don’t have to play against the Dodgers/Padres/Giants/Diamondbacks have been replaced by games against the Yankees/Blue Jays/Rays/Orioles/Guardians/Twins and other better American League teams. I still don’t see a path to .500 with this current roster
Lmao. Not only will they finish last, they’ll finish waaaaaaaay last. 0% chance they even finish in 4th.
Sometimes parents just get it right. He’s definitely a Dick.
72-90
I have them “a bit below .500” as well. Although that’s a very subjective statement.
I think they’ll win around 75 games. They always have a good home record and start off decent enough until the altitude fatigue sets in.
Can’t see it happening. I know the schedule change means fewer losses vs LA, SD, and SF than in normal seasons but many of those will offset by now playing all the AL powers this year.
Should be fun to watch on the position player side, though.
Love Denver, and it is a terrific place to see a game. Except for, ya’ know…the team. And the owner.
Does anyone outside of Denver actually care about the Rockies’ record?
For as little as I think about that team, I’m amazed there’s still a team there.
A long time ago the Rockies were fun to watch. Fastest expansion team to make it to the playoffs in ’95 (the Diamondbacks of course have since passed that) and the incredible playoff run in ’07 but beyond that there hasn’t been much to root for there for national attention
They made a push few years back with Arenado extension and the big bullpen signing year. None of those guys worked out. Arenado was their worst signing in history the way that deal turned out for them. He really screwed that team and fans over
@ohyeadam — Wait…hold the doobie — Arenado was “their worst signing in history” — and not Mike Hampton (8/$121M), who played only 2 seasons into the contract (both below average per ERA+ at 99 & 78, respectively) before being dumped to ATL? Should none of the blame fall on the Rockies FO that offered Arenado the contract — that he accepted — then traded him in the middle of it, rather than holding him to said contract? And though this could change with more time, but the package they received from STL (Austin Gomber, headliner) is already looking awful. The best pkg they could have received by including $51M with the best all-around 3B in MLB is that?
Sorry, but I don’t know how you blame Arenado for much of that playing 6-7 bWAR seasons. That contract looks decent in today’s market for 3B — and with his 7.9 bWAR (2022) season. If Arenado chose to opt out while in STL, he would have made a lot more money.
He took their money then tied both hands behind their back demanding a trade, which they had to pay off the cardinals to take him. Then when he could’ve opted out and gotten more money and gotten them off the hook for their portion of the bill for the later years he opted in anyway. They have to pay MVP caliber player $50,000,000 not to be on their team
Denny Neagle and Ian Desmond would also like to be in this conversation
Arenado was a great signing that turned into a horrible outcome which in my opinion is worse than a horrible, Hampton, signing having a horrible outcome
The Rockies sold Arenado on the promise of remaining competitive as they had just come off of back-to-back playoff births. Problem is they didn’t keep up their end in his opinion and is definitely part of the Jeff Bridich fall-out.
On the contrary, the signing of Mike Hampton by the Rockies was the best free agent signing in Mets history.
Because they selected David Wright with the comp pick.
It all depends on your perspective.
“tied both hands behind their back demanding a trade” — He didn’t have a NTC and no 10-5 rights, to my knowledge, he had no leverage. This is not how contracts work. Like Bryan Reynolds, he can make all the demands he wants, but if he wants to make his paycheck and play in MLB, he’d need to go out and play — or face legal issues for possibly being in violation of his contract. You’re acting as if COL didn’t offer him the contract and he tanked. Wasn’t that the same FO that didn’t extend Trevor Story, refused to trade him come the Trade Deadline and he left in free agency — not getting anything in return on their star player but bad press and a confused exit? Arenado’s situation was not an anomaly with them.
D.Monfort must have been the one who voted 3 times for the ‘way better’ option.
This is a loaded question. I really don’t get the need to include condescending answers like Not even close. This is just going to attract all the trolls and the “your team sucks” comments instead of promoting a decent discussion.
I’ve been to 2 Rockies home games. Great stadium, wonderful fans. I feel bad that the owner is playing with their emotions.
Decent offense, especially if KB bounces back, a couple of good defenders but mostly a lot of mismatched parts. The pitching was really rough, especially the starters, Marquez regressed a lot unfortunately. Not even sure where to start with fixing this team, signing Bryant was so dumb. They needed, and still need, to fully commit to tanking. Bard and Cron are ok trade chips but I feel like they’re not going to move them. Let Blackmon walk, extend Rogers and then try to do well in the draft, work on the farm system and see where you’re at in 2026.
Talent evaluation seems rather poor. If their younger players progress, maybe 4th, ahead of the Gmen.
Maybe if MLB were to move the franchise to the NL Central?
I think the biggest impact on the Rockies this year will be the more balanced schedule. Instead of 19 games against the Dodgers, you get 12 games against the Dodgers and 3 against the Royals and 4 against the Tigers or whatever. 81 wins? Might be a bit much, but I see no problem setting that as a somewhat realistic goal.
The rockies really need to spend on analytics,technology and coaching. Currently they are behind vs many teams on that stuff but really it isn’t even enough to get back to even, as coors (or generally playing at that height) is a big disadvantage and they need to be extra innovative to overcome that.
Sure they do have a home field advantage but an even bigger road disadvantage.
It starts with hitting, the hitters experience a pretty severe road hangover because when they are leaving coors they are not used to seeing sea level pitch movement.of course the inverse applies to visiting teams in coors, but is easier to adjust to a pitch with less movement than to a pitch with more movement.
For example I would suggest that the rockies get a pressurized cage and a programmable pitching machine so the hitters can practice some against “sea level” sliders and fastballs before leaving for the road.
That is a pretty simple suggestion and I’m sure really smart guys could come up with better things but you get the idea.
The second issue is the pitching and that of course is harder to resolve.
One thing they could (and have tried) is getting more groundball type of pitchers but there are of course issues with that as groundball pitchers usually have less strikeouts and also often higher BABIPs (which is an issue at coors anyway) so the rockies would need an absolute top notch defense.
Here there is really no free lunch, the league trend goes towards high fastball flyball-strikeout pitchers (like tyler glasnow) and really that is not ideal for coors.
But even there could be some solutions like maybe those seam shifted wake sweepers or something like that that some teams are creating in “pitch design”.
I’m really no pitching expert though but they just need to continue to try to find solutions and ideally with science power (maybe even like a physicist who nows about magnus Effect at lower air pressure).
Damn! That was one of the most intelligent and erudite posts I’ve ever read on MLBTR.
Don’t know if all of Domingo’s ideas can/will work, but his suggestions make a whole lot more sense than, say, loading up on ground ball pitchers and/or fleet footed outfielders.
JMHO, but the Rockies would do better with a domed stadium with temperature and humidity controls that make it as close to a sea level environment as possible.
I used to live in Snowmass, Colorado, so, yeah, I know just how beautiful the Rockies are, especially in the summer months. Watching baseball being played indoors won’t sit well with the fans, but if you want to give the Rox any chance to make it to the playoffs, that might be the ticket.
@ Domingo111 — Thanks, I greatly enjoyed the read, it got me thinking.
There may be a simple/cheaper solution; a different ball. Raise the seams on a ball, so that it can generate the same break as sea level.??…
I don’t know enough about aeronautics/physics/spin-rates etc, but I think {shrug?} that could produce better/natural (??) break on pitches. I guess it may mean spin-rates increase w/ larger seams too, so it may make breaking balls break, but at the expense of fastballs fastballing-er.
The NBP, I had read, uses like 9 different balls in the league, and the home team picks the one for each series that’s used.
Either way, thought your assessments were well reasoned.
I actually think a guy like Glasnow would be perfect for Colorado. They’ve been trying the gb pitcher method forever. Those guys get shelled up there because they rely on movement to create groundballs. As you rightfully pointed out, pitches don’t move as much up there, so it’s really difficult to reliably create ground ball results. The high contact rates these kinds of pitchers produce are exploited because the main problem with Coors isn’t the susceptibility to the home run per se, but is actually the gigantic outfield with canyon-wide gaps. So, high velo/high strikeout arms would allow them to avoid being beaten in the gaps as often and give them a chance to dominate the opposition on the road.
– Fast outfielders with a good defensive acumen
– High velo/K (high fly ball) pitchers
– Gap hitters primarily, with 1 or 2 homerun hitters for the lineup
This is how I would approach roster construction for the Rockies if I were in charge.
As someone who lives in colorado (padres fan where I lived until I was 25) I’m always surprised by how many Rockies fans go to games and they are into the games. This place can have one of the best fan bases in the league if they could get their stuff together.
It’s not like the owner is dirt cheap. He does spend some money (not crazy money). At the same time this team hasn’t had a clear direction in years now. I know they don’t want to rebuild but you have two choices in baseball. Rebuild or spend a ton. You can take an approach like the Mets have takebln where they are spending via free agency to build a winner while restocking the farm. Or you can take the direction like the cubs, astros, padres and many others have and strip it down to nothing and build it back up before spending. The Rockies are stuck in the middle. They spend about avg to above avg and they haven’t built a farm up to the point where it’s elite. So it’s like a slow painful death record wise year after year. Don’t even get me started on them paying 50m to let Nolan go.
Great city and fans, terrible direction.
Just stating a view from outside, but spending money on free agents doesn’t seem like the main problem, especially if they’re willing to keep spending.
The most puzzling thing with the Rockies is the failure to move pending free agents for prospects. They continuously seem to refuse to sacrifice even a few months of a lost season to build up enough prospect depth for the future. They don’t need to spend a ton, or cut spending completely. Just spend and trade wisely.
As a Rockies fan, this is the most correct statement, I don’t mind that the Rox swing (and often miss) on FA spending, it’s a risk that isn’t specific to Colorado. What I really don’t get is this weird loyalty to mediocre players that keeps them from dealing them at the deadline while crossing their fingers they can re-sign them.
Not trading Story before his pending FA is one of the biggest mistakes they could have made, and they did it again last year by not dealing Estevez or Iglesias or Cron.
I do still have hope that their revamped farm system will start playing dividends and Tovar and Veen are some of the big names in their next playoff run. Maybe 2024?
Anyone else find it interesting that the bulk of “expert” opinions in this chat are from obnoxious fans of big market teams??
Observing Rockies fans’ Stockholm syndrome is definitely more interesting.
Don’t think they’d crack 500 if they played the As every game.
I feel for teams with terrible ownership. The Rockies are one of them. Monfort’s biggest problem is himself. He’s under the impression his being “hands on” benefits the team, when it VERY CLEARLY doesn’t. The Arenado experience shows this to the 9s, but there’s plenty of other examples.
Of course, as long as games are well attended — and they consistently are — and TV ratings are acceptable (and they are) Monfort has no real motivation to change things.
I only became really in tune with this after the Arenado fiasco. When the owner is the primary reason that a franchise is held back, there’s simply nothing to do other than hope he sells.
Ask Angels fans about that.
This is it. One issue I see is that they just keep sucking the fans teat and will continue to do so until it runs dry. It probably never will. Good on them for building a fan experience resilient to bad baseball, but this is the consequence.
The incentive to field a competitive team is just not there.
I’m curious if anyone’s put together demand curves for the different teams relative to on field performance. I’d posit that the demand for Rockies baseball is probably the most inelastic in the game.
CAN they?
Or course they can.
The rocks will lose 100. That is all.
The Rockies are a team, IMHO, that has a very small margin for error. They should benefit from the balanced schedule, and gap-type hitters will undoubtedly benefit from the home ballpark, especially with the shift going away (somewhat). However, pitching, unknowns at key positions, Kris Bryant’s health, and the division they play in would still suggest to me that they’re going to finish below 81 wins. Maybe winning 74-76 games if, big IF, things shake out, seems to be their ceiling. And again, ownership HAS to put across a positive spin because that’s what ownership is supposed to do.
They will battle SF for 4th place
Yeah, AZ is probably better than both of them at this point. Especially if guys like Carroll are for real.
This team is a prime example of why the “just spend money” crowd has it wrong. Yes obviously it helps to spend money and keep guys around, but the Rockies do it, but very poorly so it amounts to nothing. Their pitching is so historically bad, the overpay to sign or extend the most mediocre pitchers. Hardly ever make good trades, let free agents walk for nothing, and sign redundant free agents who don’t fit to spend money. Cut their payroll in half and they’d hardly be a worse team honestly.
Well, spending money isn’t the problem then. The problem would be:
1. Poor development of talent
2. Poor identification of talent
3. Poor model for club success (ex. focusing on ground ball pitchers instead of high strikeout pitchers)
Personally, I commend the club for spending. Having good players is fun for most fans. I think they’re simply imprudent in general though. Arenado’s extension was signed on the premise that the team would continue to aggressively build. They never really did so, and he wanted out.
I think they will be more consistently competitive in the future if they build a team around fast runners and high strikeout arms. Their farm system seems to have a lot of the former coming up. Not sure about the latter.
1 & 2,,, The Rockies draft and develop a fair amount of talent. I wouldn’t say they’re great at it, but I also wouldn’t say they’re terrible at it.
3. High strikeout pitchers are often also “fly ball” pitchers. Fly ball pitchers are a disaster in Coors Field, but I agree the general direction for a different reason
The Rockies play in what is a very tough division and I’ll agree with them having poor direction stemming largely from what I think is an drastically over-meddlesome owner. The direction is not consistent or stable. It’s like they’re trying to rebuild the team’s philosophy on how to play every other year based on who their next MVP caliber player is. Tulo, Holliday, Arenado, Story, etc.
The Rockies need #1, a legitimate ace which cannot be signed on the free agent market, no matter what they bid because no free agent stud pitcher is going to choose the Rockies and it’s unreasonable to expect the internal development of an ace caliber pitcher because there’s no way to test results fairly at the MLB level playing at Coors. The Rockies will need to trade for them and it will cost a fortune. They could sign a #2-3 pitcher (Kyle Gibson type) and develop the rest of the rotation internally.
The team spends enough money and would be attractive enough to hitters to bring those in to fill positions as needed.
Unfortunately, the 2-3 year competitive window with a 2-3 year rebuild philosophy is probably what the Rockies are going to need to follow.
I’ll always wonder how good Marquez could have been in his prime playing for another team. Hopefully he signs elsewhere when his contract ends and he has a bit of a renaissance.
Death, taxes, and a delusional Dick Monfort.
They will start the season 1-1. That’s .500 ball.
The Rockies will always be victims of their locale, humidor or no humidor.
How so? Since the Rockies and their opponents are both playing at Coors Field, but the Rockies are the team who can afford to build for it, how is that a disadvantage to Colorado?
The Rockies have a significant potential home field advantage to exploit. They can build for an unusual environment. The problem comes at playoff time… which hasn’t been a real consideration for the Rockies for a while.
Because pitchers don’t want to sign with the Rockies. Over the last 10 seasons, Rockies starters ranked 29th in ERA and their relievers ranked 30th.
It doesn’t only affect free-agent pitchers either. When you don’t have pitching, your chances of winning a World Series are slim. Free-agent position players don’t want to play on a losing team in a strong division.
As I noted two posts above, you’re right, Colorado probably isn’t going to be able to sign an ace in free agency so they’ll need to trade for it. There are plenty of upper/mid-rotation arms who would happily take a one year overpay to go to Colorado (Kyle Gibson types) to fill another spot or two the Rockies haven’t developed.
As far as position players, the Rockies have signed quite a few over the years. Most recently a fairly well known guy named Kris Bryant. Free agents want money. Winning is great, especially late in their careers, but even elite position players would be, and have been happy to play at Coors Field when they felt the team was committed to building.
“There are plenty of upper/mid-rotation arms who would happily take a one year overpay to go to Colorado”
And having to overpay, again, makes them victims of their locale.
Sure, overpaying sucks, but there are a lot of teams out there who will have to overpay.
4yrs $48MM vs. 5yrs and $60MM… who cares? It’s not significant when the window is 2-3years anyway. Middle market teams are all in the 2-4 year window with a 2-3 year rebuild scenario.
Since mid-market teams like the Rockies aren’t going to be signing a lot of AAV $20MM+ players, an extra year for a good, but not expected “great” player entering a perceived competitive window isn’t a big deal.
I wonder if seeing the results of this poll will finally convince Monfort that people aren’t buying his nonsensical, utopian vision. He can’t possibly believe it.
Can he…
?